Melungeon

Melungeons (sometimes also spelled Malungeans, Melangeans, Melungeans, Melungins) are a group of people from Appalachia who predominantly descend from Northern or Central European women and sub-Saharan African men. Their ancestors were likely brought to Virginia as indentured servants in the mid-17th century. According to the 1890 Department of Interior Report of Indians Taxed and not Taxed within the "Tennessee" report, "The civilized (self supporting) Indians of Tennessee, counted in the general census numbered 146 (71 males and 75 females) and are distributed as follows: Hawkins county, 31; Monroe county, 12; Polk county, 10; other counties (8 or less in each), 93. The Melangeans or Melungeons in Hawkins County claim to be Cherokees of mixed blood (white, Indian, and negro), their blood being derived, as they assert, from English and Portuguese stock. They trace their descent from primarily to 2 Indians (Cherokees) known, one of them as Collins and the other as Gibson, who settled in the mountains of Tennessee where their descendants are now found about the time of the admission of the state into the union (1796). In the general census, these Melungeons were enumerated as of the races which they most resembled" Etymology The term Melungeon likely comes from the French word mélange ultimately derived from the Latin verb miscēre ("to mix, mingle, intermingle"). It is a derogatory term. The Tennessee Encyclopedia states that in the 19th century, "the word 'Melungeon' appears to have been used as an offensive term for nonwhite and/or low socioeconomic class persons by outsiders." The term Melungeon was historically considered an insult, a label applied to Appalachians who were by appearance or reputation of mixed-race ancestry. That term has never shed its pejorative character. The spelling of the term varied widely, as was common for words and names at the time.