Despite often being able to pass as white people, Melungeons were affected by the one-drop rule. The one-drop rule either caused, or had the potential to cause, many Melungeons to be labeled as non-white.
The term Melungeon likely comes from the French word mélange ultimately derived from the Latin verb miscēre ("to mix, mingle, intermingle"). It was once a derogatory term, but later became used by the Melungeon people as a primary identifier. The term Melungeon was historically considered an insult, a label applied to Appalachians who were by appearance or reputation of mixed-race ancestry. The earliest historical record of the term Melungeon dates to 1813.
Origins of the Name and Early Records
In 1894, the US Department of the Interior, in its "Report of Indians Taxed and Not Taxed," under the section "Tennessee" noted: In a number of states small groups of people, preferring the freedom of the woods or the seashore to the confinement of regular labor in civilization, have become in some degree distinct from their neighbors, perpetuating their qualities and absorbing into their number those of like disposition, without preserving very clear racial lines. Such are the remnants called Indians in some states where a pure-blooded Indian can hardly longer be found. In Tennessee is such a group, popularly known as Melungeans, in addition to those still known as Cherokees. The name seems to have been given them by early French settlers, who recognized their mixed origin and applied to them the name Melangeans or Melungeans, a corruption of the French word "melange" which means mixed.
According to the 1894 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. Quoting from the report:The Melungeans or Malungeans, in Hawkins county, claim to be Cherokees of mixed blood (white, Indian, and negro), their white blood being derived, as they assert, from English and Portuguese stock.
Genetic Theories and Anthropological Perspectives
Anthropologist E. Raymond Evans wrote in 1979 regarding Melungeons: "In Graysville, the Melungeons strongly deny their Black heritage and explain their genetic differences by claiming to have had Cherokee grandmothers. Many of the local Whites also claim Cherokee ancestry and appear to accept the Melungeon claim." Jack D. In 1999, historian C. S. Everett hypothesized that John Collins (recorded as a Saponi Indian who was expelled from Orange County, Virginia about January 1743), might be the same man as the Melungeon ancestor John Collins, who was classified as a "mulatto" in 1755 North Carolina records. However, Everett revised that theory after he discovered evidence that these were two different men named John Collins. Dispute regarding the origin of Melungeons families has led to a large number of ahistorical and dubious myths regarding their origins.
From 2005 to 2011, researchers Roberta J. Estes, Jack H. Goins, Penny Ferguson, and Janet Lewis Crain began the Melungeon Core Y-DNA Group online. Estes, Goins, Ferguson, and Crain wrote in their 2011 summary "Melungeons, A Multi-Ethnic Population" that the Riddle family is the only Melungeon participant with historical records identifying them as having Native American origins, but their DNA is European. Among the participants, only the Sizemore family is documented as having Native American DNA. Estes and her fellow researchers "theorize that the various Melungeon lines may have sprung from the unions of black and white indentured servants living in Virginia in the mid-1600s. Free people of color in colonial Virginia were predominantly of African and European descent; however, some families also had Native American and East Indian heritage.
Racial Policy, Law, and Social Perception
Many free people of color, white-passing or otherwise, served in the American Civil War on both sides of the conflict. In 1924, Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act that codified hypodescent or the "one-drop rule, suggesting that anyone with any trace of African ancestry was legally Black and would fall under Jim Crow laws designed to limit the freedoms and rights of Black people. Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States were not declared unconstitutional until the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision. In December 1943, Walter Ashby Plecker of Virginia sent county officials a letter warning against "colored" families trying to pass as "white" or "Indian" in violation of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924.
Folklore and Historical Claims
During the American Revolution, there was purportedly a Melungeon "king" or "chief" named Micajah Bunch (1723-1804). Local folklore claims he intermarried with the Cherokee, making the Melungeons a branch of the tribe, though no documentation of this event exists. Since the mid-1990s, popular interest in the Melungeons has grown tremendously, although many descendants have left the region of historical concentration. The writer Bill Bryson devoted the better part of a chapter to them in his The Lost Continent (1989). People are increasingly self-identifying as having Melungeon ancestry.
Genetics, Health, and Identity
Internet sites promote the anecdotal claim that Melungeons are more prone to certain diseases, such as sarcoidosis or familial Mediterranean fever. Definitions of who is Melungeon differ. DNA studies seek origin of Melungeons, with reports highlighting mixed African, European, and Native American ancestries. DNA study pops myths of Appalachia's Melungeons discuss how genetic data complicates simple racial categorizations.
Black Hair and Genetic Variation: A Parallel Context
One strand of related discussion concerns the genetics of Black hair, including EDAR variants linked to thicker hair shafts and certain physical traits in Native American and East Asian populations. The interplay of ethnicity, appearance, and identity provides a broader lens to understand how appearances influence racial classifications and self-identification in diverse populations.
In everyday life, Black hair is described with terms like raven-black or jet-black, and is tied to cultural identity and self-expression through styles such as dreads, waves, Afro, and braids. The work required to maintain certain hair textures illustrates how appearance can intersect with social expectations and personal identity in meaningful ways.
Images and diagrams illustrating the Melungeon emergence, the one-drop rule, and the intermixing of African, European, and Native American lineages can illuminate the discussion, but must be used thoughtfully to respect complex histories and avoid sensationalism.