[hispanarepublicana]

I'd never heard of any of this, but it's so interesting. I saw a special the other night on TV that discussed Melungeons. Said they'd been here since before the Pilgrims; said Elvis Presley and Ava Gardner were thought to be Melungeon. I still don't think there's agreement as to where Melungeons came from, at least not among the experts on that TV special. Can any FReepers provide more insight?

[theFIRMbss]

>Melungeon descendants celebrate their mysterious heritage

Imagine being
descended from one of these!
I think they come from

Wisconsin, up north.
I've never met one, myself,
but I've heard they're tough!

[Ditter]

I have heard of Melungeons and I have seen something on the History channel about them. I wonder about my grandfather. He was born in Bonham Texas in 1879 but his family had just come from Arkansas and before that Tenn. He looked like they describe Melungeons. Black hair, fairly dark complexion and light eyes. I wonder where you could get a more complete list of surnames?

[muir_redwoods]

Anyone else ever hear that when Europeans first encountered the Mandan tribe, the Mandan were discovered to have blue eyes and could converse easily with the Welsh speakers in the European group?

[TheSarce]

Ping-a-ling.

[Just mythoughts]

They are an interesting group, I have read they might be from those that survived Roanoke.

[Ciexyz]

Most interesting.

[fortunecookie]

Elvis does fit the description. My sister's mil's family is of similar appearance, lived in that area and have Scot-Irish and Native American heritage in their background. Very interesting stuff.

[fortunecookie]

Often, they had olive skin, black hair and blue eyes,

This describes my mother exactly - she had black hair, the palest blue eyes and fair, but olive toned skin. But my grandmother and her family came here directly from Russia via eastern Europe.

[Constitution Day]

bump for later.

[SunkenCiv]

A Blast from the Past.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)