DNA study seeks origin of Appalachia’s African-Americans

[theHandpuppet]

http://thegrio.com/2012/05/25/dna-study-seeks-origin-of-appalachias-african-americans/
DNA study seeks origin of Appalachia’s African-Americans
by theGrio | May 25, 2012
TRAVIS LOLLER, Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were descended from Portuguese explorers, or perhaps from Turkish slaves or Gypsies.

Now a new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy attempts to separate truth from oral tradition and wishful thinking. The study found the truth to be somewhat less exotic: Genetic evidence shows that the families historically called Melungeons are the offspring of sub-Saharan African men and white women of northern or central European origin...

...“There were a whole lot of people upset by this study,” lead researcher Roberta Estes said. “They just knew they were Portuguese, or Native American.”

Beginning in the early 1800s, or possibly before, the term Melungeon (meh-LUN’-jun) was applied as a slur to a group of about 40 families along the Tennessee-Virginia border. But it has since become a catch-all phrase for a number of groups of mysterious mixed-race ancestry.... MORE

[carolinayellowdog]

1. I was interviewed about this study in 2012

Last edited Tue Mar 25, 2014, 06:05 PM - Edit history (2)

I gave an interview about the study, along with a couple of people quoted in the piece. Dr. Arwin Smallwood, head of the history department of NC A&T State University, is the most popular speaker recent Melungeon gatherings have hosted, a black historian who studies triracial groups and is an expert on Native American history in NC.

No group of "whites" is more enthusiastic than Melungeons on the subject of finding African ancestry via DNA or genealogical research.