In an effort to discover the root of a physical ailment with my daughter ( who is full-blooded Korean ) I have come across this fascinating group of people.
The Melungeons claim not to be a race or ethnic group, and yet so much of their tale is bloodline-related.
Are there any Dopers who know they are a part of this group, and most importantly to me, have any been asked to provide DNA samples to an international organization of Melungeons?
Six Degrees of Separation, indeed.
Cartooniverse
I think Nichol_storm said, in a previous thread, that both his/her parents are.
“International organization of Melungeons”? How prevalent are
they outside of Tennessee? They’re not all that prevalent inside Tennessee!
http://athena.english.vt.edu/~appalach/essaysM/melung.htm
http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Ethnicity/Melungeon/
http://www.geocities.com/alhnmelungeon/
http://www.melungeonhealth.org/
http://members.aol.com/strat43z/melung.html
http://www.dnet.net/portugal/libby_page.htm
http://www.ukans.edu/heritage/cousin/melungeon.html
http://genforum.genealogy.com/melungeon/
Uh , yes…sailor. I’m real good at Google too. My O.P. asked if any Dopers were Melungeon’s. Do any of these links address the O.P. ?
I Googled them extensively. I have a few questions about the DNA sampling, and I feel more comfortable asking Dopers than going to a web site RUN by these folks. That’s why I asked here.
I think people are having a difficult time understanding your connection of Melungeons and your Korean daughter. Of all the theories about their origins, I’ve never heard of one that included Koreans (or Chinese or Japanese or other Asians). I’m struggling myself with what DNA sampling questions you would have for Melungeons that only they could answer.
At the risk of adding to your frustration, I think that Discover Mag had an article on Melungeons in their recent issue. Perhaps there are names from the article you could use to contact real live Melugeons.
There was an interesting article in a recent Discover about what genetic testing was learning about Melungeons. Not to get too much on a tangent (since toon is already miffed), but I was astonished at the claim made in the article that they can take a genetic sample from aperson give you a run-down of the e thnicities of said person.
Well, this being GQ I took it as a GQ. If you want to know if any dopers are Melungeons it seems to me IMHO is the place to ask but I apologise for any distress my post may have caused you which, I assure you, was totally unintended.
Yes, please do share what you mean by your cryptic comments. Why do you care if a Melungeon provided DNA samples to anyone? I’m assuming that you aren’t Melungeon. Maybe someone will be more forthcoming once you stop being so mysterious.
Off to IMHO.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
I do have Melungeon in my line. In my research I have come across this website http://www.melungeonhealth.org/. You could email the owner. She may be able to help you with what you want to know.
Sorry I didn’t notice that the same website was listed in sailor’s post. Still it is one of the better website’s that I have found concerning Melungeon health.
Where is the cryptic comment? The guy was looking on the web for something to help his kid, ran across the Melungeons, and was wondering if there was anyone on here who actually is one so that he can ask some questions. Theres a million sites about gays, muslims, what-have-you’s but we still have Ask-The threads, he’s looking for some first hand imput from someone on the boards? sheesh…
Cartoon:
There is now a GD thread “Ask the Melungeon”.
Good luck.
Technically, yes. I have the ridge ( mild ) and “shovel-teeth”. But in my family it was always referred to as “Black Dutch”, not Melungeon. At any rate nobody in my family is involved in any genetic work or societies that I’m aware of. And I have no particular expertise on the topic.