# Interesting non-indigenous minority groups around the world **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234 "2010-02-24T04:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/21 "2010-02-24T21:19:33Z")
Jewish communities anywhere outside Israel would count, right? E.g., New York? What about African-Americans? ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/22 "2010-02-24T21:27:49Z")
Here on the MS Gulf Coast we have a sizable population of Vietnamese. They came here as refugees in the 1970s, and as many of them were Boat People, they simply set up shop as shrimpers and fishermen on the Gulf Coast. During Hurricane Katrina, some Vietnamese shrimpers rescued a Cajun shrimper and his wife who’d been stranded during the storm. There is also a very small but very old Jewish community in Mississippi. The Jews flourished here for many years, especially on the Delta; there were Jews who fought for the Confederacy, Jews elected to high public office (for example Sam Rosenthal, who served as mayor of Rolling Fork for 40 years), and a Jewish woman, Jane Wexler, was the second queen of the Natchez Pilgrimage in 1932 [(this article](http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/90/jews-in-mississippi)has some information on their history plus a photo of Wexler in her gorgeous ballgown). The Jewish community was active in supporting the Civil Rights movement, and they were attacked by some of KKK and other white supremacist organizations because of it. The Jews began leaving MS around that time, and today there’s only 300 Jews on the Mississippi Delta. Jackson has most of the rest of the Jewish population, which amounts to less than 2,000 people. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/23 "2010-02-24T21:47:49Z")
I had to google that just to find out what the Natchez Pilgrimage was. I was expecting some kind of Spanish migration, or celebration of Spanish migration, but it’s a tour of mansions? ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/24 "2010-02-24T21:57:43Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I was surprised to find out that there is a sizable Jewish community in Calcutta. And a very small one in Yemen too. ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/25 "2010-02-24T22:08:39Z")
There’s a group of a mixed-ancestry folks out in Appalachians… [Melungeons.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeons) Apparently I’m marrying one, which was news to both of us. Thanks, local community college presentation! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/26 "2010-02-24T22:34:07Z")
**Mississipienne** - I saw an interesting documentary you may want to look for some time called _Delta Jews_. **Desert Nomad** - The Yemeni Jewish population used to be quite a bit larger. Most of them have relocated to Israel. The Yemeni-Israeli population is a not insignificant group in Israel. Oh, I just remembered that I’ve also met Irish and Scottish Jews. Both of those were surprising. The Scottish guy was an Israeli immigrant, and when we met he was wearing an Israeli army uniform. It took me like ten minutes to place his accent; the clothes were really throwing me off. Here in SE Michigan we have a large Arab population. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Rosetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Green\_Rosetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Rosetta)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/27 "2010-02-24T23:00:52Z")
**Caffeine.addict** beat me to it! When I was a teenager living in Brazil/Uruguay, the family I stayed with were from a German town that still had a large number of German speakers. The dad had been instructed in German in school- this would have been the 1960s. The German influence was really apparent with the food and the names of the different businesses, though I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the city- it was in Rio Grande do Sul state, though. They had family who lived in a town settled by Italians, and nearly everyone still spoke it. Brazil is a country a lot like the USA, with the non-indigenous population made up of people from everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/28 "2010-02-24T23:44:23Z")
> [@Waxwinged](#): > > There’s a group of a mixed-ancestry folks out in Appalachians.. [Melungeons.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeons) > > Apparently I’m marrying one, which was news to both of us. Thanks, local community college presentation! I am also Melungeon and of Mestee descent; some of the surnames on that side of my family are TALLEY (TN), COX, BRITT, IVEY, CHAVIS (NC). There seems to be some overlap on my maternal grandfather’s side with Melungeons and Lumbees (a similar Mestee group that identifies as Indian). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/29 "2010-02-25T05:51:55Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Ah, thanks. > > The reason I’ve heard of them is that I once got an Indian cookbook Indian, S Asian dishes that are sold as such in the West are often unknown in their “native” lands. In Islamabad there is a restaurant which specializes in English style Indian food. ---
**Author:** ![dragoncat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@dragoncat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragoncat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/30 "2010-02-25T06:04:27Z")
I’ve heard that in America there is a “half Filipino, half African American” minority group. Apparently to be respected by other Filipino/African Americans, they should have two parents who both are half and half, rather than one Filipino parent and one African American parent. ---
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/31 "2010-02-25T10:50:08Z")
How about [Punjabi Mexican American](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Mexican_American) and [Chinese Jamaicans?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Jamaican) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/32 "2010-02-25T14:35:28Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > How about [Punjabi Mexican American](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Mexican_American)… Winner. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/33 "2010-02-25T23:41:21Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > How about [Punjabi Mexican American](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Mexican_American) and [Chinese Jamaicans?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Jamaican) Wow, the article mentions that Naomi Campbell is Chinese Jamaican. I think I was watching Anthony Bourdain having Chinese food in Calcutta and I see that [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Chinese_cuisine)confirms this I guess that’s no surprise because Chinese are all over the frickin’ place. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/34 "2010-02-26T16:36:31Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > There are Jewish communities all over the place… Historically, there were a few Jewish communities in China - in Harbin, in Kiafeng, and in Shanghai. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/35 "2010-02-27T06:35:09Z")
[Parsi community](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi) in India produced legendary freedom fighters and business men like [TATAs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamsetji_Tata). [Freddie mercury](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury) was also a parsi. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/36 "2010-02-27T06:47:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Sticking with India (sort of), over a third of the population of Fiji is of Indian descent - the British took them as indentured workers, and more were encouraged to migrate there later on. This is quickly changing, though as the increasingly unstable political system and anti-Indian prejudice among ethnic Fijians force more and more ethnic Indians to leave. Both Malaysia and Singapore also have significant minority Indian populations, too (also Chinese, for that matter). In NZ and Australia, there are sizeable minority groups of Chinese, Vietnamese, Pacific Islanders, Greeks, and many others, too. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/37 "2010-02-27T07:40:36Z")
**gytalf2000** already mentioned parsis in post # 14. Sorry about that , some how missed that post before making #35. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/38 "2010-02-27T09:32:11Z")
There was a book I read once- I think it was called “White Tribes” that talked about various white non-colonial communities living in various parts of the world. It was pretty interesting. I’ve read some interesting articles about people of African descent living in Iraq. They are the descendants of slaves from back in the day. From what I remember, they are apparently pretty well integrated and nobody really worries that they are black. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/39 "2010-02-27T10:25:18Z")
> [@Green\_Rosetta](#): > > **Caffeine.addict** beat me to it! When I was a teenager living in Brazil/Uruguay, the family I stayed with were from a German town that still had a large number of German speakers. The dad had been instructed in German in school- this would have been the 1960s. The German influence was really apparent with the food and the names of the different businesses, though I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the city- it was in Rio Grande do Sul state, though. They had family who lived in a town settled by Italians, and nearly everyone still spoke it. Brazil is a country a lot like the USA, with the non-indigenous population made up of people from everywhere. I doubt you’re thinking of Candido Godoi, but they are a small community who are mostly originally descended from like 20 families from the same German community. Apparently there was a high incidence of twins in those families, and the relative isolation of the village makes them have the highest twin-rates in the world. > **[Cândido Godói](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A2ndido_God%C3%B3i)** > > Cândido Godói (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Portuguese pronunciation: \[ˈkɐ̃dʒidu gɔˈdɔj\]) is a municipality of 6,151 inhabitants in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil near the Argentine border, famous for the high number of twins born there. The twin phenomenon is centered in Linha São Pedro, a small settlement in the city of ... ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234/40 "2010-02-27T14:03:47Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Historically, there were a few Jewish communities in China - in Harbin, in Kiafeng, and in Shanghai. Kaifeng evidence is pretty dubious. Shanghai were Russian Revolution or ww2 refugees. I suspect Harbin was the same. Shanghaiese jewish community all left during the Chinese Revolution. That said, we still have 2 formerly Jewish synogogues that are now restaurants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-non-indigenous-minority-groups-around-the-world/530234.md?page=3)