# Name the ethnic group! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576 "2007-11-15T19:51:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576/1 "2007-11-15T19:51:49Z")
Hello! After much lurking I’ve decided to pay up and join the Doper crowd. I’ve simply had so much fun reading I just couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore. 🙂 There was also the matter of something I’ve been thinking about for weeks now, and figured this was the right place to bring the question. So here goes: I have a vague memory of reading an article about an ethnic group in the northeast of the U.S. These people looked European, with fairly dark skin, dark brown/black hair and brilliant blue eyes. As far as I remember, they were pretty isolated, and belonging to this group was something of a social stigma. Abraham Lincoln was supposed to be of this ancestry. Now, this is a few years ago, so I might have gotten things mixed up. It’s also possible that the whole story is fictional, given that it was published in Fortean Times. Even so, I wonder if anyone out there knows: Is there an ethnic group or society that fits this description? If so, what are they called? I’d be very grateful for answers or theories, since my brain is tossing random names at me (_Maroons! Huguenots! No wait, Mennonites? Troglodytes?_) and it’s getting annoying. Yours faithfully, G ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576/2 "2007-11-15T19:57:12Z")
Whoa, you are going to have to get a little more specific…I live in the northeast, born and bred New Englander - I’m not aware of people you are talking about that fit that description, unless you are talking about Quakers or Shakers? Or Amish maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576/3 "2007-11-15T20:05:09Z")
You are thinking of [Melungeons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon), and they are not a Northeastern group, but are rather associated with the mountains of the South. I have a Melungeon ancestor or two myself. There are a lot of hare-brained theories about who the Melungeons are, and where the name came from, but I think the best and most likely explanation I’ve heard is that they are either bi-racial (European and Native American) or tri-racial (European, Native American, and African American), and that the name derives from a cross between “mulatto” and “Injun” (Indian). (And welcome to the 'Dope!) ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576/4 "2007-11-15T20:07:22Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Whoa, you are going to have to get a little more specific…I live in the northeast, born and bred New Englander - I’m not aware of people you are talking about that fit that description, unless you are talking about Quakers or Shakers? Or Amish maybe. [/QUOTE] I’m afraid I _can’t_ get more specific - like I said, it’s a memory and vague at that. Pretty sure it doesn’t have to do with the groups you mention though - those are familiar and I remember this article specifically because I’d never encountered the name of this group before. Thanks, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576/5 "2007-11-15T20:10:38Z")
The details don’t match your story exactly but there is a group of people in the Southeast, especially Appalachia called. Melungeons. Their ancestry is controversial and they have dark skin and dark hair. Some people consider them a separate racial group. > **[Melungeon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon)** > > Melungeons (/məˈlʌndʒənz/ mə-LUN-jənz) (sometimes also spelled Malungeans, Melangeans, Melungeans, Melungins) are a group of people from Appalachia who predominantly descend from Northern or Central European women and sub-Saharan African men. Their ancestors were likely brought to Virginia as indentured servants in the mid-17th century. > According to the 1890 Department of Interior Report of Indians Taxed and not Taxed within the "Tennessee" report, "The civilized (self supporting) Indians of Ten... ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576/6 "2007-11-15T20:11:02Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] You are thinking of [Melungeons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon), and they are not a Northeastern group, but are rather associated with the mountains of the South. I have a Melungeon ancestor or two myself. There are a lot of hare-brained theories about who the Melungeons are, and where the name came from, but I think the best and most likely explanation I’ve heard is that they are either bi-racial (European and Native American) or tri-racial (European, Native American, and African American), and that the name derives from a cross between “mulatto” and “Injun” (Indian). (And welcome to the 'Dope!) [/QUOTE] Thank you! That’s it, that’s the one! I knew there must be someone here who knew what I was on about, but I didn’t expect it to take less than half an hour. Not sure how I managed to place them in the Northeast, though. Edit: As for the name itself, it sounds like a variation on the French word _mélange_ = mix or blend. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-ethnic-group/426576/7 "2007-11-15T20:23:55Z")
I love simulposts