The world really was their home
The Melungeons have been one of the Mountain Empire's great puzzles for years, even centuries…
Stephen Phelps, Opinion Page Editor, The Bristol Herald-Courier, Bristol, Virginia, June 23, 2002 - Dctually, family trees are more like puzzles. They may grow on their own, but to see them in all their glory, you have to put them together yourself. And that's hard enough when you have all the pieces in front of you. So you can imagine what it's like for the Melungeons of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. Not only are a lot of the pieces missing, but there's no telling what the puzzle will look like when it's finished - if ever.

BUT FOR MANY of us with Melungeon ancestry, sorting through the pieces is proving to be well worth the effort. Last week at Fourth Union, a yearly Melungeon gathering being held in Kingsport this year, the latest piece was unveiled- results from DNA tests of Melungeons from Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. Alone, those results won't solve the puzzle. But they hint at a clearer understanding of who the Melungeons are and where they came from. And viewed from the proper angle, they even might offer a world of insight about our future.

IN FACT, THE Melungeons have been one of the Mountain Empire's great puzzles for years, even centuries. With dark, distinctive looks and mysterious origins, the Melungeons of yesterday tended to live their lives apart, on the outside. And all too often, it was easier for them that way. It's hard to think of many minority groups that don't suffer in some way, from stereotyping to outright persecution. For the Melungeons, the latter reached its peak in the person of W.A. Plecker, Virginia's commissioner of vital statistics in the first half of the 20th century - an apostle of eugenics and racial purity who crusaded for decades to track down and single out Virginians of mixed race. With white, black, Native American and other antecedents, Melungeons were among those who paid with their land, their civil rights and more.

PLECKER TRIED to enlist school boards and county clerks in his effort; many, to their credit, refused. Yet during Plecker's reign of terror and long before, many Melungeons sought to conceal their origins - destroying papers, changing names, and often fleeing the region altogether. That has a lot to do with why our family trees often stop abruptly - and tend to be more of a puzzle than most. And it's why a lot of folks out there have Melungeon ancestors and don't know it, or are just now finding out. It was just four years ago, in fact, that I learned I may actually be of Melungeon descent on both sides of my family. I have no stories to tell about my Melungeon ancestors, not the way I can tell you about my forebears who sailed from Dublin to America in the late 1600s in a boat they built themselves. The DNA results unveiled this week for Fourth Union may not tell that kind of story - but the genetic evidence helps to highlight a fascinating, even inspiring, picture that's become gradually clearer in recent years.

FOR YEARS, RESEARCHERS and others assumed that the Melungeons were simply "tri-racial" - white, black and Native American. More recently, it's begun to appear there's a lot more to it. In his book "The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People," Brent Kennedy suggests there were other factors in the genetic mix: Shipwrecked Turkish sailors may have migrated inland to Central Appalachia in the 1500s and intermarried with those already here. Kennedy and others have suggested that Spanish and Portuguese settlers may also have wound up in the area. The DNA results, involving hair samples from 100 women in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, indeed showed genetic patterns characteristic of whites, blacks and Native Americans, according to Kevin Jones, a biology professor at The University of Virginia's College at Wise.

BUT THEY SHOWED something else as well: genetic strains often found in Turkey and northern India. What's more, they suggest that those strains were passed through the female line; in other words, those early pioneers were both men and women. Obviously, last week's results are just a beginning. There will be other Melungeon genetic studies, probably many more. One truth, however, seems self-evident: This world really is the Melungeons' home - and not just the Mountain Empire, either.

IF IT HADN'T been for people from all over the world - Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa, Asia - converging in one place at a certain time in history, the Melungeons would not exist as a people. And if you believe in destiny, you have to conclude that those varied peoples converged here for a reason. It should go without saying that the Melungeon experience could teach us all a lot about race relations - and as I've often said, if you don't think that's still an issue in 21st century America, you probably need to pay closer attention. But then, it's not just America. What's struck me most, in fact, is has been the growing bond between the Mountain Empire and Turkey.

THE TOWN OF WISE has a sister-city relationship with one Turkish city; UVa-Wise has established exchange programs with Turkish universities; a suprising number of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee have traveled to Turkey, some repeatedly. A number have even spoken of feeling immediately at home there, and it's small wonder; according to Kennedy, parts of Asia Minor bear a striking resemblance to the Powell Valley. And when a massive earthquake struck Turkey three years ago, the people of this region - Melungeon and non-Melungeon alike - pitched in to help, donating money and organizing relief shipments. One youngster even used her birthday party to raise aid for quake victims. In the past, the Mountain Empire has often tended to look inward; in a world where everything from fast food to terrorism has become global in scope, that's no longer an option. The Melungeon experience could inspire us all to look outward - and it might even help us piece together a puzzle or two. Stephen Phelps is opinion page editor of the Bristol Herald Courier.