Check out this artlcle

[Linda]

My friend, Brenda, tipped me off to this article. Search on the word "blackfoot" and see the paragraph on us.
http://www.smplanet.com/colonial/mestee/back.html

I've written the website and asked to get in touch with the author. I'm really curious what sources he/she has for these theories.

[CoheeLady]

Linda,
I went to the website that you shared with us all. The words, or should I say stories come from many books that I have read in the past. This information is not new, but just old stories retold. As I noticed it had a ring of "No Indians here that are not mixed with African American ancestry". This is not true of course, but there are many that still believe this to be true. When I read the word Issue regarding Amherst County, Virginia, I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The person behind this website may have good intentions, as the truth is not pretty. I doubt that they are sincere in their efforts to shed light on the past. Your Saponi site is one of teaching, learning, sharing, and of finding relatives & making new friends. http://winwinworld.net/SaponiForum/UBB/smile.gif Unlike the other site that you noted above in your post. Take care & God Bless.
Sincerely,
CoheeLady

[Linda]

Check out the paragraph on Blackfoot. It's quite bold, and states things more definitely than I have that the Blackfoot ID is an indicator for Eastern Siouan (Saponi) origins. I want very much to see this person's original source material that makes them so bold. Or perhaps they've just been reading enough conjecture out there like mine and being lazy, believing it's gospel since it's in print, etc. etc.

I didn't read the article as saying that all NDN descendants are mixed with African bloodlines. What is clear is that just about all of these descendants are mixed with OTHER bloodines and for me, being mixed with African bloodlines is no more "polluting" than being mixed with Caucasian bloodlines.

In some ways it keeps the blood stronger, since the experiences of people of color are more similar, and there was less pressure to whitewash themselves. I believe that our "black" Indian cousins have kept more of the culture alive than us "white" Indian cousins, and we have MUCH to gain from them, and should feel honored when they accept us. I know I do.

I've come across a good many NDN descendants here in VA and NC who are putting up a mighty fuss distancing themselves from those they consider black NDNs, some of them in a very rank fashion. BUT, the funny thing is, all those folks making the fuss are pretty obviously African derived themselves, to my eyes.

I know that syndrome well. Keep other folks from calling you a 'nigger' by calling other people that real loud. My dad did that his whole life and gave me TONS of excellent, high quality attention for disputing him, from a very early age.

He never believed me when I said, "No dad, they're all right. They just haven't had a chance." But he couldn't get enough of hearing it and goaded me into saying it nearly every day of my childhood. (Another family secret, my dad was first generation Serbian, the "niggers" of Europe, or more accurately, the Turks' niggers, for 600 years. Since the Bosnians are the Turks' babies, the incitors for the recent bloodbath are plain enough.)

In any case, we are all cousins and it's a miracle we are here and finding one another. Our Ancestors expect us to love one another as they do.

[CoheeLady]

Dear Linda,
Did you notice that this person has stated that the Mattaponi were one of the groups that had "melted into the Melungeon pot"? LOL!!!!! http://winwinworld.net/SaponiForum/UBB/smile.gif If only the Mattaponi's that are still on their reservation, the oldest in the country, knew this they would get a good laugh out of it. As this statement is a bunch of ****! You used the "n" word!

What do you mean by keeping the blood stronger? I have heard this before, but it came from the mouths of Eugenicists. Well I'm not of that opinion, as that would put me in the same group as DAVENPORT, GALTON, DARWIN, PLECKER, ESTABROOK, etc..., get the picture? I am European & Indian, and that's it. Enough said.
From a Tuckahoe & Cohee's
My ancestors are guiding me,
they are my strength.
They only want respect and
The truth to be told.
I am telling the truth,
I have given them respect.
This is all I can do.

CoheeLady

[Tom]

Hello All , sorry to say that many of those names used on that site are terms used by the out side looking in, many are really very base and I take great offense to this type of "pigeon holing". Perhaps the expert that did the site would care to join in and share some very constructive dialog.
Personally I have had my share of racial biggotry and it looks like the more folks get educated the more they tell us who we are.
The more things change the more they stay the same!
Best to all. Tom

[CoheeLady]

Tom,
Amen to your post, as things haven't changed that much! There's no way this self proclaimed expert could ever share in a constructive dialog with us. As they don't appear to be open minded. I too am offended by the old sterotypes that are time & time again thrown in our faces. http://winwinworld.net/SaponiForum/UBB/frown.gif My family was of Amherst county, Va., & the term Issue or the older term Issie, doesn't set well with me at all.
Sincerely,
CoheeLady

[Linda]

Well, before anybody kicks a fuss and pulls the plug on the above article, I'd like to point out that the paragraph on the Blackfoot is very favorable to us. It's stating things in an authoritative way that I have only said were my beliefs. I'm not sure there is documentation to support the authoritative voice, but heck, let them take that heat.

I will be DELIGHTED to find out that it is all well supported by good research.

[Brenda Collins Dillon]

Group:

I read the article posted and went back to it's home page and also some of the other links that the home page provided. There is no author posted for this material nor is there a email address which tells me that the person might not be able to stand by much of what he/she is saying.

I agree there is all kinds of stories out there. It's kind of like that kid's game where you whisper something in the ear of the person next to you and see if it is the same message when it gets back to you.

I do know that there were records found in the Archives in NC of journels kept by the men exploring the lands to the south shortly after Jamestown was first settled. These men were sent out to explore the land south as far as the Spanish Settlements of what is today Flordia. The journels tell of this group of "PEOPLE" (the word Melungeon was never mentioned) living in log cabins among the friendly Indians (again no tribe mentioned)This group had European features of olive complection, and spoke in a broken Elizabethian English. At a certain time of the day a bell rang and everybody stopped what they were doing and bowed in prayer.

Now this tale has been repeated over and over by authors like N. Brent Kennedy, Jack Goins, Pat Spurlock and many others. These people would not print something like this if they had not checked it out themselves.

I agree that there was a "People" probably living among the Indians and that they had to be here long before Jamestown. I don't believe the Indians were anything but friendly to ANYBODY until they were forced off their lands, cheated by the white man, and their livelyhoods distroyed. I don't believe that all folks claiming to be Melungeons come from that small group of "People" that was discovered living along what is today's Virginia/North Carolina border. Furthermore, after a few generations those "People" and thir offsprings were more Indian than anything else.

I am a mixture of white/hillbilly which I believe to be Indian blood and it wouldn't surprise me if some black was somewhere in the early years. The reason I think so is something that came up in reguards to my granddaughter. She was 6 years old when she was dianosed with overian cancer. The tumor was extremely rare. So rare that St.Judes Children's Hospital has only had two cases of this cancer in all it's history. Those two were little black girls. My Amanda is the only case at Children Hospital in Boston.
I am not proud of what the white man did to the Indians but I can't change the past. All I can do is try to teach those that I love to be proud of what they are and learn from other's past mistakes.

Brenda

------------------
Life is a Rainbow made up of Many Different Colors.....

[CoheeLady]

Brenda,
As far as I'm concerned Brent Kennedy & Jack Goins, are respectable & reliable sources.

Also Brenda, concerning our Patterson family, it's true that Pa. was part of Virginia, as was West Virginia. Take care.

Sincerely,
CoheeLady