RJA #2b: Research Topic

I have settled on a part of Southern Appalachian culture and heritage composed of a people called Melungeons. I have always been intrigued by this group of people, and originally it was mostly a joke where I grew up. We always joked about how stocky the kids from the area were and at some point heard the name Melungeon and consistently cracked jokes about it as we grew up. When we went to the football games in the extreme southwestern tip of Virginia, we cracked these jokes. Narrow-minded and very high school-ish yes, but still typical behavior of the age. Come to find out as an adult- they are truly a separate people. Oops. As I've learned more and more about genetics and reproduction, my mind always floats back to these people- what makes a Melungeon, and should they have their own race?

I know that the group is centered around the border between Virginia and Tennessee, near Cumberland Gap. I remember hearing part of the composition of the Melungeon people was French, Native American, and black. Whether this is accurate or wholly incorrect I am not sure at this point. The Melungeons created their own separate group due to isolation, and the area is very poor- that's a fact. I hope to address many aspects of these scant facts as I proceed, and I have many questions left to answer as I go. I know they do hold meetings of sorts to help preserve their heritage, but I don't know how one knows they should be a part of these meetings either.

The questions I have are almost endless right now, and I hope there is sufficient research (I believe that there is) to back up my topic. I probably know someone who is Melungeon, or at least in part- do they know this? I hope to address the questions of genetic profiling, outward physical characteristics, and culture through the semester. I don't know that I wholly agree they should be a race other than American, mixed, or something similar. I hope that my research uncovers what racial influences compose this wholly other race, and how this could happen in such a relatively short period of time. Was the short period of time sufficient? Geneticists seem to believe so but I am not sure that I do.