Interesting Communities and Isolated American groups

There are a few old rural isolated communities in America, atleast according to the Internet. Some off the more famous include the Lumbee and the Melungeons both believed to be tri- racial isolate groups with the Lumbees even rumored to be descendents of the Roanoke Colony(highly unlikely I imagine). Some say there are 100's of them across the South, not sure I buy that, but other groups include RedBones (SC & LA), Turks/Free Moors(SC), and the Jackson Whites(New Jers). Another group, which they say don't exist anymore are the Brass Ankles. My grandmother used to say "he/she is dumb ass a brass ankle" I wonder if that is related to them. Has anyone ever met on of these people? I never knowingly have. Unless you count Gullah/Geechie people and Creoles but the former are not tri-racial and the latter are not isolated for the most part.

Originally Posted by Wiki

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In the first federal census of 1790, the ancestors of the Lumbee were among those enumerated as "free persons of color", a category used to describe all free non-whites (including mixed-race European-Africans, Indians, and mixed-race European-Indians). A free person of color was the category for mixed-race persons not identifiably white nor a slave. In subsequent censuses, these people's names appeared under the category: "all other free persons" or "Mulatto."...Until 1787 it was part of Bladen County. When North Carolina Governor Matthew Rowan dispatched surveying parties in 1753 to count Indians in the state, the report stated there were "no Indians in the county." Colonial tax records from 1768 to 1770 identified Thomas Britt as the only Indian in Bladen County. Britt is not a surname traditionally associated with Lumbee families. Inhabitants of Bladen County with surnames that have been traditionally associated with Lumbee families were classified as "Mullato" in the tax records.

Originally Posted by wiki

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The likely background to the mixed-race families later to be called "Melungeons" was the emergence in the Chesapeake Bay region in the 17th century of what the historian Ira Berlin (1998) calls "Atlantic Creoles." These were the descendants of unions of freed slaves (sometimes of mixed race) and indentured servants, who were primarily of English, Northern European and West African ancestry.

I've heard of Lumbee and Melungeons, but never met any. This reminded me a bit of Tangier Island, Virginia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier,_Virginia Apparently its inhabitants, until recently, spoke a rather archaic brand of English.

The Jackson Whites apparently only live 30 miles from Manhattan in The Ramapough Mountains. They appear to be "Blacker" in appearance than the other group and involved themselves in incest at high levels.
"The Ramapough Mountain People, also known locally, and in the pejorative as "The Jackson Whites," are an extended clan of closely interrelated families living in the Ramapo Mountains and their more remote valleys principally in Bergen County, New Jersey, but also in immediately adjacent Passaic County, New Jersey, and Rockland County, New York. Their largely Dutch surnames, de Groot, de Fries, van der Donck, and Mann, in all their variant spellings, are among the oldest in the countryside and predate the Revolutionary War."

Met a guy who claimed to be a melungeon from Tennessee once, it's how I first even heard the term. Looked kinda like a darker Terrance Howard and was, quite honestly, a shady motherfucka. He used to travel with the band Phish and do a bait-and-switch scam selling liquid LSD/sugar water to concertgoers. He called me up out of the blue about six or seven years ago and wanted to crash at my place. I declined.

My dad's was involved in appraising the book collection of a man who had studied the Lumbees and claimed Lumbee ancestry himself. Said that the Lumbees are likely the most numerous Indian tribe in North America but just not officially and that many people claiming to be Cherokee or Creek are actually Lumbee.

I came across quite a few towns in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana that reminded me of these types of people. Old little prairie towns in the middle of nowhere, little contact with the outside world, very close-knit. Obviously no African ancestry though (at least recent )

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

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...I came across quite a few towns in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana that reminded me of these types of people. Old little prairie towns in the middle of nowhere, little contact with the outside world, very close-knit. Obviously no African ancestry though (at least recent

)

In all likelihood they are all millionaires now, R.
Oil.
Black Gold.
Texas Tea.

very interesting.

Originally Posted by globetrotter

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very interesting.

Plus one, I love this sort of thing.
That last Jackson White looks pretty black.

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

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Met a guy who claimed to be a melungeon from Tennessee once, it's how I first even heard the term. Looked kinda like a darker Terrance Howard and was, quite honestly, a shady motherfucka. He used to travel with the band Phish and do a bait-and-switch scam selling liquid LSD/sugar water to concertgoers. He called me up out of the blue about six or seven years ago and wanted to crash at my place. I declined.

My dad's was involved in appraising the book collection of a man who had studied the Lumbees and claimed Lumbee ancestry himself. Said that the Lumbees are likely the most numerous Indian tribe in North America but just not officially and that many people claiming to be Cherokee or Creek are actually Lumbee.

I came across quite a few towns in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana that reminded me of these types of people. Old little prairie towns in the middle of nowhere, little contact with the outside world, very close-knit. Obviously no African ancestry though (at least recent

)
That Melungeon sounds quite like a Irish Traveler..lol
I don't really consider Lumbee an Indian tribe from what I read. But it all seems a like a crap shoot in regards to get federal recognition. The Pequots are also clearly tri racial and even have a pretty big racial split in the tribe over the casino fund , yet they are federally recognize. Personally I have never met a Pequot in Connecticut that just didn't look Black or white.

I just heard of the Gullah and Geechie not too long along on a slate pod cast, cause some nfl draftee of that origin was taken and they attributed his size to his odd diet.

I spent a few hours researching this, quite interesting

Originally Posted by Davidko19

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I just heard of the Gullah and Geechie not too long along on a slate pod cast, cause some nfl draftee of that origin was taken and they attributed his size to his odd diet.

I spent a few hours researching this, quite interesting

Jim Brown is a Geechie, from the Georgia Sea Islands.

Originally Posted by jpeirpont

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Jim Brown is a Geechie, from the Georgia Sea Islands.

I didn't know that. He's got the nose and block shaped head I guess, but I wouldn't've guessed it.

wow. so interesting. keep it coming, pls.

The White's of Boon County West Virginia. Here is Jesco, the most famous White, and the last living Appellation Mountain Dancer in the world:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later. I AGREE

TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags. There was a 90's TV documentery on him. I found it on a torrent. TPB or ISO Hunt, I forget which. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101655/

Originally Posted by Reggs

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The White's of Boon County West Virginia.

Here is Jesco, the most famous White, and the last living Appellation Mountain Dancer in the world:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later. I AGREE

TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags.

There was a 90's TV documentery on him. I found it on a torrent. TPB or ISO Hunt, I forget which.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101655/

He's not the last living Appellation Mountain Dancer, not the last Appalachian Mountain Dancer. There are quite a few guys that still do that type of dance in that area, they just don't have camera crews and Hank Williams III as a friend.

BTW, there have been three documentaries about the Whites, the most recent one is sadly hilarious, like watching the worst Jerry Springer episode. Except you know it's not scripted. It's on Netflix Instant if you're interested.

The White family, ironically enough, is truly the strongest argument against white supremacy on Earth.