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Videos of the Week

Shoshone-Bannock History in Idaho
PART I OF II: 2008's historic Idaho Democratic Convention, held in Boise, ID, June 12-14, invited Idaho Native American Tribal members from the Shoshone-Bannock/Fort Hall, Shoshone-Paiute/Duck Valley, Nez Perce, and Coeur D'Alene tribal communities to take an active part in the convention activities. On June 12th, the Idaho AFL-CIO hosted a Democratic picnic for convention goers. Mr. Ted Howard, Cultural Resource Director, Duck Valley, spoke to picnic participants about the Shoshone-Paiute-Bannock history in the Boise Valley area. 9:49 minutes.

Part II-Grand Entry, Flag Ceremony and Recessional
All convention tribal members participated in the grand entry at the beginning of the June 13th Idaho Democratic Convention gathering followed by a flag ceremony and presentation by Mr. Lee Juan Tyler, Council Member, Shoshone-Bannock/Fort Hall community. Fort Hall and Duck Valley singers and drummers played songs for the grand entry, flag ceremony and recessional.
9:59 minutes

Native American Prophecy
Narrated by the late Floyd RedCrow Westerman 6:36 minutes

7 Generations
Elder Orin Lyons talks about preparing for the next 7 generations. 8:43 minutes

TNB->Melungeons: Are You of Melungeon Heritage?

Posted on Wednesday, January 02 @ 01:24:55 CST

Keywords: Melungeon heritage Native American ancestry ancestors Melungeon Roots free indian canoe picture buy indian posters

You might be of Melungeon heritage if you meet some or all of the criteria set out in this article.

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You might be of Melungeon heritage if any of the following questions fit your profile:

CENSUS & OTHER OFFICIAL DATA

Was your ancestor listed as non-white for any years?

Try to review each census that was taken during your ancestors lifetime. In my family, I have found some ancestors listed as mulatto in some years and white in others. Review birth, death, marriage records, etc.

FAMILY TRADITION

Is there an oral history of Cherokee or other Native American ancestry that cannot be verified?

Is there a tradition of being Black Dutch, Black Irish, Black Italian, etc.?

Did your family change surnames for no apparent reason?

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

Did your ancestors live in any of the areas traditionally associated with Melungeons during the time periods that the Melungeons occupied the area?

Remember the Melungeons and other mixed ethnic groups were forced out of areas as Scots-Irish and English settlers moved in and forced them out.

SURNAMES

Brent Kennedy and others have identified common surnames associated with Melungeons, Lumbees, etc.

Having a surname on these lists should be considered only as an indicator and not hard evidence of Melungeon heritage.

For example, Mullins is a common Melungeon name but not everyone named Mullins is of Melungeon heritage.

PHYSICAL TRAITS

There are lists of physical characteristics associated with some Melungeon descendants i.e. ridge or bump on the back of the head, shovel teeth, etc.

Again, the presence of these traits should be used only as indicators of possible Melungeon heritage not as proof and conversely, an absence of these traits doesn't disprove Melungeon heritage.

DISEASES/ILLNESSES

Many descendants of Melungeons are susceptible to diseases with Mediterrean and other exotic (to us Americans, anyway) origins. Some examples would be Bechet's Syndrome, Joseph's Disease, Mediterrean Familial Fever, Sarcoidosis, and Thallasemia.

The presence of a genetically inherited disease in your family which normally affects persons of genetic backgrounds that don't agree with your believed background can provide clues to your true genetic makeup.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF ANCESTORS

Look at photos and descriptions of early ancestors and evaluate their appearance against Melungeon characteristics such as skin tone and eye color.

However, don't put a lot of faith in this test since the appearance of Melungeons can vary widely even within the same immediate family group.

HOW YOUR ANCESTORS WERE REGARDED BY OTHERS

Look at personal recollections, court appearances or depositions, and nicknames your ancestors were given by their contemporaries. (For example, one of my great-great uncles was known by everyone as Black Leonard and another distant relative was known as Black Ike).

Were your ancestors regarded as strange or different for no apparent reason? Did later generations refuse to talk about certain ancestors while gushing over others?

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