When I was little I referred to my maternal grandmother as Black Gramma and I am as white as they come. My grandmother, though, was dark skinned with dark, curly hair and broad facial features that looked Native American to me. She was from that area of Eastern KY and told a story about her father being a Cherokee man who wasn't allowed to marry her mother so he left. I sensed there was a lot of shame in their poverty and lack of family bonds and the stories don't all add up to paint a clear picture of what happened all of those years ago. i am proud to be from such hard working people. I know they struggled on so many levels.

I’m 73 years in my journey and this is the first I’ve heard of the Melungeon people. Thanks so much for sharing.

I never knew my dad's parents, but have seen pictures. My grandfather was very dark, with light eyes, as was My Dad. My siblings and I used to wonder where his ancestors were from.. I had my DNA done and have North African, Spanish, Portuguese, Scottish, Irish, Italian and Scandinavian. Once I learned about Melungeon people it all made sense. Thank you!

James was my husband. My family name is Kakaruk. Every one in Alaska by that name literally is related both sides, I think there are 35 of us total in U.S. and I'm the only one not living in Alaska because I ran away at 8. Interesting enough, a visit to the Ukrain , to my shock, also revielled a very small family of about 15 or less with same last name and abviously looked like my grandfather and uncles, cousins in Alaska, down to the cheekbones, long toes and ability to darken in summer as well as our beautiful eyes! Imagine my shock. By chance and a wrong turn and I'm looking into the eyes of a man that could be my twin, thousands of miles from Alaska. After we started a while, it was clear he was as surprised. He got other family to come and it was obvious. I wrote our name in English, then Russian. His I'd was spelt exactly the same. I can pass for white but get me around northern tribes and it's obvious I'm not. My height puts me well above the Eskimo men. The grey eyes wide apart and a obvious white streak in some of their hair also evident. Mine white has increased with age. Oddly, the person I was there with was as shocked as I and took pics of us together. Other than my obvious western clothes, it was obvious we are related! I never had biological children due to early abuse but by some maricle, our name, grey eyes and unique genetics is going on oceans away. God has a plan and it humbles me!

I liked the way that he kept saying “ that they would do this or that “like anybody else”. That’s the story of all of us, if we would only respect each other because we’re just like anybody else.

What a fabulous story teller. It's a dying art. His style is perfect. Laid back and soothing. Thank you Sir. God bless you.

I grew up in French Canada (Quebec), I thought that this may add to your quest for knowledge. The French verb Melanger, in the fourth tense (nous) is conjugated as follows: Nous Melangeons, which translates into English as We Mix… or a mixture. As the Louisiana Territory was sold to America, this info may not be too far fetched. I hope this puts a smile to your face!

My cousin is our family genealogist. She had DNA testing done on my dad's last 3 surviving siblings. The tests confirmed that we are Melungeon. I'm very proud of my heritage. Thank you for this video. The photos are wonderful. 👵🤗❤

The diversity of America is amazing. It has been forgotten in today's polarization.

This video used to be on yt and now isn't but, they found some Cherokee burial mounds in one of the valleys the TVA was gonna flood. They clled in the archaeologists and dug it up. They found copper smelting operation with X shaped copper cast plates and ceramics and took them to the McClung Museum, about 1930. In 1900, off the coast of Turkey, a Cretan shipwreck was discovered and it contained copper X shaped cast plates and ceramics identical to the ones in Tennessee. Somebody noticed the similarities and asked the McClung for some samples of the clay and the copper and then went to Turkey and asked them for the same. They were an exact match. The copper was from Michigan, the clay was Tennessee. Cretan miners had been smelting Michigan copper in Tennessee clay. They went looking for Cretan DNA among the Cherokee and found fourteen markers, whatever that means. They found 100 Cretan words in the Cherokee language that sound and mean the same as Cretan. Yeah, that video's GONE. The truth is, that the ancient world had regular contact with the Americas. Right along. Columbus wasn't the first or even the hundredth European to come here.

My daddy is from that region of Virginia and he’s told us all our lives that my granddaddy was Black Dutch. He told us that he really couldn’t tell us exactly what kind of blood line we had because it was so many.To this day he will refer to them as “ family from the old country “. I love reading about them.

I am tri-racial and both of my parents have one melungeon parent. From what I understand the way you know for sure is by last name, especially for the WV group. My great-grandpa (and grandma until she married) was Croston. So we know his lines' origins. Its trickier for the more southern groups like the one that my grandfather on my fathers' side came from. We had a DNA test done on his side and it came back mostly GB, but also Ghana and unknown native american. Such a cool group to be a part of and very very foundationally American.

I’m a “Triracial” Mexican American guy who has Spanish, native indigenous, and African ancestry all of them being in the 20% and above. Watching this video really fascinated me as we have similar admixtures and can often times look the same, or similar to the Melungeon people. Many people who are Afro-Latino share similar genetic makeups, stemming from Euro, Indigenous, and African DNAs. It’s all so fascinating to me. All in all we’re all human and that’s what really matters at the end of the day.

I'm in my 60s, and I had never heard of the Melungeon people until I stumbled across this video. Thank you so very much for sharing, and for enlightening me (and others, I am sure!) Great video!

I am Melungeon! Native/Oglala Sioux, Portuguese & African American! We are the 2nd tri race that exists. Creole is the other & it's more well known. My dad had a genealogist work for him & she traced my dad's side! Im also Shawnee b/c my ancestor John Goode was captured WITH Daniel Boone but he didn't make the history books! I am extremely proud to have ALL these races in my blood line! TY for this video! Some stupid peeps think Melungeon isn't a race but it most DEFINITELY is! TYSM!

Thank you very much for having my grandpa and grandma that we knew. My mother died so she took her and her sister in to raise as her own. Thank you again. I love seeing them and hearing you speak as you did. They were a lost tribe and We really don't know who we are. Hope you have a blessed life I'm almost 70 years old and my mother died young about 46 I think I was 6 years old. I just can't thank you enough. I've only sat here and cried . over and over again, because I would love to know who I am . Well I do know I am a child Of GOD the Father. So that is the best for now.

Your theory makes a lot of sense. They had nowhere to go, so they stayed in the mountains where the natural resources were plentiful and could sustain them.

I'm 51 years old , and this is the first time I've ever heard of these people. Thank you for this! Hopefully an American History teacher will stumble upon this and continue to share to our future, so that we won't lose the past.😎

Mr. Laws I really appreciate your videos because they take me back home to a time that has long since passed. Today I am so appreciative of your posting the DNA results from the Melungeon Project. I took the fingerprint plus test with DNA consultants and all of the native american tests they offered and I have all of those results that you posted and this tells me that my native american was a melungeon as I suspected. Two brothers both married Melungeon women in my family and in both cases they are referred to as Native Americans only now we know just how Native they were. My people were living in the State of Franklin area and then went over the mountain to North Carolina. By posting that information you are helping a lot of people. Good on you. I wish you great success with your channel. I feel like you're family. Thank you so much.

I heard alot of runaway people from alot of groups ended up in this part of the country because it was too rough of terrain for the authorities to go looking for just a small handful of fugitives.The locals figured since you made it this far you might as well stay.And so they had families with the locals to the point one's personal history got lost and couldn't be traced.So the narrator's theory makes a whole lot of sense to me.

My childhood friend was a Melungeon, and gave me insight to an unusual trait that's been carried on: she told me to run my tongue over the top of my mouth, and if there was a prominent ridge, you are Melungeon. She had blondish hair growing up, very light skinned, as was all her people. Giving me insight into her heritage 50 years later made me realize even more than ever, that you never know who you're looking at, or assuming you know their heritage just by being in the same proximity. I love and miss my friend, Corlette Bridgewater Murray. Rest in Heaven.

As a proud Melungeon, thanks for this kind assessment. I, too, think some of the Spanish expedition stayed here in the mountains. 💚

My mother's maternal line is Melungeon from Claiborne county TN. I'm as German, English and Scots-Irish as they come, but my Ancestry DNA results have that Cameroon, Congo & Southern Bantu Peoples box checked! I literally look adopted put between my mother and grandma. They're both olive complexioned with dark brown (almost black) hair, green eyes, strong cheekbones, sharp noses and have very petite frames. We know for fact my grandma's mother's mother was part Cherokee. What the other parts were, we can only guess. But she looked exactly like the woman at 6:30!! Genetics is so fascinating!

Thank you for making this video. Your theory is a good one and corresponds with the historical evidence of De Soto's expedition. I always wondered about my grandfather from Floyd Co., Kentucky, who lived back in the hollers and hills, and his origins. He and his family didn't look like typical Appalachians, as he had an olive complexion and jet-black hair. When I did a 23 and Me DNA test, I discovered that in addition to being majority British and German, I was 3% Spanish, 1% Black, and 1% Asian-Native American. My grandfather was a Melungeon.

Your theory about deserters from De Soto's army being ancestors of the Melungeons makes the most sense. Apparently De Soto's army was a mixed bunch of Europeans, not just Spaniards. There may well have been Turks and northern Africans amongst this mercenary army. Apparently De Soto was a cruel leader of his army and very sick or injured soldiers were often abandoned . Survivors from these may have been adopted by the local AmerIndian tribes.

I saw a documentary many years ago, saying that Melungeons were descended from Turkish, and Portuguese sailors that came over on ships with the first Spanish explorers. They didn't know if the sailors chose to stay, or were abandoned; but they have established dna connections to those people in Europe. They intermarried with native Americans, Africans, and Europeans. In Turkey, the have a day of celebration every year in honor of those cousins who are still in the US. My best friend, from high school's Mother was from that region. If you saw her picture as a young woman, you would swear she was Portuguese! It's amazing to me how strong those genealogical traits carry on!

I first learned about the Melungeon People when I researched Abraham Lincoln in the 1980's. There are many who believe that he was also Melungeon due to his course hair and dark complexion. I also believe there are many other famous Americans who were also Melungeon or had Melungeon ancestry that we may know from history. But I want to give you a big "thumbs up" for your comments about DeSoto's men. I really think you are on to something! I really believe further research about DeSoto's expedition, may reveal a little more information that would give credence to your theory! Lastly, all Americans have unique backgrounds. None of us picked our ancestors or our parents or how we came to this great land, but we are all part of this society. Your film is another part of American History. I hope more people will take off their blinders to look and listen. We all need to hear each other's stories, no matter who we are or where we come from. Thank you for this very interesting presentation.

I just learned one of my distant ancestors was Mulongeun. He was English, Irish, Tuscarora, and Angolan.

“Stuff they don’t want you to know” podcast was the first time I heard of these people. They said in the 1500’s black and white indentured servants intermarried in Virginia. When the laws turned to chattel slavery for black people, they all moved west into the Appalachians and stuck to themselves. The myths about them being the Phoenicians and Portuguese was a survival tactic so they weren’t treated like black people were in those times.

My ex husband was Melungeon I had never heard of them before he told me about them. His mother could pass as white with blue eyes and he looked biracial with beautiful long curly hair. When he explained he was truly triracial it was the first I’ve ever heard of such a thing! I have white in my roots and 3 Native tribes but I present as a black woman and he’s a black man but you can clearly see the multiple races within him.

I've never heard of the Melungeon people but I like how you describe them as hardworking people just like everyone else in Appalachia. The conviction in your voice makes me feel like not everyone feels the way you do and you have a history of sticking up for people who may be targeted. I really enjoyed stumbling upon this video.

Some of my ancestors were Melungeon as well. I’m from northeast Tennessee and I love your channel. I’m currently in Connecticut and listening to your voice brings me a sense of peace. Thank you

Doesn’t matter where we come from. The people of the Appalachian mountains are just like any body else. Just good people raising their families and trying to survive. Thanks Donny for bringing this to our attention. I descend from Damascus Virginia and love hearing and learning about the Appalachian people.

My Nenaw’s people were from this area of Tennessee and fit’s this description. Her DNA is exactly what is listed. She was very dark completed, Smokey grey eyes and black, curly hair. When they moved to Louisiana, they were labeled “Mulato” and then when she married and moved to SE Texas, everyone thought she was Mexican. My entire life people asked what I was and I had no answer’s. Depending on the region of the U.S…I was a military wife, people assumed I was one ethnicity or another. IE…creole if Louisiana, Hispanic if in Texas, Native American in Arkansas, African American when in North Carolina, etc… I’m going to contact this organization and send them our Ancestry DNA result’s. Thank you so much for this information!!!!

I wholeheartedly stand by your theory. Makes the most sense to me.

My ancestors came from the land of the Melungeon and they settled in the Cumberland Plateau in the early 1800’s. . Some of my ancestors came from Lee Co Va in the late 1700’s to Lee County Ky (Estill Co) in the 1830’s. Many family members still remain there. Some of the mix came from from the western Islands, and my natives ancestors were from the land of the Melungeon. Thank you for sharing this part of American history about the people of the Melungeon land.

I love learning about lesser known history of the USA. Thx for sharing.

I've studied and thought a lot about the Melungeons through the years. As an eastern Kentucky teacher, I saw students who I thought looked "Melungone," a mixture of dark skin, often blue-eyed, always dark haired kids. Often their last names were right in line with some of the names I've run across in my readings. It's a fascinating mystery. Your theory makes sense.

I really enjoyed this, learning about historical mysteries, accompanied by authentic photos. The narrator's voice is warm and comforting. Makes you feel like you're curled up at his feet on a shaggy rug in front of the fireplace.

I am so pleased with this! Open knowledge and history is a true gift. Thank you. I am grateful for your stories and respectful recollections.

I'm in my late 60's & have never heard of the Melungeon People. Thank you for putting this on You Tube. I try to learn something new everyday & this is it for today. So much lacking in our history/social study classes.

Thank you for doing this video. It was tough as a kid trying to explain why my mom's side of the family came in such a variety of color, eye color, etc. As to this day MELUNGEONS still live separate in visual appearance (passing as white) in American society to seek out a better life for their families. My grandfather is pure Melungeon, and a Goins which I noticed was on a certificate you showed. Goins is one of the many surnames of MELUNGEONS, which many have changed the spelling of as to not be excluded or detected by today's society. The things they went thru as a ppl to survive helps explain why they were mountain ppl. The part of Tennessee he is from & era they were shunned, mostly because whites couldn't tell what ethnicity they were so they pushed them up & kept them on the mountain. My grandfather is/was an extremely fair skinned Melungeon who was one of the few from his town who could move about more freely for work then some others but STILL lived on the mountain. It's so sad to go home to where he from to STILL SEE such bigotry where there is still WHITE ONLY CEMETERIES & MELUNGEONS SOMEWHERE ELSE because whites there today don't want to be buried with ppl with such diverse backgrounds. I am so proud of the things he did for his ppl to survive in spite of what he faced looking one way but sticking to his principles knowing what was wrongly being done to our ppl & still is. I celebrate ALL OF MY HERITAGE dispite what our government still wants to label us, as I encourage my children to do the same. Thank you again for this video AGAIN! Maybe now more of my ancestory can be in history books as a proud, strong ppl that should be celebrated.

Your theory is intriguing. I love history, and read a lot of it, but I'd never heard of the Melungeon people. Makes me want to learn more. Thank you for another wonderful video. I also love to look at old photographs, so I'm glad you include them.

Thank you, Donnie. I love your stuff. I have recommended it to others. Your soft, gentle voice and accent are the icing on the cake. I guess the cake is just really good content! I just spent a few weeks in the Shenandoah and West Virginia and I spent a lot of time thinking about the generations who lived there.

This was interesting, there are SO many "micro-heritages" in the US. My family history is "Volga German" or "Germans from Russia" farmers who fled persecutions in Germany to start farms in Russia; then in Russia and wound up 'breaking sod' in ND, SD, NE, KS. My 3rs generation US Dad spoke only German until WW 2, when family moved moved to town; and teachers only spoke English. It's funny how much you can find when you listen to older people, go through photo books with them, and look up geneologies.

Beautiful Theory. My roots are here in east Tn. Seeing Meulugeon people is rare nowadays. They are Truly unique. I'm sure we have some in my family tree. I have traveled this world in my lifetime and seen alot of people and places but there is no beauty out there more than here in East Tenn. I am so proud to call this my home. God is good!

I believe your theory probably has more merit than any other I've ever heard of . Makes a lot of sense when you think of it... I appreciate your videos / history of Appalachia and the culture.

I love hearing about people who lived a bit differently from long ago. Very interesting. I have heard of The Melungeons. Thanks for the info 😊

Glad to see a video on this. My grandpa talked of being Melungeon. At one time they were highly discriminated against. Did you know they weren’t allowed to buy property at one time? He had a lot of good stories to tell. The families had some strange traits that came through over generations. Blond with kinky hair, dark hair, dark skin, light skin, red heads, brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes.

Your theroy makes perfect sense. Once in the mountains folks didn't travel far. Siblings of one family, married siblings of others. I can't count how many double cousins I have. My family consists of Branham, Stanley, Ramsey, Ramey, Mullins, Senter, and Counts. I have one family member that is my Aunt because she married my Daddy's brother, but she's also a cousin because one of her Great Grandfather's and one of my Great Grandmother's we're half brother and sister. In my tree, the Stanley's, Ramey's and Senter's are the ones that did this the most. My Branham Grandfather knew my Grandmother since the ages of 8 and 6. They married in 1912 when he was 16 and she was 14. They had 11 children, 9 of those children lived to adulthood. One was stillborn and one passed before the age of 2. She gave birth to her first child the day before her 15th birthday. Two of the 11 are still living. Granny was 89 when she passed in January 1987 and Grandpa was 91 when he passed in August of the same year. He mourned himself to death. Had Granny lived to March 12, 1987 they would have celebrated their 75th anniversary. I am their youngest granddaughter. They were already married 51 years before I came along.

I think your theory is sound, and I feel it is likely correct. You have a great sense of intuition and knowledge of people, and I think it's great how you share this on your channel. Had never heard of these people. Fascinating video thank you. While there are some broad general types, like Caucasoid, Negroid, Mongoloid, humans have traveled and mixed so many times like this instance, race is certainly gray as opposed to black and white. Human history is fascinating and far older and more complex than many people think.

Your theory makes a lot of sense! That’s the first thing I thought of too, previous explorers. Great video! I love learning about the diversity, it’s beautiful. My first exposure to the Appalachian area was from a book named Christy. It’s about a woman who went to the Appalachian mountains to be a teacher back in the 1800’s. It’s an older book and it was more popular back in the 1980’s. I’m always interested in learning about that area because of that book. Thanks for the video!

Love your work, your voice is so calming. Your theory is actually really similar to what my grandparents told me. I heard them say we were melungeon, and their parents and grandparents were basically outcasts and eccentrics that were tired of the atrocious ways they were being told to settle. People of different races basically wandered off into the woods and found others around the Cumberland gap that had done the same.

My grandparents, from that area, always said the Melungeon were olive-skinned and they called them Portuguese. That was probably the most 'exotic' term they knew to describe them; I never heard them even consider Spanish or Mexican as a possibility. Also, Indian tribes can vary widely in appearance. It's good people are finally trying to research these interesting people! Thank you for posting this!

Came back to watch again. I could listen to you for days. My family came over the mountains and eventually settled on Lookout Mountain. Love your videos.

Hi Donnie, I find your theory entirely plausible. It makes sense. I enjoyed seeing all the photos. Thank you for sharing 🙏

Melungeon's are the epitome of "Diversity". They are truly unique in the entire world - ,and only here in America. I think that is so wonderful!

Scott-Irish here. My ancestors go back to the turn of the 19th Century in those mountains.

I respect anyone who lives WITH the land. We all need to be taking notes here. It took me a long time to see that living with the land would bring a contented happiness and satisfaction that nothing else ever came close to. It's a hard life sometimes, but it is so beautiful in it's simplicity.

The Tennessee Valley, Smoky Mountains, etc are some of the most beautiful places in the United States. It's home to me, I feel a deep connection to the South I visit my Grandma in Andersonville and its like a spiritual cleansing Such a rich history we ALL have. Ty for this video. I enjoy your calming voice and informative videos. God bless you 💛

I was told my grandmother was Black foot but in looking at photos of her. She could have been Melungeon. She was from Braxton County W. Va. Thank you for this delightful video. You have a great voice.

hey I'm Melungeon :) my dad worked a good bit with Brent Kennedy on different genealogical areas trying to figure out a connection. there's 2 popular theory's that ive heard that i personally like, if you have ever heard the Cherokee tale of the moon eyed people i think that's a possible lead as there has been archeological evidence of a Dutch settlement that predates Spanish and other European exploration but the fact of Melungeon's speaking broken English when encountered kinda busts that theory. the other theory that i like is the lost colony theory maybe when they fled with the Croatan that maybe they worked their way to the mountains via different indigenous trade routes it would explain them speaking broken english but not sure where the African ancestry comes in at be it run away slaves from the southern spanish settlements or what me personally thats my guess. i really want to thank you for putting this out to more people so they at least know we exist.

This is so interesting. I will be looking up more. I am not connected to these people, but I love cultural studies and history. May the Melungeon people be blessed. Thank you for this informative video!!

This was very informative. Thank you for so many adding their own family and friends stories that connected to this history

G'day Melungeon/Appalachian People, love hearing about who you are and where you come from - Cheers from Australia! Don't know if or when but a visit is on my (before I die) list. 🌞

I'm of melungeon descent through both of my parents families. Ive had multiple DNA tests done and no native American showed up. But Saharan, north African, Anatolian (Turkey), Greek, west Mediterranean, and a whole lot of Scottish showed up. I've always been curious what other melungeon descendants showed on there tests. I was told Cherokee on both sides but either I didn't inherit it, or it's not there. Great video!

This was a learning experience for me as I don't recall ever really knowing about this. Interesting and it makes sense for sure. Great job covering this subject. Your theory really does make sense to me.

Wise, informing, and beautiful visuals. None better. Keep 'em comin D.L. GBU.

This area was part of New France before the Louisiana purchase. Could Melungeon be a corruption of "melange" meaning mixed?

I’d heard of the term Meloungeon before from my Aunt who does genealogy. We’re from the southern WV portion of Appalachia. I always took it to be an old Appalachian term basically the same as Mulatto. I never realized that it was a mix of Native American also and the mystery behind it. Very interesting.

New subscriber here! I really enjoyed watching this video and hearing your theory about where these people came from. I grew up in Hancock County and went to school with several Mulungeon people. I was always fascinated by their unknown history. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. This brought back a lot of childhood memories. 😊

My goodness that was so interesting! I've never heard of these people before, so now I'm going off to do some more reading. Thank you for teaching me something new!

I had read years ago that Elvis' family was Melungeon. Makes sense, he had the dark hair, and bone structure but blue eyes. SO striking.

My Pawpaw always tells me he thinks he came from Melungeon People. I was skeptical for a bit (even though he does have dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes, I could tell he was European; I just suspected maybe he was Spanish/Portuguese/Italian). We do live in the Northwest Georgia mountains though, so it was possible we came from them. But I recently did my own DNA testing and while I was mostly British/Irish, I found from his side of the family I had some Spanish/Portuguese, Central Asian/Northern Indian and Pakistani, Broadly Central and South Asian, Congolese/Southern East African/Bantu, Filipino/Polynesian/Austronesian, & Chinese and Southeast Asian. (No Native American though.) So maybe he was right all along. It's crazy to think that, I--someone who always thought she was 100% European and definitely look it--have some small percentage of Melungeon in me from my Pawpaw. It's crazy, too, how some people just don't align up with our ideas and concepts of "race". It goes to show what a social construct "race" really is. Thanks for such an informative video. I love your accent by the way. It reminds me of my Pawpaw a little and the way he speaks.

Thank you Donnie. Love hearing your stories!!

Great video! I never heard of these people before. Thank you for producing it.

What a beautiful and interesting group of people. Thank you for making us acquainted with them. Your theory is likely spot on. And, your lovely voice and beautiful accent are like music.

From WV, your theory is a great one and possibly so true. My husband and I both are from WV and have been everywhere world wide. There is no place as beautiful as the Appalachia Mountains. When you walk the woods it is home for your soul and you need nothing. All the reason WV is called God's country.

I’m amazed at how helpful the comments have been! I wish you the best of luck in your search!

This is FASCINATING! I'm glad I stumbled across this channel

Perhaps we could say the Melungeon people exemplify the true idea of the "New World" of America -- All people blending and working together in a common brotherhood to live and help each other thrive. I definitely want to do some reading about them. Thank you, Mr. Donnie Laws, for introducing me and many others to these resilient people.

It's so good to see this!! My Momma always told me that my great-great-grandmother was Melungeon, but she suffered from Dementia and Parkinsons so I wasn't able to get much info from her the last 20 years or so before she passed last year 😥. Both of my parents and I were born in Lee County, Virginia. We lived in VA, KY, and TN, we moved around a lot, until we moved to Florida in 1975 for good. I've hated it ever since! We lived in Cumberland Gap in a huge two-story brick home with a handful of fireplaces in it, just down the road from the Iron Furnace. That water came out of Cujo's Cavern and was cold as ice and we played in it every chance we got! There was a trail that left from the furnace that took you to a point where KY, VA, and TN met! As a kid that was the coolest thing to walk around and be in 3 states almost at once 😁 I had the best childhood, until we moved to Florida. The brick house we lived in was bought by the historical society as soon as we moved out. Oh, I can't put my hands on the picture right now!! I hate it when that happens! It was right next door to a Pentacostal (I think) church that handled snakes and my Momma was scared to death of snakes! Me and Daddy just laughed because we weren't afraid of snakes! Sorry for the long post, but it just caught me by surprise, very pleasantly, and I miss home so so much 😢 💔 Now I just HAVE to do my DNA! Rumor has it that my aunt on Momma's side (her side is very wealthy and uppity 😝☹️😤) was doing genealogy and it was a HUGE project. Apparently she found "people of color", blacks and Indians, all of a sudden and just as suddenly, the whole project stopped. 😠🙄 I haven't really had anything to do with either side since they dragged me to Florida against my will except for my grandparents and they have long ago passed. Thank you so much for all of the info!! It has sparked my interest again in my heritage and I sure do hope Momma was right!! That we are part of this beautiful and diverse group of people ❤️

So I just I think it’s awesome and I just wanna say thank you, Mr. Donnie laws I find it really amazing that you’ve decided to do a channel and teach people about such amazing and incredibly important subjects. I think these things are so underestimated so much way too often of how truly important stuff like this is and I just want to say thank you so much From the bottom of my heart and sincerely I mean that this is so cool. I love the videos you put on and it’s just fascinating in regard to the knowledge that you must have and effort to just gather this information and then express it and put it out there for us to learn. I think it’s amazing and the people that you’re talking about in the video I don’t want to pronounce the name because I’ll probably screw it up but I just wanted to say I think that is an incredible story because it really shows you that people of all different backgrounds and races, just different ideologies can come together and love each other and embrace each other and create something completely new And that’s what these people have done. They actually learn to love each other and work together to build communities mean do you know how beautiful that is and so amazing and I mean these people could teach us something very important. They can teach us that people when they are together or they live in a certain area and they’re all from different backgrounds, races, and ideologies. That they can still come together and grow strong and become a people that embraces one another and loves one another and works together for the better good of all of them and their families and their community. I think it’s really amazing and it should be known better amongst Americans much more than it obviously is. What a beautiful story. Truly, I would bet that the Lord father God, our creator is probably very proud and very happy and finds joy in the fact that these people were able to do that and love each other and grow and work together in the sense become one because that’s what they did. nothing perfect no one except for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m sure these people had differences at times and maybe even fought with each other somewhat but the bigger story in the most important one is that they ended up becoming a separate group in the way that they bonded together to create something new, which is a beautiful thing. thank you for the video it’s an amazing thing and so is this channel. God bless.

It reminds me alot of the Lumbee tribe here in NC as well.. so very interesting! You have definitely earned yourself a new subscriber sir and might I add that you have an amazing story telling voice. It's going in my unintentional ASMR file..lol.. ✌️♥️😊🐶

People who were thought to be Appalachian but were actually Melungeon were Abe Lincoln, Elvis Presley, Ava Gardner, Johnny Depp, Cher, George Clooney, Loretta Lynn, Tom Hanks and more. Beautiful people with dark eyes and hair. How wonderful to celebrate who we are and where we come from.

Wow your voice is soooooo soooooothing! I fall asleep listening to audiobooks on the regular. If you could do even a few of them oh my God I would die from happiness! Also love history, so dude best of both worlds! Please don't ever stop!

I think your theory contains some very good logic . I find your video's well done and with a nice relaxing manner , and I thank you , Sir .

Narrator has a great voice! Thank you for sharing this, I'm sure there are stories that will never be told that should be part of our American heritage.

When I saw the title of your video, I actually said aloud, "Well, there's something I've never heard of... why not?" Thanks for putting in the time and effort to teach me something today!

Hi Donnie, I just bought A couple of the books you suggested. We continue to mention you in our prayers and look forward to your return. God bless

Your voice is so relaxing. Plus the nice music makes it perfect. Thanks for the insight.

I live in western N.C., as my family has for generations. One of my children was born with a birthmark , on their rear end mind you ! Questioned our doctor about it and he said it was common among people of Mediterranean decent and he brought up the Melungeon people and their story ! I found many stories and theories . I did a dna test 2 years ago and like many people in this area , I had a large portion of Irish, Scotch ,and Welsh , and to my surprise a large portion of Spanish and Portugeese ! Maybe a mystery solved !

My family tree includes Melungeons, who lived mostly in the mountains. When I was small, my family referred to the dark-skinned Melungeon set of the Trent family members, as “Blackbird Trents” and the lighter skinned Trent family members, as the “Snowbird Trents”. (Same with the Gibson families). This wasn’t a derogatory reference, at all. It was simply a way to refer to the correct clan of Trents, in a conversation. I’m guessing there were two sets of Trents/Gibsons due to marriage between cousins, which was quite common for mountain folks, back then. Fascinating!

You do such a wonderful job!!!! I love your channel !!! I love to learn and I really like history !!!!! So thank you for what you do !!!!! I really enjoy your channel here on UKposts !!!!!

What a beautifully diverse group of people! Incredible. I believe your theory makes plenty of sense. Thank you for telling their story!

In all of my years, this is the first time I've ever heard of the Melungeon people. I will say that your theory makes sense and would support the assertion of Spanish and Mexican slaves being "deserters" from the DeSoto expedition. Perhaps more weight towards the slaves as the 55% DNA results showed. This is an interesting story and a very fascinating bit of history. Thanks for making a video of it.

My great grandmother was a very dark lady from around flag pond TN. She came across the mountains to settle with her husband in madison County nc. She was a Ray and married into the Shelton family. I was called a black Shelton in school. She was a grand ole lady who knew the woods really well. Thanks for the video!

Donnie... What you mention as a theory about Fernando de Soto (Spaniard Conquistador) was part of my high school classes and courses on the history of Spanish colonization (1980 - 1983) in Puerto Rico. These were books written in Spanish, of course. In fact my wife who is Puerto Rican like me is Fernando de Soto descendant. Wonderful video very informative.

Darn good theory. Well done. I just started watching recently and I love history of any kind. Thanks.

This is a fascinating subject. I spent 13 years in ET going to grad school at UT and working at various newspapers. I would run into Melungeons at various place, including the Ramp Festival in Cosby and the Museum of Appalachia in Norris (a gem of a place founded by John Rice Irwin with a very interesting background story), and even they had a variety of stories about their origins. The DeSoto theory was one that I heard, along with origins from Portugal and Turkey. In the 1980s Hancock and Hawkins counties still had a surprising number of the independent farmsteads and properties that you describe, and there were indeed Melungeons around. The people of those counties were quite clannish and suspicious of most strangers, although not ugly to others; just careful. Many still enjoyed their isolation. You have to imagine that the area became home to many people who for various reasons shunned "civilized" behavior and government (escaped slaves for one, also Cherokees who were not sent west), and that tradition was still in vogue at that time.