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Curtis Christy declared: " ... I am simply pointing out that you can’t, on the one hand, attempt to rule out the African origin because of a lack of written evidence, while continuing to cling to every other etymological grab bag without applying the same standard. But whereas the 'may be from mélange' comment is OBVIOUSLY an opinion, the Melungu origin follows the illiterate Angolans across the sea, and through the Gap. AND it is an origin about which NONE of the writers would have had ANY opinion since they knew neither Portuguese or Angolan … much less the history of the Melungeon’s trek from the coastal regions to the ridges. HAD they known any one of the three, their opinions would surely have addressed the expression Melungu or, at least, the possibility of the word originating in Africa rather than coming from French! Even Dutch would make more sense because the Dutch briefly had control of Angola. But—in spite of goofy arguments from Francophiles—there is no serious relationship between the Melungeons OR their neighbors and the French. Yes, there was one family that was French, and maybe those who worked for them, but could one family, in one generation have labeled all the groups, and across that span to distance and time? Please be serious."
Curtis Christy,
Alright. Let's do get serious. If these Angolan indentured servants were avidly self identifying as "melungeon", or any variation thereof, then why are they not identified as such in Jamerstown records? Surely this initial cargo of Angolan humanity was not the only boatload of Angolan humanity. Why would this cargo use the term and not all the other cargoes of comrades? If other slaves did later use such a term among themselves and the term was picked up colloquially by the masters of these slaves, what would keep these paler people from applying the term to dark people they later discovered enclaved within the backcountry Amerind homelands who were self identifying as Portaghee?
Lucy Suder
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