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Ah! A good, clarifying question. Answer:
Because they didn't "IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS" that. No! They USED the expression "melungu" amongst themselves--verbally, of course (since they couldn't write), and they used it selectively, the way an Italian would say, "Paisan" to another Italian, far from home. The word Melungeon can only have evolved as an expression related to the people who referred to each other, called out to each other, saluted each other, and comforted each other with this expression referring back to their shared experience ... the thing that held the group together, and--at the same time--kept them separate from the "others" ... both White and Indian. But as they took in more and more outsiders to wife, they became more and more LIKE both groups. Some split off to the one, some to the other, and some stayed in the mixed group, no doubt contuing the use of the expression which eventually came to characterize them as "Melungeons." After some generations, the expression was known to them--as having been passed down, and to their neighbors ABOUT them--from having heard it or having been told it. In fact, it is possible that it was the explanation of that expression that led to some of the Portuguese myth ... i.e., in explaining the origin of the word. I don't know when the word first appeared in a Portuguese dictionary, but apparently the Portuguese adopted it after some contact with te Angolans to the extent that it became a Portuguese word, also. If some knew it was a word used by the Portuguese (like before they left the coastal regions), then the very USE of the expression would have strengthened the argument (in the minds of those who needed to be fooled), that the were descendants of the dusky, curly (and highly mixed) Portuguese.
I have been warned, Lucy--as you must realize--that you will attempt to wear me down. Please don't do that. Be satisfied that these are my views. At some point I will stop quibbling ... although so far I think the hair-splitting has been useful.
Curtis friend9
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