A reply to Ned and Nancy re multiethnic communities:
 
The topic of polyethnic-multiracial households and communities that
you mentioned is controversial yet fascinating.  Much of North
America, due to the inherent character of colonization and
globalization, nurtured multiethnic communities throughout its history
and historical archaeology offers a good way of potentially generating
new information on the subject.  Concerning the Melungeons, I recently
wrote a graduate seminar paper and SHA conference paper that discussed
the topic within the broader theme of multiethnic communities and
triracial households.  Among contemporary Melungeon descendants
researching their heritage, some writers adhere to the "Lost Tribes-Lost
Explorers" origin myths and legends (e.g. Brent Kennedy 1994, The
Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People, An Untold Story of
Ethnic Cleansing in America, Mercer University Press) while other
descendant writers recognize (as is commonly accepted by
anthropologists)that they are the progeny of multiracial parents (e.g.,
Mike McGlothlen 1994, Melungeons and Other Mestee Groups, distributed by
the author, Gainesville, Florida).  Contemporary scholars that quickly
dismiss the research validity of the Melungeons as uninformed nonsense
do not consider that because of the origin myths, people of racially
mixed heritage in Southern Appalachia were able to circumvent the racial
order prevalent in the Antebellum South.  In many instances they owned
land and voted.  During the era that witnessed slavery and the removal
of Native Americans by the government these rights were often denied to
free persons of color in many places.  Concerning eastern North America,
a good source on the topic of multiethnic communities is the UC-Berkeley
dissertation (1950) and article (1953 in Annals of the Association of
American Geographers 43) by cultural geographer Edward Price.  For
New England, Ken Feder's 1994 book, entitled A Village of Outcasts:
Historical Archaeology and Documentary Research at the Lighthouse Site,
focuses on the material record associated with a small, peripheralized
village inhabited by Native Americans, freed African-American slaves,
and marginalized European Americans.  All said, the topic of polyethnic
communities and households is interesting and a relevant context for
potentially locating archaeological assemblages containing several
contrasting material traditions.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Mark Groover
1028-B Carriage Drive
Aiken, South Carolina 29803
 
Email:  [log in to unmask]
Tel:    (803)648-5257
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