Melungeons were a distinct, endogamous Appalachian people (especially in Hawkins Co., TN; SW Virginia; eastern Kentucky) with European, African, and Native American ancestry. \t•\tBecause Melungeons were mixed-ancestry and lived outside clear racial categories, census takers often labeled them as “mulatto,” “free people of color,” “Indian,” or even “white”—sometimes changing labels from one census to the next.#melungeon #americas #history #genology