Melungeon: A member of a people mixed with White, Black,and
American Indian ancestry living in the southern Appalachians. -Dictionary.com
I recently returned from a short stay in the Outer Banks, which is a perfect family vacation destination on a group of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. There you can find kite flying on huge sand dunes, and hours of fun windsurfing in the Atlantic Ocean. Those interested in aviation will find the birthplace of flight exciting at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in honor of Wilbur and Orville Wright. And if you really love history, you have... Roanoke Island.
I stayed in Kill Devil Hills, NC in the Outer Banks, but of course the highlight for me, was my day trip down to Roanoke. I toured Roanoke Island Festive Park, an interactive family attraction that takes you back in time with a recreation of one of North America’s first settlements and a replica of a 16th century ship that made its way to the Outer Banks.
It was in the Outer Banks and specifically Roanoke Island, that the English attempted their first try at colonization. Spain had been in the game for some time. We all know the histories. By accident, Christopher Columbus landed on Hispaniola (today Haiti and Dominican Republic) in 1492. And by 1565, Spain it seems was all over the Americas and had colonized and founded St. Augustine, Florida, our oldest European city in the United States.
But finally in 1584, nearly twenty years later, the English competing against Spain for colonies in the New World, found their way to the Outer Banks. There Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, navigators for Sir Walter Raleigh encountered friendly Algonquian Native Americans, and convinced two of them, Manteo and Wanchese to return with them to England to meet the queen.
Seeing them as a non-threat, Manteo and Wanchese convinced Queen Elizabeth I to send settlers to the New World, and in 1585, the two Native Americans returned to Roanoke with 600 English men… soldiers, carpenters, smiths, cooks, shoemakers, and a minister.
On the island, the colonists turned to the Native Americans when they were low on food and supplies but relations with the natives soon became rocky when a Sir Richard Grenville accused the Native Americans of stealing a silver cup. So within a few months of arrival, the men were low on supplies and most wanted to go home. All but 108 returned back to England. And for those remaining, in 1586 an English explorer and privateer named Sir Francis Drake visited the colony after sacking the Spanish outpost of St. Augustine and offered them a ride back to England.
But here is where the story changes… To make room for the English colonists, Drake decided to leave some of his captured Moorish, Turkish, Spanish and South American Indian slaves behind in the Outer Banks. Nearly 400 slaves and prisoners were left behind. But what happened to them? Were they the first Lost Colony that history never retells because they were people of color? And where did these people of color disappear to? Did they make their way to the mainland to mingle with the natives and later West African runaway slaves to become the first group of mixed "race" people in North America, that some today call Melungeon?
When the English returned in 1587 with 150 additional men and woman, they found the original Roanoke settlement deserted and all the prisoners and slaves gone. Interesting enough, this second group of English settlers disappeared themselves after one of their leaders returned back to England for more food and supplies. When he returned to Roanoke, all 150 were gone and he found only the word “Croatoan” carved into a post. This mysterious disappearance of English folks makes up what is written and known as The Lost Colony. But few recognize that they weren’t the fist group to disappear.
Until my visit to Festival Park which included the Roanoke Adventure Museum, I did not realize that there were two Lost Colonies. I had read in my research about a Lost Colony Melungeon connection from Roanoke, but I could not see how that was possible, since all of the lost settlers in history books were from England, and in early mentions of the Melungeon people, Melungeons were dark-skinned. Now after this recent visit, these pieces of the puzzle have finally fallen into place. But the Lost Colony connection is just one theory of this early mixed group of people. I’ve written about another theory briefly in a previous post here.
American Indian ancestry living in the southern Appalachians. -Dictionary.com
I recently returned from a short stay in the Outer Banks, which is a perfect family vacation destination on a group of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. There you can find kite flying on huge sand dunes, and hours of fun windsurfing in the Atlantic Ocean. Those interested in aviation will find the birthplace of flight exciting at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in honor of Wilbur and Orville Wright. And if you really love history, you have... Roanoke Island.
I stayed in Kill Devil Hills, NC in the Outer Banks, but of course the highlight for me, was my day trip down to Roanoke. I toured Roanoke Island Festive Park, an interactive family attraction that takes you back in time with a recreation of one of North America’s first settlements and a replica of a 16th century ship that made its way to the Outer Banks.
It was in the Outer Banks and specifically Roanoke Island, that the English attempted their first try at colonization. Spain had been in the game for some time. We all know the histories. By accident, Christopher Columbus landed on Hispaniola (today Haiti and Dominican Republic) in 1492. And by 1565, Spain it seems was all over the Americas and had colonized and founded St. Augustine, Florida, our oldest European city in the United States.
But finally in 1584, nearly twenty years later, the English competing against Spain for colonies in the New World, found their way to the Outer Banks. There Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, navigators for Sir Walter Raleigh encountered friendly Algonquian Native Americans, and convinced two of them, Manteo and Wanchese to return with them to England to meet the queen.
Seeing them as a non-threat, Manteo and Wanchese convinced Queen Elizabeth I to send settlers to the New World, and in 1585, the two Native Americans returned to Roanoke with 600 English men… soldiers, carpenters, smiths, cooks, shoemakers, and a minister.
On the island, the colonists turned to the Native Americans when they were low on food and supplies but relations with the natives soon became rocky when a Sir Richard Grenville accused the Native Americans of stealing a silver cup. So within a few months of arrival, the men were low on supplies and most wanted to go home. All but 108 returned back to England. And for those remaining, in 1586 an English explorer and privateer named Sir Francis Drake visited the colony after sacking the Spanish outpost of St. Augustine and offered them a ride back to England.
But here is where the story changes… To make room for the English colonists, Drake decided to leave some of his captured Moorish, Turkish, Spanish and South American Indian slaves behind in the Outer Banks. Nearly 400 slaves and prisoners were left behind. But what happened to them? Were they the first Lost Colony that history never retells because they were people of color? And where did these people of color disappear to? Did they make their way to the mainland to mingle with the natives and later West African runaway slaves to become the first group of mixed "race" people in North America, that some today call Melungeon?
When the English returned in 1587 with 150 additional men and woman, they found the original Roanoke settlement deserted and all the prisoners and slaves gone. Interesting enough, this second group of English settlers disappeared themselves after one of their leaders returned back to England for more food and supplies. When he returned to Roanoke, all 150 were gone and he found only the word “Croatoan” carved into a post. This mysterious disappearance of English folks makes up what is written and known as The Lost Colony. But few recognize that they weren’t the fist group to disappear.
Until my visit to Festival Park which included the Roanoke Adventure Museum, I did not realize that there were two Lost Colonies. I had read in my research about a Lost Colony Melungeon connection from Roanoke, but I could not see how that was possible, since all of the lost settlers in history books were from England, and in early mentions of the Melungeon people, Melungeons were dark-skinned. Now after this recent visit, these pieces of the puzzle have finally fallen into place. But the Lost Colony connection is just one theory of this early mixed group of people. I’ve written about another theory briefly in a previous post here.
Interesting story.
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