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Lost Colony Center Seeking Descendants for DNA Testing

 
Prior to being chosen governor, John White accompanied a 1585 expedition to what was then known as Virginia. There he produced a series of drawings and watercolors of the everyday life of local Native Americans. Theodor de Bry later engraved these scenes from White’s renderings. White also compiled the above map of the North Carolina coast, which was also engraved by de Bry and published in 1590.

A new effort to solve the mystery of the Lost Colony is underway, using historical records, migration patterns, oral histories and the latest scientific archaeological tools of the 21st century, including DNA. Some 168 surnames in this area have been identified as names of interest. Recent findings have lead researchers to believe some members of the Lost Colony did survive and their descendants are among us now. The Lost Colony Center for Science and Research held a symposium in September at the Farm Life Academy (home of the Lost Colony Center for Science and Research) and the Holiday Inn, Williamston, NC.
http://www.lost-colony.com/DNAsymposium.html

The 168 names can be found here along with articles about the Lost Colony of Roanoke.
http://the-lost-colony.blogspot.com/

For additional information on The Lost Colony Symposium on DNA and Research, contact Roberta Estes or visit http://www.lost-colony.com. For news of the project as it unfolds visit here: http://the-lost-colony.blogspot.com/

 Melungeons Attend Gathering at Turkish Mission in New York

 
Brent Kennedy (center, in wheelchair) with MHA delegates and University of Istanbul alumni in New York City.
Brent Kennedy, still recovering from a severe stroke suffered in December 2005, joined a delegation from the Melungeon Heritage Association for a meeting of organized by the University of Istanbul Alumni Association-USA (ÝÜMEZUNUSA http://www.iumezusa.org ) at the United Nations Plaza on Saturday, 2 June 2007.

Along with Kennedy, Melungeon delegates included MHA president S. J. Arthur, vice-president Wayne Winkler, and secretary Toney Kirk, along with Richard Kennedy (Brent's brother) and members of their band The Kennedy Brothers, who performed at the event.

ÝÜMEZUNUSA President Ali Çýnar delivered the opening speech and Professor Türker Özdoðan said Melungeons have attended several meetings in Washington as guests of Turkish associations, but never one on this scale.

Kennedy, author of The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People, theorized in 1994 that the Melungeons descended in part from Turks and others from the old Ottoman Empire. DNA results from several individual Melungeons indicate that at least some ancestors did, in fact, originate in or near present-day Turkey. Former Consul General of the U.S. in Istanbul, David Arnett, said that he discovered redently that not only did he share Melungeon heritage, but that DNA results indicated a large percentage of Turkish ancestry.

MHA vice-president Winkler said that while the Melungeons acknowledge ancestry from many sources, they are, for various reasons, not always acknowledged or accepted by those ancestors. "From the start, the Turkish people have welcomed us as brothers and sisters," Winkler said. "And the Melungeons will not forget it."

U. S. House Approves Recognition

The U.S. House of Representatives approved two long-stalled bills to recognize as sovereign entities the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and the Virginia-based Chickahominy, Eastern Division Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan and Nansemond tribes.

The Virginia Senate debate has no immediate start date, with reports that the commonwealth's two senators are taking their time getting up to speed on the bill's language and implications. Among the concerns is a prohibition of gaming, a precedent in federal recognition legislation. Sovereignty at a cost is water under the bridge, each Virginia tribe reiterating their disinterest in gaming. ''If we wanted to game, we wouldn't have had to resort to bake sales and carwashes to pay for our lobbyist,'' said Stephen Adkins, Chickahominy tribal chief, referring to earlier offers by lobbyists to help the tribe with their quest.