Melungeon Melungeon (mɛlʌndʒʌn) is a term traditionally applied to one of a number of "tri-racial isolate" groups of the Southeastern United States, mainly in the Cumberland Gap area of central Appalachia: east Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and east Kentucky. Tri-racial describes populations thought to be of mixed (1) European, (2) sub-Saharan African, and (3) Native American ancestry. [2] Although there is no consensus on how many such groups exist, estimates range as high as 200. [3] Some self-identifying Melungeons dislike the term tri-racial isolate, believing that it has pejorative connotations, although the term Melungeon was also considered pejorative until the late 20th century.
