There appear to be lots of strains mixed up in them. In some of the old photos, many look Romani/Indian (dot, not feather; though there’s probably feather in there too.)
if anyone has a name listed here you might want to look into this..especially if you have relatives from tennessee
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/coremelungeon/about/background
“If you can’t test to show this direct line in your family, you may have someone tested who does. If you are a female, you test a brother, or male cousin who goes back to the Melungeon ancestor.
Some names are Bunch, Goins, Gibson, Minor, Collins, Williams, Goodman, Denham,Bolin, Mullins, Moore, Shumake, Bolton, Perkins, Mornings, Menleys, Breedlove,Hopkins, Mallett, with various spellings of these names. More names maybe added as our research continues.”