[R. Scott]

The MRC believes these settlers came to the coast of South Carolina in 1567 under the leadership of a Spanish captain, Juan Pardo. The settlers consisted of approximately 250 soldiers, their wives and children.

That would explain how the early The French found them in 1690 in the western Carolina mountains.

(Kennedy's theory challenged the most commonly accepted theory of Melungeon origin: that they were Appalachian "tri-racial isolates," a mixture of "poor" whites, African slaves and "renegade" Native Americans -- the definition, in fact, attached to Melungeon in Webster's Third New International Dictionary as recently as 15 years ago.)

It was true of the Seminole, it would be easy to make the assumption with the Melungeon.

[rudyudy]

Just curious why they don't accept what was reported back in the 1600's. They said they were "Portuguee". That would seem to me to be more reliable than someone's theory in 1993.