SURVIVING INDIAN GROUPS—GILBERT 
Chickahominy, Pamunkey, Matta- 
pony, Rappahannock, and the Nanti- 
coke of Delaware have for some years 
been organized as the revived Pow- 
hatan Confederacy of Indians. 
West of the Nansemond in South- 
ampton County between Sebrell and 
Courtland, there are asserted to be 
still remaining remnants of the Not- 
toway Tribe. 
Piedmont and Blue Ridge Indian mixed- 
bloods.—Beginning with Rappahan- 
nock County in the north and contin- 
uing southward along the Blue Ridge 
through Rockbridge and Amherst 
Counties and striking directly south- 
ward to Halifax County on the North 
Carolina border we find small colonies 
of mixed people who claim Indian 
descent and are most generally called 
Issues. 
Amherst County Issues. —This group of 
about 500 or 600 mixed-bloods is lo- 
cated in the central part of Amherst 
County about 4 or 5 miles west of the 
county seat. The principal settle- 
ments are on Bear Mountain and 
Tobacco Row Mountain in the Blue 
Ridge. At the extreme western end of 
the county is another mixed group of 
similar origin derived from Indian, 
white, and, in some localities, Negro 
blood. An Episcopal mission for the 
Issues is located 3 miles west of Sweet 
Briar College and comprises a school 
and other facilities. 
The typical Issue is a very rich 
brunette with straight black hair and 
Caucasian features. The chief family 
names are Adcox, Branham, Johns, 
Redcross, and Willis. In the bottoms 
the Issues raise tobacco, while on the 
slopes corn and oats are cultivated. 
They are mostly renters and truck 
farmers. ‘The white neighbors of these 
people are said to regard them as 
mulattoes. The term “Issue” is ap- 
plied to mixed-bloods of the same type 
in many of the counties of Virginia. 
Rockbridge County Brown People-—To 
the northwest of Amherst County in 
Rockbridge County is a small group 
located on Irish Creek, not more than 
12 miles east of Lexington, Va., and 
419 
called Brown People. Their number 
is estimated as over 300 and they show 
a mixture of white, Indian, and oc- 
casionally Negro blood. Like the Is- 
sues of Amherst County they are a 
group apart from both whites and 
Negroes. 
Melungeons or Ramps.—In the coun- 
ties located in the extreme western 
corner of Virginia are to be found 
scattered groups of mixed-bloods 
called Melungeons or Ramps. ‘These 
people rozm the mountain regions of 
Virginia, southern West Virginia, 
Tennessee, and Kentucky, and origi- 
nally claimed Portuguese descent. 
The Virginia Melungeons are found 
on the mountain ridges such as Copper 
Ridge, Clinch Ridge, and Powell 
Valley in Lee and Scott Counties, in 
the vicinity of Coeburn and Norton in 
Wise County, near Damascus in Wash- 
ington County, and in the western 
Dismal area of Giles County. No esti- 
mate of their numbers is available but 
they probably amount to several 
thousands. They show dark skins 
with straight or curly black hair and 
high cheek bones. Formerly they 
lived by raising a little corn, hunting, 
fishing, digging roots, gathering herbs, 
and doing odd jobs for their neigh- 
bors. In recent years they have taken 
to mining and cultivation in the better 
areas of bottom lands. The chief 
family names of Melungeons in this 
area are Bolen, Collins, Gibson or 
Gipson, Freeman, Goins, and Sexton. 
Summary on Virginia Indians.—The 
remnants of Indian blood in Virginia 
can be divided into the Tidewater 
group and the Piedmont-Blue Ridge 
group. Both have lost the Indian 
languages and traditions almost en- 
tirely, but the former still maintains 
tribal organization and in some in- 
stances territorial reservations. The 
upland group shows no tribal organ- 
ization but tends to retain traditions 
of Indian origin. 
14. North Carolina 
This State probably has the greatest 
number of pure-blood Indians of any 
