What are the 13 main Sweetgum Kriyul tribes?
A list and brief description of each of the 13 main Sweetgum Kriyul tribes, which include the 3 main groups of the Melungeon tribe.

Brass Ankles of South Carolina:
The Brass Ankles of South Carolina, also called the Brass Ankles, are one of the 13 main Sweetgum Kriyul tribes. Sweetgum Kriyul refers to a broad range of different Tri-Racial Isolate Communities (TRIC) in Eastern North America. They have, as usual with Sweetgum Kriyul people, a unique mix of mostly White, Black, and Indigenous American ancestry. They're primarily located in the lowlands of South Carolina.
Carmel Indians of Ohio:
The Carmel Indians of Ohio are one of the 13 main Sweetgum Kriyul tribes and considered to be one of 3 main Melungeon groups, the other two being mainstream Melungeons and Chestnut Ridge People. The Carmel Indians are mostly concentrated in Southwestern and Western and Northwestern Ohio in range running North to South just West of Columbus and including the town of Carmel. They often live alongside the Napper family and other Ethnic Qarsherskiyan families in Madison County and other parts of their land that overlaps with With Qarsherskiyan lands.
Chestnut Ridge People:
The Chestnut Ridge People are another Melungeon subgroup and are primarily concentrated around Northern parts of West Virginia. They are also referred to as the Mayle People sometimes as that is a common surname of many Chestnut Ridge People.
Creel Tribe:
The Creel Tribe is a little-known Sweetgum Kriyul tribe mostly found in Northern Georgia and Northern Alabama and Northern Mississippi but also around the coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle and in the midlands and lowlands of North and South Carolina. Very little is known about them and they are few and far between. They often just identify as Creole or mixed race and aren't an organized tribe.
Ethnic Qarsherskiyan Tribe:
The Ethnic Qarsherskiyan tribe is a group of Sweetgum Kriyul people mostly found in the Tidewaters Region of Virginia and North Carolina as well as along the coast of Lake Erie between Sandusky Bay and the Black River and also in the Appalachian Mountains between West Virginia, Northern parts of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Southeastern Ohio and all the lands between those places listed. They're influenced by Aliyite Islam which is heavily intertwined with Ethnic Qarsherskiyan culture. Ethnic Qarsherskiyan symbolism includes Carolina Parakeets, Spanish Moss, Live Oaks, Bald Cypress, Pond Cypress, Palmetto Palms and other palms, Monarch Butterflies, and Pawpaw Fruit.
Keating Tribe:
The Keating Tribe is a mixed race community considered to be a Sweetgum Kriyul tribe that lives mainly around Keating Mountain in Pennsylvania. They are mixed race and not very well-researched, just like Ethnic Qarsherskiyans and the Marlboro Blue Tribe.
Krioturk Tribe:
The name for the Krioturk Tribe is a combination of the words "Creole" and "Turk" and refers to a mixed race community that was founded by Anatolian Turks from the Ottoman Empire, known in their lands of South Carolina as the Turks of South Carolina, and often the target of conspiracy theories involving the state flag of South Carolina looking Islamic and a perceived connection to Sufi Islam and Ottoman Turkic plans for colonization. For a long time, nobody believed that their ancestral base was Turkish DNA, until modern genetic testing became available and proved that they are descended from Turks after all.
Lumbee Tribe:
The Lumbee tribe is a triracial community considered to be a Sweetgum Kriyul tribe but identities culturally with the Native American part of their ancestry. Most Lumbees are a mix of mostly European and African ancestry, with a smaller amount of Native American ancestry, but many deny African ancestry and claim to be full blooded Native Americans, despite being Sweetgum Kriyul/triracial and having once been known as the Croatan Mulattos. Culturally, they are Native American, but genetically speaking they are a Sweetgum Kriyul group. This is a controversial topic.
Marlboro Blue Tribe:
The Marlboro Blue Tribe is a Sweetgum Kriyul tribe closely related to the Lumbee, Melungeons, and Ethnic Qarsherskiyans. They are found in Northern South Carolina near the border with North Carolina, in and around Marlboro County, a region known for its tobacco. There's a lot of debate and confusion about whether Marlboro Blue Cigarettes are named after the tribe, or if the tribe is named after the cigarettes. Most are Christians, although some are Aliyite Muslims or practitioners of Vodoo or members of the Ifa religion.
Melungeon Tribe:
Melungeons are the most famous Sweetgum Kriyul tribe. Elvis Presley was a Melungeon and some people even claim Abraham Lincoln was a Melungeon. Melungeons mostly live in Southern and Central Appalachia but also do live in parts of the non-mountainous areas of Kentucky and Tennessee and other places that are outside of Appalachia. They are well-known for being a centerpiece of Appalachian studies and people.
Moors of New Jersey:
The Moors of New Jersey are a mixed race community, a Sweetgum Kriyul tribe that claims partial descendant from the Moorish people, and aren't to be confused with the Moorish Science Temple, a controversial small religious movement among some Black Americans.
Pea Ridge Tribe:
The Pea Ridge Tribe are the people who descended from the Coe Ridge People, also called the descendants of the Pea Ridge Colony. They mainly live in Southern Kentucky near the Tennessee border around Pea Ridge but have been dispersed all over the USA.
Redbone Tribe:
The Redbone Tribe is another Sweetgum Kriyul tribe and mainly lives in Western parts of Louisiana near the border with Texas. Redbones are known for their colourful culture and mixed race identity, like most other Sweetgum Kriyul people, and some Redbones identity more with the Black American or Native American communities than others.


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