Native American – Lumbee. Caitlin would write of this:Another idea on the Mandan origins is that they came from pre-Columbian visitations by Viking explorers. In the past, there was an interview that was given to applicants asking about their knowledge of Lumbee history and culture. Indeed, he became extremely skeptical that there were any of these legendary “Welsh Indians” at all, saying in a letter to a Dr. Samuel Jones:It would seem that these people must have had some proximity to some part of the civilized world; or that missionaries or others have been formerly among them, inculcating the Christian religion and the Mosaic account of the Flood.It is somewhat sad that this tribe disappeared before we were ever able to really comprehend who they were. These tribes were numerous, and displayed rich variety between different cultures, as well as myriad languages, customs, and traditions that inspired awe, wonder, curiosity, bafflement, and even fear in the European adventurers who bravely delved into this uncharted new world and tried to tame it. For instance there were many legends from various regions of the present day United States of Welsh speaking natives, perhaps descended from Welsh settlers coming to these shore in the 12th century, in particular a Prince Madoc, who along with his followers was said to have emigrated to America from Wales in about 1170.They are a very interesting and pleasing people in their personal appearance and manners, differing in many respects, both in looks and customs, from all the other tribes I have seen. Most of them practiced Protestantism, and a study found the Lumbee Methodism to exist since as early as 1787.Like other Indian tribes of North Carolina, the Lumbees lived in small houses constructed with reeds and wood. It is hard to say whether they were blacks or not, though the first federal census of the United States recorded in 1790, declared the Lumbee as ‘free persons of color,’ a term used for people of African-American, African-Indian, or African-European origin, not subjected to slavery.Deriving their name from the Lumber River, which flows through the Robeson County where the majority of their population dwelt, this tribal group was acknowledged as Indian by the North Carolinian state in 1885.Men were mostly seen wearing breechcloths, whereas women used to be clad in knee-length skirts. A college and university have even been constructed with the latter being a part of the University of North Carolina.Corn, squash, tobacco, and beans were also regarded as auspicious symbols and connected to Mother Nature, besides being their main harvests. With the Mandan teetering on the edge of extinction, enemy tribes swept in and took them as slaves, after which they were assimilated and absorbed.Copyright © Mysterious Universe. I printed out the 6+ pages of results and found the Sub Saharan DNA consists of 1 single page out of 6. So forcibly have I been struck with the peculiar ease and elegance of these people, together with their diversity of complexions, the various colours of their hair and eyes; the singularity of their language, and their peculiar and unaccountable customs, that I am fully convinced that they have sprung from some other origin than that of the other North American Tribes, or that they are an amalgam of natives with some civilized race.Another explorer who believed that the Mandan had European roots, perhaps even Welsh, was the frontiersman and pictorial historian George Catlin, who spent several months with the tribe in North Dakota, living amongst and drawing and painting them in 1832. Known mostly from historical accounts, their origins remain murky, their lineage uncertain, and they are a historical curiosity we may never fully understand.However, there is very little evidence to prove that Vikings ever actually reached North America. The Indians had light skin, gray/blue eyes and light brown hair. Like most other tribes, Lumbee people also excelled in the art of storytelling, most of their themes relating to fairy tales, folklore and even realistic subjects, including the community’s struggle for survival.Basketry (pine needle baskets), woodworking and jewelry making were their areas of specialization. They also refused to attend institutions for Afro-Americans since they resented being called blacks. Their education standards improved during the 1920s when over thirty-one subscription schools were built for the Indians. In 1738, the French Canadian trader Sieur de la Verendrye made the first official outside contact with the Mandan and described them as living in 9 villages at a tributary of the Missouri river called the Heart River, and noted that they also exhibited customs that were decidedly more European than the neighboring tribes. One of their traditional craftworks included patchwork designs which were made by the Lumbee women on rugs, blankets, and clothes using a longleaf pine cone. The major change is in determining present-day contact.