All of these songs of course are in the African-American oral tradition, but they most have parallels in white folksong as well. Now consider that the first collections of African-American folksong were printed in the early 19th century. That leaves unrecorded about 200 years of hybridization and cross-fertilization among black and white musicians of various backgrounds. Something that always must be taken into account when considering origins of native American songs and ballads.