Indians in Carolina
There were numerous tribes seuftereil
throughout the state, ranging from the
powerful Tusearoras in the eastern area
to the Cherokees in the west.
When ihc expedition under Amidas
and Barlowc. bearing the first English
settlers, sailed into the Carolina sounds
in 1584, the region was then populated
by the Red Men from the coastal
plains to the heights of the high west¬
ern mountains, some thirty different
tribes inhabiting our state. Today prac¬
tically all are gone.
It is a sad commentary upon our
boasted civilization that nowhere has
the Indian been able to stand close
contact with the white race. It is al¬
most axiomatic that upon such contact
being made, the Indian absorbs all the
vices but none of the virtues of the
superior race. This is true upon the
world - wide theatre. Read that de¬
lightful book. While Shadows in the
South Seas, and you’ll understand just
why this is. What happened through¬
out the island of the South Seas also
happened in Carolina — the white man’s
liquor, smallpox and pestilential blood
diseases decimated the Indian. The
child of the forest could better stand
the bullets of the whites than their
bottles.
For the purposes of this article I will
roughly divide the Carolina tribes into
those of the East, Piedmont and Moun¬
tain regions respectively.
Indians of the East
The first Indians met by the Eng¬
lish on Ocracokc Island were of the
tribe known as Hatteras — a name still
preserved in our famous cape of that
name. They were friendly to jhe
whites, and from them the English
first obtained "uppowoc" or tobacco,
"pagatour" or Indian corn, and ‘•open-
auk’’ or the white potato, which is not
a native of Ireland at all. These were
great gifts, and in exchange the Eng¬
lish gave to the Indians firearms and
firewater.
Lawson tells us that these Indians
claimed they were descended from the
whites, that their ancestors could "talk
in a book" (read), that they had grey
eyes — signs of amalgamation between
this tribe and the “Lost Colony" of
Sir Walter Raleigh. These people were
so friendly with the whites that when
reduced by vice and sickness to
miser>'. they were supported at public
expense.
The Albemarle section was in¬
habited largely by the Nottoways.
Meherrins, Pasquotanks and Chow-
anocs — the names of the first two be¬
ing preserved in the rivers of those
names; the last two in Carolina coun¬
ties. Of these the Chowanocs were the
strongest, having a population of some
3.5(H). Warfare between this tribe and
the Colonists in 1675 resulted in de¬
feat for the Indians, and for a century
they eked out a wretched existence
struggling against extermination. In
the great war of 1711 against the Tus-
caroras they were allies of the whites
and as a reward were given 50.000
acres of land.
Between the Albemarle and Pam¬
lico sounds, dwelt the Machapunga
and the Pamlicos, the former living
around Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde;
the latter along Pamlico River or
sound. For fifty years these tribes pre¬
vented the whites from extending
southward, but by 1690 smallpox had
so reduced their numbers that they
ceased to be a factor in Colonial life.
Of the eastern tribes by far the most
powerful and dangerous were the Tus-
caroras. This tribe was of Iroquoian
stock and were near kinsmen of the
great Five Nations of New York, who
finally received them back into the
fold when they were driven front Caro¬
lina. At one time they owned 24 towns
and mustered 6.000 warriors. They
lived along the Roanoke, the Tar. the
Neusc: hunting even so far south as
Cape Fear. The other eastern tribes
were small and gave ground in sullen
anger before the inroads of the whites,
but the Tusearoras were strong enough
to strike for themselves. They did
strike on September II. 1711. and in
one day one hundred and thirty-two
whites were tomahawked and slain be¬
tween the Chowan and Roanoke riv¬
ers.
A long and devastating war ensued
which lasted two years and which ex¬
hausted both the Indians and the
whites. In 1718 a treaty was entered
into whereby the tribe entered its for¬
mal submission to English rule and
were granted large tracts of land in
what is now Bertie County. Around
1800 these lands were bought back
from the Indians by the state, and the
final remnant of this once mighty tribe
went to New York where they were
incorporated in the Confederation of
the "Long House" — the Five Nations.
Indians of the Piedmont
The great Catawba tribe had their
scats partly in North and partly in
South Carolina. Most of the smaller
Piedmont tribes, when decimated by
vice and disease, were incorporated
inti» the Catawbas. Among these were
several tribes of Siouian slock living
between the Eno and the Yadkin, such
as the Saponi, who lived near Salisbury;
the Keyauwee who had a palisaded
( Continued on page IS)
THE STATE. July t A. I9S
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