Crusoe Island, NC, located in the Green Swamp in Southeastern
North Carolina, has been a relatively isolated community during
a large portion of the last couple of centuries. Historically,
the residents of Crusoe Island were farmers and hunters, though
younger residents are finding jobs in the industries that have
moved into Columbus County in the past several years.
As noted in Columbus County North Carolina Recollections and
Records, there have been various speculations regarding the
origin of the community, including:
- that
they were Europeans and Indians who intermarried and were
mysteriously driven inland from the coast;
- that
they were English settlers, primarily from Southern regions
of England
- that
they were early settlers driven in from the coast by pirates;
- that
they were pirates seeking refuge from authorities following
unsuccessful raids on coastal towns;
- that
they were the survivors of the Lost Colony. (Little, 1980:
299)
One historical story is that residents are the descendants of
French settlers who left Haiti during the slave insurrections
and settled in this area between 1790 and 1800 (Little, 1980).
This history is, however, countered with other historical accounts
that suggest primarily English historical roots. Crusoe residents
have become associated with a unique English dialect that distinguishes
it from other regional and social dialects, although there are
many overlapping dialect features with regional varieties of
the North Carolina Southeastern Coast.
The NCCLP has recently begun fieldwork in this community with
several aims:
- to
investigate the differences between the dialect of the Crusoe
Islanders and that of neighboring European American residents
of Robeson County;
- to
examine the sociocultural factors that have caused Crusoe
Island to maintain its sociolinguistic uniqueness; and
- to
investigate the effects on language caused by the expanded
contacts of the younger Crusoe Islanders.
