North Carolina Native Americans: A Historical Overview
Archaeological evidence indcates that Native Americans were living in
North Carolina at least 10,000 years ago. For centuries before European
contact, these native people lived in harmony with the natural environment,
taking no more from the land than they needed to survive. Individual
ownership of land was completely alien to them. Fishing, hunting and farming
provided food for their tribal groups.
Early Encounters
Native Americans of the Virginia and North Carolina coast were hosts
to the first English-speaking explorers and settlers. Initial contact between
these peoples was generally peaceful and friendly. The natives taught the
newcomers fishing and agricultural techniques, introduced them to corn and
tobacco cultivation, demonstrated methods of land clearing and showed them
efficient use of the forest's bounty. White settlers exhanged manufactured
goods for the native's knowledge. Too late did the natives realize that they
had sacrificed their self-reliance for the white man's conveniences. The
European concept of land was total possession, not sharing. Hostile feelings
developed between the natives and the settlers, setting the stage for
continued clashes.
Cloastal Plains Native Americans
At this time, the coastal plains natives of North Carolina
numbered approximately 35,000 or about 30 tribes geographically separated by
linguistic groups. Along the northeastern and central coast were the
Algonquians. To the south resided those of Siouan lineage. And to the west
lived the Iroquian-related Tuscarora. For these tribes, early contact with
white men often was followed by early extinction. Among the causes were
warfare, and disease. By 1710, the coastal native population had dwindled to
no more than 5,000.
Tuscarora War
The Tuscarora War in 1711 marked the last significant effort of the
eastern natives to halt the white tidal wave tht was sweeping them off the
land. For two years the Tuscarora fought the many military expeditions sent
against them, but in 1713 they suffered a major defeat which broke their
power forever. The Tuscarora then moved to upstate New York and joined the Iroquois Confederation.
Native American Removal Bill
By the 1760s, white settlement had reached the mountain foothills of
North Carolina, the home of the Cherokee. In 1838, under the authority of the
native Removal Bill, nearly 17,000 Cherokee were forcibly removed from their
ancestral home. Nearly one-fourth of the Cherokee resisted removal, however,
and it is from this nucleus that the Eastern Band of the Cherokee was
formed.
Present-Day Tribes
By the mid-1800s, European settlement had spread across the central
piedmont. Small tribes fled before the invasion and most joined kinsmen in
eastern and southern North Carolina, southern Virginia or South Carolina. It
is from these last surviving groups that the present-day, state recognized
tribes fo North Carolina-the Lumbee, Coharie, Waccamaw-Siouan, Haliwa-Saponi
and Meherrin-trace their
ancestry.
Little Recorded History in the
1700s
Little history is recored regarding the surviving eastern natives
between the early 1700s and the early 1800s. However, it must be remembered
tht for these natives, survival depended largely on their ability to withstand
the state's policy of forced anonymity for their kind and their ability to
accept thier designated place in the white social order.
Reconstruction
During Reconstruction, political equality was supposedly restored when
the vote was extended to all men regardless of color. However, when
Reconstruction ended in North Carolina, the North Carolina General Assembly
established separate schools for whites and African-Americans. No schools
were established for Native Americans.
Native American Schools
In 1885, however, the North Carolina General Assembly passed
legislation which established separate schools for the Native Americans of
Robeson County. In 1887, Croatan Normal School opened its doors to Native
American students of Robeson County. Over the next 70 years other Native
American communities in the state were successful in their aims to establish
schools.
Native American Recognition
Beginning in the late 1800 and continuing into the early 1970s, Native
Americans in North Carolina re-established their formal tribal identities and
sought recognition from the state and federal government. In 1889, the
federally recognized Eastern Band of the Cherokee was incorporated under North
Carolina law. In 1910, the Lumbees were formally recognized by the State of
North Carolina. The "Lumbee Bill," passed by the United States Congress in
1956, recognized the Lumbee as native tribe but denied them access to serives
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1965, the Haliwa-Saponi received state
recognition, as did the Coharie and Waccamaw-Siouan in 1971. In 1979, the
North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs was given the authority to
establish preocedures for state recognition of North Carolina Native American
tribes and organizations. The Meherrin Tribe of Hertford County was granted
state recognition under these procedures in 1986.
More Progress
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the Native Americans of North Carolina
continued to make progress despite still prevalent discrimination and many
obstacles. Seven native orgainzations, chartered by the State of North
Carolina during this time, currently provide a variety of services to native
people in North Carolina. Pembroke State College for Indians, the first
four-year institution for Native Americans in the nation, became a member of
the Unversity of North Carolina system and its name was changed to Pembroke
State University (began as Croatan Normal School). Also during this period,
Native Americans became lawyers and doctors, gained seats on local boards,
were hired or apponted to important federal and state positions, and were
elected to the North Carolina General Assembly.
Commission of Indian Affairs
Formed
In 1971, the North
Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs was
established by the North Carolina General Assembly to advocate for the rights
of the state's native population, a population which in 1990 numbered over
80,000, was the largest Native American population east of the Mississippi
River and the seventh largest in the nation.
A Look At The Future
Despite the advances of the Native American population of North
Carolina during the last 200 years, serious health, social, economic and
educational problems still remain to be faced. These problems, however, have
not caused the Native Americans of North Carolina to lose their confidence or
hope in the future. They have continued into the 1990s with their struggles
for equality and recognition.
Historical Overview provided by the North Carolina Commission of Indian
Affairs
SNAC
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