The Occaneechi are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands whose historical territory was in the Piedmont region of present-day North Carolina and Virginia .
82-576: In the 17th century they primarily lived on the large, 4-mile (6.4 km) long Occoneechee Island and east of the confluence of the Dan and Roanoke rivers, near current-day Clarksville, Virginia . They spoke one of the Siouan languages and were linguistically related to the Saponi , Tutelo , Eno , and neighboring Southeastern Siouan language –speaking peoples. In 1676, in the course of Bacon's Rebellion ,
164-632: A cleanup process costing an estimated $ 300 million. Dan River is also the name of the southeastern political district of Pittsylvania County, where a small section of the river serves as the boundary between Pittsylvania County and the city of Danville . On June 25, 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a law adding the river's paddle trail in Stokes and Rockingham Counties as its eleventh State Trail . Conestoga people The Susquehannock , also known as
246-775: A couple named Michael and Mary, escaped the massacre as they were living on Christian Hershey's farm near Manheim . Their burial site is recorded in the Historical Marker Database, listed as part of Kreider Homestead. In 1768, John Penn, the Governor of Pennsylvania paid the Haudenosaunee £200 in goods for the 500 acres of land on which Conestoga Town had stood. In 1775, Cayuga relatives of the Conestoga leader Sheehays received an additional payment of £300. In 1845, six Conestoga descendants living among
328-705: A distinction between the Occaneechi and Saponi. In 1730 Virginia's House of Burgesses records noted an "Interpreter to the Saponi and Occaneechi Indians." This implied the existence of monoglot Occaneechi people. In 1730, many Saponi moved to live among the Catawba in South Carolina, but most returned to Virginia in 1733, along with some Cheraw Indians. After 1733 the Saponi appear to have fragmented into small groups and dispersed. Some apparently remained in
410-476: A fort called Christanna . The Siouan people had been drastically reduced to approximately 600 people. Fort Christanna was closed in 1717, after which there are few written references to the Occaneechi. Colonists recorded that they left the area in 1740 and migrated north for protection with the Haudenosaunee . The meaning and origin of the name Occaneechi is unknown. They have also historically been called
492-621: A group of Virginians chasing Doeg raiders crossed the Potomac into Maryland and mistakenly killed several Susquehannock. Subsequent raids in Virginia and Maryland were blamed on the tribe. In September 1675, a thousand-man expedition against the Susquehannock was mounted by militia from Virginia and Maryland led by John Washington and Thomas Truman . After arriving at the Susquehannock town, Truman and Washington summoned five sachems to
574-659: A group of about 60 "gyant-like" warriors and "weroances" at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, two days journey downriver from their settlement at Washington Boro. Smith wrote of the Susquehannock, "They can make neere 600 able and mighty men, and are pallisadoed [palisaded] in their Townes to defend them from the Massawomekes , their mortal enemies." Smith also recorded that some of the Susquehannock were in possession of hatchets, knives, and brass ornaments of French origin. Significant Susquehannock involvement in
656-540: A legal dispute forced Claiborne to return to England in 1637, Maryland seized Kent Island. The focus of Susquehannock trade now turned to the newly established colony of New Sweden on Delaware Bay. Swedish settlers had built Fort Christina on the west side of the bay near the mouth of the Schuylkill River in 1638. This gave them the advantage over the Dutch in the fur trade with the Susquehannock. Following
738-526: A letter written by Mrs. Bacon to her sister on June 29, 1676 (which the sister received on September 26) describing many Indian raids, and Bacon's losses including an overseer at one of his outward plantations, as well as many cattle. Bacon himself also complained of losing an overseer and cattle before his expedition, and described a two-day fight at the Occaneechee island, and killing about 100 men and two of their kings, beside women and children. By 1676,
820-477: A meeting place for negotiations between Pennsylvania and various Indigenous groups. Its importance, however, waned as the focus of the fur trade and European settlement moved west. The population declined due to out-migration, and the remaining Conestoga became increasing impoverished and dependent on the Pennsylvania government, who occasionally provided clothing and provisions. By the 1740s, Seneca had become
902-621: A missionary teacher among the Oneida . Hall advocated for the Conestoga descendants, and may have lobbied for the 1872 joint resolution of the United States Congress. The resolution was introduced by Representative Holland Duell of New York would have recognized the remaining "Conestoga Indians" and would have returned their land on the Manor Township tract. This resolution states that a remnant of Conestoga had been with
SECTION 10
#1732793905185984-484: A number of Oneida and Cayuga families. In 1700, William Penn , founder of the Province of Pennsylvania , visited the Conestoga and obtained from them a deed for their lands in the Susquehanna River watershed. In return, a tract of land in Manor Township was set aside for their use. This was confirmed by treaty in 1701. For the next few decades, Conestoga Town, as it came to be known, was an important trading center, and
1066-525: A parley but then had them summarily executed. Sorties during the ensuing six-week siege resulted in 50 English deaths. In early November the Susquehannock escaped the siege under cover of darkness, killing ten of the militia as they slept. Most of Susquehannock crossed the Potomac into Virginia and took refuge in the Piedmont of Virginia. Two encampments were established on the Meherrin River near
1148-509: A raid on a Jesuit mission in 1641, the Governor of Maryland declared the Susquehannock "enemies of the province." A few attempts were made to organize a military campaign against the Susquehannock, however, it was not until 1643 that an ill-fated expedition was mounted. The Susquehannock inflicted numerous casualties on the English and captured two of their cannon. 15 prisoners were taken and afterwards tortured to death. Raids on Maryland and
1230-699: A strong relationship with the Cherokee and other interior tribes, that the Occaneechi role as trading middleman was undermined. In May 1676, the Occaneechi allied with Nathaniel Bacon and his British troops in a war with the Susquehannock ; however, the British immediately turned on their allies and attacked three forts within the Occaneechi village. The British killed the Occaneechi's leader Posseclay, approximately 100 men, as well as many women and children. A Susquehannock war party attacked Occoneechee Island in
1312-523: A treaty was negotiated in 1652, and were the target of intermittent attacks by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) . By the 1670s, their population had declined sharply as a result of disease and war. The Susquehannock abandoned their town on the Susquehanna River and moved south into Maryland . They erected a palisaded village on Piscataway Creek , but in September 1675, the Susquehannock were besieged by militias from Maryland and Virginia. The survivors of
1394-653: A war leader of the Oneida during the Revolutionary War . The organization is neither a federally recognized tribe nor a state-recognized tribe . Those with partial Susquehannock ancestry "may be included among today's Seneca–Cayuga Nation " as well as other recognized Haudenosaunee nations in Canada and the United States. Little ethnographic information is available about the Susquehannock due to their relative isolation from European settlement. It
1476-409: A way of life. Historian Robert Beverley, Jr. , in his History and Present State of Virginia (1705), wrote that the Occaneechi language was widely used as a lingua franca , "understood by the chief men of many nations, as Latin is in many parts of Europe" — even though, he says, the Occaneechi "have been but a small nation, ever since those parts were known to the English." Beverley said that
1558-402: Is now Lancaster County, have been identified. Schultz Incised is a high-collared, cordmarked pottery type that was produced until c. 1600 . The collars are marked with incised lines that form geometric patterns. Schultz Incised has also been found at sites near Tioga Point. Washington Boro Incised, produced between 1600 and 1635, is similar in some respects to Schultz Incised, however,
1640-510: Is some evidence that isolated Indians never left these areas of North Carolina and became consolidated with Saponi from Virginia. In 1756, Moravian settlers living near present-day Winston-Salem reported an Indian palisaded "fort" settlement near the Haw River . The Moravians called the Indians "Cherokees", but it is more likely they were Sissipahau ( Saxapahaw ) or another group related to
1722-405: Is widely assumed that their culture was similar to that of other Northern Iroquoian peoples: clan-based, matrilineal , semi-sedentary, and horticultural . The Susquehannock lived in semi-permanent palisaded villages that were built on river terraces and surrounded by agricultural fields. Although John Smith named six villages on his 1612 map, archaeological evidence indicates that at any one time
SECTION 20
#17327939051851804-564: The Conestoga , Minquas , and Andaste , were an Iroquoian people who lived in the lower Susquehanna River watershed in what is now Pennsylvania . Their name means “people of the muddy river.” The Susquehannock were first described by John Smith , who explored the upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay in 1608. The Susquehannocks were active in the fur trade and established close trading relationships with Virginia , New Sweden , and New Netherland . They were in conflict with Maryland until
1886-674: The Eno River near present-day Hillsborough, North Carolina . In 1968, Virginia established Occoneechee State Park on 2,698 acres on the Virginia shore of 48,000-acre Kerr Lake . Kerr Lake, created by the John H. Kerr Dam on the Roanoke River near its confluence with the Dan River, flooded Occoneechee Island where the tribe had been decimated in May 1676. A Virginia historical marker at
1968-586: The Paxton Boys . While there are a significant number of Indigenous people alive today of Susquehannock ancestry, the Susquehannock as a distinct cultural entity are considered extinct. The Susquehannock were an Iroquoian speaking people. Little of the language has been preserved. The chief source is the Vocabula Mahakuassica compiled by the Swedish missionary Johannes Campanius during
2050-547: The Roanoke River . The name of the river was first recorded by William Byrd II in 1728, during an expedition to survey the Virginia border, though Byrd did not explain the reason for the name. A variant name is "South Branch Roanoke River". In 2014, a large amount of coal ash , a byproduct of coal combustion, spilled into the lower Dan River in Rockingham County, near Eden, North Carolina , prompting
2132-816: The Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation reserve in Ontario . Traditional English-American histories typically describe the Saponi group of Indians as having left Virginia and North Carolina in the 18th century, either to join the Catawba or the Iroquois . Starting in the middle of the 18th century, however, historic records note Saponi living in North Carolina. Some Saponi moved from Virginia to various places in North Carolina. There
2214-519: The Three Sisters . In a technique known as companion planting, maize and climbing beans were planted together in mounds, with squash planted between the mounds. Dried crops were kept in circular or bell-shaped subterranean storage pits lined with bark and dried grasses. Susquehannock women made shell-tempered pottery of various sizes primarily for cooking. Three different pottery types, corresponding to three different phases of occupation in what
2296-607: The U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia . It rises in Patrick County, Virginia , and crosses the state border into Stokes County, North Carolina . It then flows into Rockingham County . From there it flows back into Virginia through Pittsylvania County before reentering North Carolina near the border between Caswell County and Rockingham County. It flows into northern Caswell County and then back into southern Virginia (briefly Pittsylvania County, then into Halifax County ) and finally into Kerr Reservoir on
2378-526: The "Stuckanok, Tottero, and Saponi," the Occaneechi signed a "Treaty of Peace" with the colony of Virginia in 1713. They moved to Fort Christanna in southeast Virginia. Occaneechi Town was almost entirely abandoned by 1713. Fort Christanna was operated by the Virginia Company from 1714 to 1717. Its closure was apparently due to a lack of profits as an Indian trading center. Although several distinct groups of Siouan Indians lived at Fort Christanna,
2460-551: The "priests and conjurers" of the other Virginia Indian tribes "perform their adorations and conjurations" in this general language, much "as the Catholics of all nations do their Mass in the Latin." Linguistic scholars believe that the Occaneechi spoke a dialect of the Siouan language Tutelo . Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood mentioned the Occaneechi as being one of nine Native nations within Virginia in 1712. Along with
2542-643: The 1630s. In 1626, a group of Susquehannock travelled to New Amsterdam seeking to establish a trading relationship with the Dutch. Isaack de Rasière, the Secretary of New Netherland noted that the Lenape living on the Delaware River were unable to supply furs because of Susquehannock raids. The following year the Dutch established Fort Nassau on the east side of the Delaware River opposite
Occaneechi - Misplaced Pages Continue
2624-462: The 1640s. Campanius's vocabulary contains about 100 words and is sufficient to show that Susquehannock is a Northern Iroquoian language, closely related to the languages of the Haudenosaunee and in particular that of the Onondaga . The language is considered extinct as of 1763 when the last remnant community of the Susquehannock was massacred at Lancaster, Pennsylvania . The Europeans who colonized
2706-566: The Achonechy, Aconechos, Akenatzy, Hockinechy, Occaneches, Occaanechy, Occhonechee, Occonacheans, Occoneechee, Ockanechees, Ockanigee, Okenechee, Acconeechy, Occaneeches, Ochineeches, and Ockinagee. The Occaneechi language was a Siouan language , related to the Saponi and Tutelo languages. It became a commonly used trade language for the region by the early 18th century. Archeological studies have found finely chipped projectile points, which provide evidence of thousands of years of habitation, on
2788-588: The Delaware. It is said that the Lenape became "subject and tributary" to the Susquehannock but this is disputed. Contact with English settlers on the Chesapeake was limited until English merchant William Claiborne began trading with the Susquehannock c. 1630 . Claiborne established a settlement on Kent Island in 1631 to facilitate this trade, and later erected an outpost on Palmer's Island near
2870-629: The English Virginians tended to refer to them simply as "Saponi" or "Fort Christanna Indians." After the closing of Fort Christanna in 1717, colonial records contain few references to the Occaneechi. Those references that do exist indicate a continued trade between Virginia colonists and the Saponi and Occaneechi. By 1720, after ongoing losses from warfare, the remnant bands of the Occaneechi, Saponi, and Stukanox, "who not finding themselves Separately Numerous, enough for their Defence, have agreed to unite in one Body, and all of them now go under
2952-682: The English. In 1660, the Susquehannock used their influence to help end the First Esopus War between the Esopus and the Dutch. An Oneida raid on the Piscataway in 1660 led Maryland to expand its treaty with the Susquehannock into an alliance. The Maryland assembly authorized armed assistance, and described the Susquehannock as "a Bullwarke and Security of the Northern Parts of this Province." 50 men were sent to help defend
3034-664: The Haudenosaunee could not have mounted an attack in 1674 since a munitions shortage in New France meant that that the French were unable to supply them with muskets, lead and powder. Although Governor Charles Calvert of Maryland wanted the Susquehannock to settle on the Potomac River above the Great Falls , the tribe instead chose to occupy a site on Piscataway Creek where they erected a palisaded fort. In July 1675,
3116-532: The Haudenosaunee to the north. The shortening of the growing season during the Little Ice Age , and the desire to be closer to sources of trade goods may also have been factors. The Susquehannock assimilated the Shenks Ferry people in the lower Susquehanna River valley, and established a palisaded village in present-day Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. An archaeological excavation in 1931 revealed that
3198-468: The Lenape. Some of these refugees returned to the lower Susquehanna River valley in 1676 and established a palisaded village near the site of their previous village. In March 1677, Susquehannock refugees living among the Lenape were invited to settle with the Haudenosaunee. While 26 families chose to remain with the Lenape, the remainder merged with the Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga, and were joined by some of
3280-461: The Mid-Atlantic coast of North America typically adopted the names that were used by the coastal Algonquian -speaking peoples for interior tribes. The Europeans adapted and transliterated these exonyms to fit their own languages and spelling systems, and tried to capture the sounds of the names. What the Susquehannock called themselves is not known. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries
3362-836: The Name of the Sapponeys, as William Byrd II wrote. In 1727, a settler living near the Iroquoian Meherrin , in a region where some violence had broken out, wrote to the governor of Virginia about the events. He said the Meherrin denied attacking the Nottoway (another Iroquoian tribe). "[T]hey lay the whole blame upon the Occaneechy King and the Saponi Indians." This suggests that English settlers recognized
Occaneechi - Misplaced Pages Continue
3444-477: The Occaneechi. This, along with various oral traditions, indicates Indians' living in a more or less traditional manner in North Carolina's Piedmont after such settlements supposedly vanished. In 1763, Lt. Governor Francis Fauquier of Virginia wrote a letter that included a description of the Indians of Virginia: "There are some of the Nottoways, Meherrins, Tuscaroras, and Saponys, who tho' they live in peace in
3526-604: The Oneida during the massacre of 1763, and that their descendants should have use of the land set aside for them in perpetuity. The resolution died in committee. In 1941, a bill was introduced by Ray E. Taylor and William E. Habbyshaw of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to provide a reservation for the Susquehannock in Dauphin County. The bill was triggered by the claims of "Chief Fireway" who said he
3608-569: The Oneida in New York commissioned Peter Doxtater to obtain restitution for land that had originally belonged to their ancestors in Lancaster County. Doxtater, whose maternal grandmother had lived at Conestoga Town before the massacre, later turned over all legal negotiations to Christian Shenk, an attorney in Lancaster County. An 1869 property deed shows that Doxtater bequeathed 200 acres in Lancaster County to Huldah Hall, who had been
3690-511: The Piscataway continued intermittently until 1652. In the winter of 1652, the Susquehannock were attacked by the Mohawk , and although the attack was repulsed, it led to the Susquehannock negotiating the Articles of Peace and Friendship with Maryland. The Susquehannock relinquished their claim to territory on either side of Chesapeake Bay, and reestablished their earlier trading relationship with
3772-576: The Roanoke River near Clarksville, Virginia . Until the completion of the John H. Kerr Dam on the Roanoke River in 1952 and the islands' flooding by the resultant Kerr Lake reservoir, this was site had an abundance of artifacts. Since 1983 the Research Laboratories of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been uncovering another "Occaneechi Town", a late 17th and early 18th century Occaneechi village on
3854-402: The Saponi and Tuleto settled near the Occaneechi, later to be joining by the Conestoga . In 1701 John Lawson visited the Occaneechi village, located on the Eno River near present-day Hillsborough, North Carolina . His written report plus modern archaeological research at the site give insight into a society undergoing rapid change. They also were working to continue traditional crafts and
3936-467: The Strickler site which was occupied from c. 1645 to c. 1665 . These burials typically were of an adult and one or more children. Bodies were flexed and usually accompanied by a variety of grave goods such as bead or shell necklaces, pendants, tobacco pipes, combs, knives, clay pots, brass kettles, and occasionally gun parts. Among the gifts that Smith received from the Susquehannock in 1608 were several long-stemmed clay pipes. Tobacco
4018-462: The Susquehanna River and moved south into Maryland. Two reasons for the move have been proposed. Most historians believe that the Haudenosaunee inflicted a major defeat on the Susquehannock c. 1674 since the Jesuit Relations for 1675 reports that the Seneca "utterly defeated ... their ancient and redoubtable foes." Historian Francis Jennings, however, proposed that the Susquehannock were coerced by Maryland into moving. Jennings argued that
4100-489: The Susquehannock as "gyant-like people," however, osteoarchaeological evidence from burial sites in the lower Susquehanna River valley has not shown that the Susquehannock were exceptionally tall compared to Europeans and other Indigenous groups. A recent reevaluation of the skeletal remains in the collection of Franklin & Marshall College has provided an average height for Susquehannock adult males of 174.7 centimeters (68.8 inches), however, skeletal remains in England show
4182-417: The Susquehannock from the village on the Susquehanna River. Roughly three years later the village was abandoned when the remaining inhabitants also joined the Haudenosaunee. In the late 1680s, a group of Susquehannock and Seneca established a village near the Conestoga River in what is now Manor Township , Lancaster County , Pennsylvania where they became known as the Conestoga. They were later joined by
SECTION 50
#17327939051854264-429: The Susquehannock had a varied and seasonal diet. Maize, beans and squash were staple foods, with maize-based meals, usually in the form of soup, making up nearly half of their caloric intake. Deer was the most common animal protein but elk, black bear, fish, freshwater mussels, wild turkey and waterfowl were also eaten. Wild plants, fruits, and nuts supplemented their diets. Iroquoian people called maize, beans and squash
4346-406: The Susquehannock had just one or two large settlements in the lower Susquehanna River valley. Roughly every 25 years, when soil fertility and nearby resources became depleted, they would move to a new location and begin anew. Until c. 1665 these villages were located on the east side of the Susquehanna River, however, from c. 1665 to 1675 the Susquehannock occupied a village on
4428-407: The Susquehannock lived in scattered hamlets on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in what is now Bradford County , Pennsylvania, and Tioga County, New York . Of Northern Iroquoian ancestry, the Susquehannock became culturally and linguistically distinct before 1500. A southward migration towards Chesapeake Bay began in the second half of the 16th century, possibly the result of conflict with
4510-407: The Susquehannock village. Muskets, lead and powder were acquired from both Maryland and New Netherland. Despite suffering a smallpox epidemic in 1661, the Susquehannock easily withstood a siege by 800 Seneca, Cayuga and Onondaga in May 1663, and destroyed an Onondaga war party in 1666. The Susquehannock abandoned their village on the east side of the Susquehanna c. 1665 and moved across
4592-413: The closest Susquehannock encampment. After the Occaneechi returned with Susquehannock prisoners, Bacon turned on his allies and indiscriminately massacred Occaneechi men, women and children. The Susquehannock who survived the Occaneechi attack moved downriver and may have merged with the Meherrin . Other Susquehannock refugees fled to hunting camps on the North Branch of the Potomac or took refuge with
4674-422: The collar is not as wide. Known as "face pots" their distinguishing feature is the presence of two to four expressionless human faces on the collars. In the mid-17th century, as European goods became more common, pot design became simpler, and many of the pots used for cooking were replaced by brass kettles. Strickler Cordmarked, produced between 1635 and 1680 lacked the collars, geometric designs and face effigies of
4756-464: The dominant language with only a few Conestoga still able to speak the "ancient tongue.". The Conestoga remained neutral during the Seven Years' War and Pontiac's War . They bartered brooms and baskets, fished, and tended their gardens. By 1763, only seven men, five women and eight children lived in Conestoga Town. In December 1763, the Paxton Boys , in response to raids by the Lenape and Shawnee during Pontiac's War attacked Conestoga Town in
4838-416: The earlier pottery types. While Susquehannock women cultivated crops and managed the household, the men engaged in extended periods of travel for hunting, trading, and raids against neighbouring tribes. They also constructed and tended the fishing weirs that were used to catch American shad and eels . The Susquehannock relied on a network of footpaths to cross their territory. Of particular importance
4920-461: The former Occoneechee Island, as well as nearby Field's Island, Lewis Island, and Tottero (or Nelson's) Island in the Roanoke River. The Occaneechi were first written about in 1650, by English explorer Edward Bland . He wrote that they lived on the Trading Path that connected Virginia with the interior of North America. Their position on the Trading Path gave the Occaneechi the power to act as trading "middlemen" between Virginia and various tribes to
5002-431: The fur trade began in the 1620s. Because of their location on the Susquehanna River, the Susquehannock had access to English traders on the Chesapeake, as well as Dutch and Swedish traders on Delaware Bay. Furs, primarily beaver, were traded for cloth, glass beads, brass kettles, hawk bells, axes, hoes, and knives. Although many Europeans were hesitant to trade firearms for furs, the Susquehannocks began to obtain muskets in
SECTION 60
#17327939051855084-417: The midst of us, lead in great measure the lives of wild Indians." He contrasted these Indians with the Eastern Shore and Pamunkey Indians, whom he described as more assimilated to English ways. Thus, there are still indications of Saponi in Virginia during this period. For years lay people and researchers have discovered thousands of artifacts from Occoneechee Town, Saponi Town, and Tutelo Town on islands in
5166-465: The mistaken belief that the inhabitants were aiding and abetting the attacks. The Paxton Boys slaughtered the six Conestoga they found there, and burned the settlement to the ground. Fourteen of the Conestoga had been absent from the village and were given shelter in the Lancaster workhouse . Two weeks later, however, the Paxton Boys broke into the workhouse and slaughtered the remaining Conestoga including women and children. Two former two inhabitants,
5248-452: The mouth of the Schuylkill River . To trade with the Dutch, the Susquehannock had to pass through Lenape territory. English explorer Thomas Yonge (Yong) noted that in 1634 the "people of the river" were at war with the Minquas who had "killed many of them, destroyed their corne, and burned their houses." By 1638, however, the Lenape and the Susquehannock had reached an accommodation, with the later having been given access to trading posts on
5330-403: The mouth of the Susquehanna River. Relations with the English deteriorated following the establishment of the Province of Maryland in 1634. The new colony formed an alliance with the Piscataway , who were the frequent target of Susquehannock raids. The founding of the colony also disrupted Claiborne's trade alliance with the Susquehannock as he refused to acknowledge Maryland's authority. When
5412-404: The park's entrance mentions the massacre, as well as tribal members' return to Fort Christanna nearby decades later. The visitor's center now features exhibits about the indigenous people of the area. In the late 20th century, descendants of the remnant Siouan peoples formed the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation . In 2002 the tribe was recognized by the state of North Carolina. The members of
5494-438: The river to the west side. Their new village appears on Augustin Herrman 's 1670 map of Virginia and Maryland. The Jesuit Relations for 1671 reported that the Susquehannock had 300 warriors, and described a rout of a Seneca and Cayuga raiding party by a group of Susquehannock adolescents. By the 1670s, epidemics and years of war with the Haudenosaunee had taken their toll on the Susquehannock. In 1675, they left their village on
5576-422: The siege scattered, and those who returned to the north were absorbed by the Haudenosaunee. In the late 1680s, a group of Susquehannock and Seneca established a settlement on the Conestoga River in present-day Lancaster County, Pennsylvania , where they became known as the Conestoga. The population of this community gradually declined, and in 1763, the last members were massacred by the vigilante group known as
5658-484: The summer of 1678. Old records in the British Public Record Office describe Bacon's expedition traveling southward from the James to Roanoke Rivers, expecting the fleeing Susquehannocks would try to buy powder from the Occaneechi at their island in the Roanoke River, and entering an agreement with the Occaneechee and their Manneking, Haykolott, and Annelector allies, who raided the Susquehannocks and captured about 30 men, some of whom they put to death. The records also include
5740-510: The tribe live primarily in Alamance and Orange Counties . In 1995, a community centered around Pleasant Grove, North Carolina , who self-identified as descendants of the descended from Occannechi, Saponi, and Tutelo from Fort Christanna, began hosting an annual powwow and organized under the name Occaneechi Band of Saponi . The state of North Carolina recognizes the tribe, whose members primarily reside in Alamance County. Dan River The Dan River flows 214 miles (344 km) in
5822-447: The tribe was attacked by militias from the Colony of Virginia and decimated. Also under demographic pressure from European settlements and newly introduced infectious diseases , the Saponi and Tutelo came to live near the Occaneechi on adjacent islands. By 1714 the Occaneechi moved to join the Tutelo, Saponi, and other Siouan people living on a 36-square-mile (93 km) reservation in current-day Brunswick County, Virginia . It included
5904-404: The upper Potomac River valley in what is now Maryland and West Virginia that date roughly from 1590 to 1610. Archaeological evidence also exists for a palisaded settlement 30 miles upstream of Washington Boro in what is now Cumberland County that was occupied from about 1610 to 1620. The first recorded European contact with the Susquehannock was in 1608 when English explorer John Smith met with
5986-471: The vicinity of Fort Christanna, which was noted in Virginia records by its Saponi name, Junkatapurse . After 1742 the settlement is no longer mentioned, but only a road called Junkatapurse. In the 1740s, the Saponi migrated south to live with the Catawba. Governor Gooch of Virginia reported that the "Saponies and other petty nations associated with them ... are retired out of Virginia to the Cattawbas" during
6068-488: The village (known as the Schultz Site) contained at least 26 longhouses. The Schultz site was largely abandoned c. 1600 due to overcrowding and depletion of local resources. A larger fortified town was constructed near what is today Washington Boro . The town is estimated to have been 250,000 square feet in size with a population of about 1,700 people. Several smaller Susquehannock sites have been found in
6150-627: The village of the Siouan-speaking Occaneechi on the Roanoke River In January 1776, the Susquehannock raided plantations on the upper Rappahannock River , killing 36 colonists, and at the falls of the James River . Nathaniel Bacon , unhappy with Governor Sir William Berkeley 's response to the raids, organized a volunteer militia to hunt down the Susquehannock. Bacon persuaded the Occaneechi to attack
6232-611: The west side of Susquehanna known as the Upper Leibhart site. Susquehannock villages contained numerous longhouses surrounded by a double palisade. Each bark-covered shelter was up to 80 feet (24 m) in length and housed as many as 60 individuals. Multiple families related through the female family line would live in one longhouse. Sons lived within this extended family household until they married, upon which time they would move to their wife's family's longhouse. Archaeological evidence from trash and burn pits indicates that
6314-484: The west. German physician John Lederer wrote about them in 1670. In 1673, Abraham Wood , a Virginian fur trader, sent James Needham and Gabriel Arthur into the southern Appalachian Mountains in an attempt to make direct contact with the Cherokee , thus bypassing the Occaneechi. The party did make contact with the Cherokee. It was not until the last decades of the 17th century when South Carolina colonists established
6396-676: The years 1743–1747. Most of the remaining Saponi members were recorded as migrating north in 1740 for protection with the Iroquois . They mostly disappeared from the historical record in the Southeast. After the American Revolution , in which four of the Iroquois Six Nations had sided with the losing British , the majority of the Iroquois (and Saponi) went to Canada for resettlement. Descendants live mostly at
6478-557: Was an important aspect of Susquehannock culture, but its use did not become widespread until the mid-16th century. Almost all graves dating from this period, including those of women and older children, contained pipes among the grave goods. The vocabulary compiled by Campanius includes words specifically meaning "smoking tobacco", as well as a word for "pipe for smoking tobacco." Pipes were either formed from clay or carved from soapstone. The bowls were frequently decorated with geometric designs or with human or animal effigies. Smith described
6560-520: Was the Great Minquas Path between the Susquehanna River and the Delaware River which the Susquehannock used to reach Dutch and Swedish trading posts. For fishing and carrying cargoes of meat, pelts and people across the Susquehanna River, dugout canoes were used. The Susquehannock typically buried their dead in individual graves in cemeteries located outside the palisade walls. A number of multiple burials have also been found, especially at
6642-420: Was the "sole surviving chief" of 85–100 Susquehannock in Pennsylvania. The bill made arrangements for tribal members to lease land for a nominal fee and establish a central community in their historic homelands. Under the provisions of the bill, the tract of land would have been called "The Susquehannock Indian Reservation". While this appropriation bill for $ 20,000 was passed unopposed in the state legislature, it
6724-586: Was vetoed by Governor Arthur James , who was advised by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission that the last of the Susquehannocks had died in the 1763 massacre. The Conestoga-Susquehannock Tribe, an organization in Pennsylvania that self-identifies as a tribe , offers membership to those who can show documented descent from a known Susquehannock or the 1845 land claimants, for example, those descended from Skenandoa ,
#184815