ROANOKE

What now is the state of North Carolina once was the homeland of Native peoples of many different language families. In the tidewater region of seacoast and sounds and along the rivers emptying into the sounds lived various Algonquian-speaking tribes. Along the coastal plain lived the Iroquoian-speaking TUSCARORA. Farther inland, on the Piedmont plateau—a region of rolling hills—were a number of Siouan-speaking tribes, such as the Cheraw, Eno, Keyauwee, SHAKORI, Sissipahaw, and Woccon. In the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west lived the Iroquoian-speaking CHEROKEE. Similarly, to the north in present-day Virginia, Algonquian peoples, such as the POWHATAN, lived along the coast, and Iroquoians and Siouans lived inland. To the south in present-day South Carolina, this pattern breaks down where Siouans and Muskogeans occupied coastal regions.

The coastal ALGONQUIANS are classified in the Northeast Culture Area (see NORTHEAST INDIANS) because their way of life was similar to that of coastal Algonquians to the north, whereas the inland Iroquoians and Siouans in present-day North Carolina and Virginia are classified in the Southeast Culture Area (see SOUTH EAST INDIANS).

The Algonquians formerly living in present-day coastal North Carolina are grouped as the Chowanoc on the Chowan River; the Coree on the peninsula south of the Neuse River; the Hatteras on the Outer Banks; the Mora-tok at the head of the Roanoke River; the Machapunga at Lake Mattsmuskeet; the Neusiok (probably Algonquian) on the Neuse River; the Pomeiok (later called the Pamlico) on the Pamlico River; the Roanoke on Roanoke Island at the mouth of Albermarle Sound and on the opposite coastal mainland; the Secotan on Pamlico Sound; and the Weapemeoc on the north side of Albermarle Sound. With regard to densely populated regions such as this, where the tribes are extinct and the variations in dialect are not known, it is difficult to determine tribal versus band groupings. Certain villages had autonomy; others were allied under sachems. In fact, the Roanoke (or Roanoak or

Roanoac), despite their political autonomy, often are discussed as a subtribe of the Secotan. Roanoke, pronounced RO-uh-noke, originally was a village name; it possibly means “white-shell place.”

What is known about North Carolina’s Algonquians results from the fact that it was among them that the English first attempted to establish colonies in the Americas. The two attempts at colonies failed—the second Roanoke Colony has become known as the Lost Colony because the fate of the colonists never has been deter-mined—and the historical and cultural record about these early Algonquians covers only a brief period. Two decades later, in 1607, the English founded Jamestown to the north, in the Chesapeake Bay region, which became the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, leading to extensive contacts with and a much more detailed record of the Powhatan peoples. In 1620, the English reached Plymouth Rock, resulting in other permanent settlements and extensive contacts with New England Algonquians.

Because of their permanence, Jamestown and Plymouth are given much more attention in American history books than the Roanoke colonies, and the names of Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Opechancanough of the Powhatan and Squanto and Massasoit of the WAMPANOAG are more likely to be known than Manteo of the Hatteras; Ensenore, Granganimeo, Wingina, and Wanchese of the Roanoke; and Menatonon and Skyco of the Chowanoc. But the stories of North Carolina’s coastal peoples and their relations with Europeans are just as relevant to North American history—and just as poignant, with Native peoples experiencing death from disease and warfare, as well as shattered friendships. A pattern was established that would repeat itself time and again throughout history: early friendly relations

Between Native Americans and the first visitors to their lands; gradual deterioration of those relations through misunderstanding and treachery; and the eventual displacement of tribes.