Virginia Indian History
North Carolina Indian History
The Story
of the Great Trading Path — The Siouan people of
the Virginia/North Carolina Piedmont are largely ignored by
history. They had a political importance in the last half
of the 17th century. No British trade goods could pass into
the interior of the continent without first passing through
the merchant middlemen of the Yesah people (Occoneechi, Saponi,
Tutelo, Monacan, Stuckenock). They were soon to be casualties
of the great Beaver Wars, which were in fact an arms race.
Tribes faced an inexorable reality. Those were possessed the
most and best guns were likely to survive. In a desparate
bid for survival, the Virginia Siouan attempted to hold their
own in this struggle, but were soon to be assaulted on all
sides by the British, the Seneca, and the Susquehanna. We
try to piece together this story, here.
Executive
Journals of the Virginia Colonial Council Project — One
of the best original sources revealing the marginalization
of the Indian tribes in Virginia. Volume One is published
here, with all entries that were present in the index pertaining
to Indians. It covers the period from 1680 to 1699.
Tuscarora
Path Valley in Colonial PA — Originally a North
Carolina confederation of tribes, which began migrating north
to become the Sixth nation of the League of the Iroquois with
the climax of the Tuscarora War in 1713. This rare article
indicates a previously overlooked location in PA where a sizeable
Tuscarora population lived for a generation or more. Their
presence there was significant enough that the colonial government
expelled white squatters rather than alienate the League prior
to the French and Indian war.
Useful Links
Listing
of tribes, including some southeastern, with informative links
Excavating
Occoneechee Town — Archeology of an 18th Century
Indian Village
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