School History of North Carolina (From 1584 to the Present Time) | Page 7

and a tribe of Indians called the
Algonquins.
5. The Tuscaroras were generally to be found in the country watered by
the Roanoke and Neuse Rivers, and were the terror of all other tribes. It
is not known when they had separated from their northern relatives.
They kept up amicable relations with them, and messengers and
embassies occasionally passed between the banks of the Roanoke and
the settlements on the northern lakes.
6. The Catawbas roamed over the fair regions through which flow the
Catawba and Yadkin Rivers. Westward of them were to be found, in
the mountains, the numerous bands of the Cherokees. Amid the
towering peaks, and along the beautiful French Broad and other rivers,
lived and hunted these simple children of the hills. They were generally
disposed to peace, and were averse to leaving the paradise they
inhabited for the dangerous honor of the warpath.
7. The Indians were, in many respects, a peculiar people. Though
ignorant and savage, they were not idolaters. They believed in one God,
whom they called the "Great Spirit." They were not shepherds or

farmers, for they had no domestic animals except dogs, and their corn
fields were but insignificant patches, cleared and cultivated by their
women. They cleared these little patches of land by burning down the
trees, and their plow was a crooked stick with which they scratched
over the ground for planting the corn. The men hunted, and fought with
other tribes, but disdained to be found engaged in any useful labor.
8. Such habits made large areas of land necessary for the subsistence of
the people. Thus all of the tribes were jealous of the intrusion of others
upon their hunting grounds, and whenever one found another getting
closer than usual war was begun. Their lives were filled with terror and
apprehension; not knowing when some enemy would kill and scalp
every person in the tribe.
9. The Meherrins lived in the fork of Meherrin and Chowan Rivers.
They were long at war with the Nottoways, who lived in Virginia,
south of James River. The Meherrins at last left their old men, women
and children and went on the warpath against their enemies, who
happened to be approaching them on a similar errand. They chanced to
miss each other, and the Nottoways therefore found the lodges of their
foes completely undefended, and they slew every human being in the
captured village. The Meherrins left their old homes in despair and
disappeared in the west. This occurred after many white people had
settled in the Albemarle country.
10. Such a state of society necessitated the control of one leader; so the
Indian tribes were governed by chiefs, who led them to battle and in
pursuit of game. Some of these chiefs, like Powhatan and King Philip,
were men of marked ability, and extended their power over other tribes.
When a chief died his son succeeded to his office only when fitted for
the place; if weak or cowardly, some other brave was chosen. In this
way the honor was not strictly hereditary.
11. The Indians had no knowledge as to the working of iron. They had
only bows, arrows, stone tomahawks and such weapons for war. They
lived in small communities, embracing from ten to thirty cabins, for
protection, but had no large towns, because of the impossibility of
feeding great numbers at one point. They held it a part of their religion
to seek vengeance for all injuries, real and imaginary, and their general
traits of character were as savage as their habits. In war they had no
pity on captives, no reverence for helpless age, and were strangers to

the sentiments of honor and justice. They were brave, yet much given
to cunning and treachery. They rarely forgot benefits or forgave
injuries.
12. Many relics of these savages are yet to be found in almost every
county throughout the State. Broken pieces of pottery, arrowheads and
tomahawks are often plowed up in the fields; and mounds of various
sizes, made by the Indians, are still seen in some sections. There had
long been a tradition among the Indians that, in the course of time,
pale-faced strangers from beyond the seas would possess their land;
and so, after ages of petty warfare among themselves, as the sixteenth
century drew to its close, they were confronted by men who built ships
that withstood the ocean's storms, and shook the solid earth with the
roar of their artillery.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who were the original inhabitants of the country now known as
North Carolina?
2. Who had made settlements on the American continent a century
before the English? What two great men were leaders in making those
settlements?
3. Give the location of the various tribes of Indians in North Carolina.
4. Who