Indian Wars: North Carolina. Enoch Lawrence Lee

      Location of principal Indian tribes in North Carolina from 1663‑1763

      In addition to the Indians who lived on the Coastal Plain there were also outside tribes which came in from time to time to make war on the local natives. Of these invaders, the most feared were warriors of the Five Nations Confederation of New York, usually identified as the Seneca, the name of a member tribe. The Shawnee of the north and west were also frequent and destructive visitors.

      In the beginning, the Indians usually welcomed the Europeans as friends with whom they could share the land. Too late to save themselves, they realized the whites did not wish to share but to possess alone. The Lords Proprietors repeatedly urged the colonists to cultivate friendly relations with the natives, but the colonists refused to follow the advice. Strange to say, they can to look upon the natives as intruders even though, as John Lawson wrote, "We have abandoned our own Native Soil, to drive them out, and possess theirs." The whites also looked upon the Indians "with Scorn and Disdain, and think them little better than Beasts in Human Shape." Far from being "Beasts in Human Shape," the natives were fine specimens of humanity who were described by their friend, Lawson, in the following words:

      The Indians of North-Carolina are a well-shaped clean-made People, of different Statures, as the Europeans are, yet chiefly inclined to be tall. They are a very straight People, and never bend forwards or stoop in the Shoulders, unless much overpowered by old Age. Their limbs are exceeding well shaped. Their Bodies are a little flat, which is occasioned by being laced down to a Board in their Infancy . . . Their Eyes are black, or of a dark Hazel; The White is marbled with red Streaks, which is ever common to these People . . . Their [skin] Colour is of a tawny, which would not be so dark if they did not dawb themselves with Bear's Oil, and a Colour like burnt Cork. This is begun in their Infancy and continued for a long time, which fills the Pores and enables them better to endure the Extremity of the Weather. They are never bald on their Heads, although never so old, which I believe, proceeds from their Heads being always uncovered, and the greasing their Hair, so often as they do, with Bear's Fat, which is a great Nourisher of the Hair, and causes it to grow very fast. Amongst the Bear's Oil (when they intend to be fine) they mix a certain red Powder, that comes from a Scarlet Root . . . With this and Bear's Grease they anoint their Heads and Temples, which is esteemed as ornamental . . . Their eyes are commonly full and manly, and their Gate sedate and majestic . . . They are dexterous and steady, but as to their Hands and Feet, to Admiration. They will walk over deep Brooks and Creeks on the smallest Poles, and without any Fear or Concern . . . In Running, Leaping or any such other Exercise, their Legs seldom miscarry and give them a Fall; and as for letting anything fall out of their Hands, I never yet knew one Example. I never saw a Dwarf amongst them, nor but one that was Hump-backed. Their teeth are yellow with Smoaking Tobacco, which both Men and Women are much addicted to . . . They have no Hairs on their Faces, (except some few) and those but little . . . They are continually plucking it away from their Faces by the Roots . . . As there are found very few, or scarce any, Deformed or Cripples amongst them, so neither did I ever see but one blind Man; and then they would give me no account how his Blindness came . . . No People have better eyes, or see better in the Night or Day than the Indians. Some alledge that the Smoke of the Pitch-Pine which they chiefly burn, does both preserve and strengthen the Eyes . . . They let their Nails grow very long, which they reckon, is the Use Nails are designed for, and laugh at the Europeans for paring theirs, which, they say disarms them of that which Nature designed them for. They are not of so robust and strong Bodies as to lift great Burdens, and endure Labour and Slavish Work, as the Europeans are; yet some that are Slaves, prove very good and laborious; But of themselves, they never work as the English do, taking care for no farther than what is absolutely necessary to support Life. In Traveling and Hunting, they are very indefatigable, because that carries a Pleasure along with the Profit. I have known some of them very strong; and as for Running and Leaping, they are extraordinary Fellows, and will dance for several Nights together with the greatest Briskness imaginable, their Wind never failing them.

      Other writers generally agreed with Lawson as to the physical characteristics of the Indians though some described their skin as reddish-brown or copper. The description of the Cherokee complexion as olive might have been due to an illusion created by their practice of pricking gunpowder into their skins to produce decorative patterns. The Cherokee, like certain other tribes, also had a distinctive hair style to identify their tribal connection. The Cherokee men plucked or shaved all the hair from their heads except for a tuft on the back which was decorated with beads and feathers and such. These variations, however, were differences in detail only, and one early writer who was familiar with the various tribes said of them, "there is but little diversity with respect to complexion, manners, or customs."

      The Indians of North Carolina were agricultural people who also depended on hunting and fishing. To follow these pursuits, each tribe occupied as much land as it needed or could hold. The tribal land, or "nation," was the common property of all the members with specific areas allocated to the various towns in which the people lived. They were located on the banks of streams which were useful for travel, fishing and other purposes. These towns varied in size from a few to 200 or more houses and each had a state, or town house for religious and other ceremonial uses. The larger towns sometimes extended over an area of several miles with the buildings scattered among fields and orchards. The cultivation of the fields was the responsibility of the tribe, and the work and the harvest was shared. Corn was the principal crop but various types of vegetables were also grown. In addition to the common fields, each family had its own small plot, or garden, upon which its dwelling stood. Among the eastern Indians the dwellings were frames of poles covered with bark. Those of the Cherokee in the more rigorous climate of the western mountains were covered with clay.

      While the cultivation of the fields was the main occupation during the warm months, hunting was the principal activity during the winter months. Hunting was sometimes done individually or in small parties, but it was often carried on in the nature of a large expedition. The most expert young men were chosen for the actual hunting while the less capable young men and the young women went along to serve the hunters. The old people were left behind to care for the town. In the autumn of the year, as soon as the leaves had fallen and the woods were dry, the hunting parties went out and sometimes stayed for many days. At a chosen place the woods were set afire and the deer and other game were driven into a restricted area and killed with ease. The use of fire in this manner was destructive to the woods and endangered property when carried on near the settlements. Consequently, it was a source of friction between the Indians and the whites. Nevertheless, hunting provided additional food for the people and the surplus meat, along with grain, vegetables and fruits were dried and placed in the town storehouses for future use. Clearly, these Indian towns were not temporary camps of a people wandering about in a wilderness world. They were small communities in which the people in times of peace lived a reasonably stable existence.

      The degree of orderliness that the Indians achieved in their life was due largely to their government. Each town had its own headman, or chief, who the English usually called "king." In some cases this title was hereditary but usually, and particularly in later years, the position was elective. The king was assisted by lesser war captains and councillors, who were also elected on the basis of ability, and all important decisions were made by the leaders meeting in council. Each town was independent of the other and while they ordinarily acted in unison, they did not always do so. The degree of conformity differed among various groups. The government of the Iroquoian tribes seems to have been less forceful than that among the Siouan and Algonquian tribes.

      The life of the Indians before the coming of the whites was a simple one in which they supplied their own needs through