Indian Wars: North Carolina. Enoch Lawrence Lee
nature, and with their own hands and crude instruments. After the coming of the whites, their existence became complicated by the use of European products. Machine-made textiles came to be used for clothing in place of skins and furs which were traded to the whites for their goods. Ancient crafts were abandoned and often forgotten in favor of the use of manufactured tools. The bow and arrow was put aside in favor of the more destructive gun. In becoming dependent upon things they could not produce themselves, the Indians became dependent on the whites who could and did produce them. This dependence increased the longer the association continued. By the time the natives realized their self-reliance, it was too late to turn back. At any point they might have resumed the old ways of peacetime, but their life was not always one of peace. And in war, they had no choice. Faced with enemies, both white and red, who used guns, self-preservation required the use of the same destructive weapons. Guns, in turn, required a constant supply of ammunition and this became the most vital need of the Indians and their greatest weakness. Without it they were helpless, even in peace. Furs and skins were the price of ammunition, and ammunition was used to provide the furs and skins. Forced to trade with the whites for guns and ammunition, the natives continued to accept their dependence for other needs. As a consequence, the Indians were in bondage to the whites long before they were defeated on the field of battle.
In their struggle to survive in the wilderness world in which they lived, the Indians were faced with many enemies and warfare had become a tradition with them. The coming of the whites only increased its intensity. Until they developed a desire for European goods, the Indians seldom fought for material gain. Instead, war was usually a means of gaining glory or vengeance. The natives were a very revengeful people and seldom forgot a wrong until they had obtained satisfaction. This desire was perhaps the weakest aspect of their character. Regardless of the causes, though, war to them was a serious matter and was entered into only after solemn deliberation. Once a decision for war was made, a stick painted red was sent around to the other towns of the tribe, and even to other friendly tribes as an invitation to join in the coming struggle. Some tribes used pipes for this purpose. Others used tomahawks, or hatchets, and would "bury the hatchet" with the coming of peace.
Military duty was not required, but desire for glory and the fear of disapproval were enough to encourage most men to serve. Even women went to war and sometimes achieved distinction. In preparing for battle the Indians discarded all unnecessary clothing and equipment and ordinarily carried with them only their weapons and food in the form of parched corn and dried meat. Some went on the warpath afoot. Others, like the Cherokee, used horses. Either way they were fearsome sights as a result of painting their faces and other parts of their bodies with red and black colors which made them resemble "devils coming out of Hell." These colors had symbolic meanings; red for the blood of war and black for the death which the enemy might expect. The colors not only served to create terror but also to disguise the individual warrior. On the other hand, some mark or other evidence was usually left behind after every attack to identify the tribe that had struck the blow.
Indians usually fought only in small groups. Even when large numbers went out to war, they generally divided into small parties and their scalping knives and tomahawks, which were also manufactured in Europe, were almost as important as their guns. They also rarely fought in open battle and looked upon the English practice of doing so as foolish. Instead, they struck from behind cover and faded back into the forest, if necessary, so they might strike again. This practice was not due to lack of courage. It was simply the most sensible method of forest fighting. Too, the Indian custom of attacking at dawn was not because of superstitious fear of spirits that might wander in the dark. Dawn was ordinarily the best time to surprise the enemy. These and other fighting tactics had been developed over a period of many years. They were used against native enemies and they were also used against the whites.
In warfare nothing influenced the Indians more than religion. All groups did not agree in every detail, but there was much similarity in their beliefs. Some believed in one supreme God, the maker of all things, who rewarded the good and punished the bad. Others believed that all good came from the Good Spirit and all bad from the Evil Spirit. The Cherokee, it was said, "adored the sun and the moon, but really worshipped the God who made all."
It was also a Cherokee chief who said that the Indians had "as good an idea of a future state as any white man." This was a belief that was shared by the Indians of the coastal area. The Hell of these people was a land of cold and hunger and ugly women. Their Heaven was a land of abundance and contentment; of eternal youth and good hunting where "every Month is May" and "the women are bright as Stars, and never scold." With the prospect of such a future life, the Indians usually faced death with resignation. This was especially true when it was inflicted by the enemy. In fact, this idea of the life hereafter explains, at least in part, the treatment of their victims in time of war.
In battle the enemy was usually killed but captives were sometimes taken. Some were kept as slaves and some were sold as such. Some were held for vengeance. Punishment could not be inflicted by the European practice of imprisonment. Even if the Indians had been inclined to follow the practice, their buildings were not suitable for it. Consequently, the fate of the victims was death. But to the Indians a quick death was less punishment than it was a painless passage to the happy life after death. Vengeance demanded pain before death. To gain this revenge, the Indians usually tortured their captives and sometimes in indescribable fashion. The methods were left to the women of the tribe to satisfy their grief for the loss of their men. Regardless of how just the natives might have thought it, this practice, more than any other, caused the whites to look upon the Indians as a brutal and savage race.
Chapter III
Early Indian Wars 1663-1711
The first permanent English inhabitants of North Carolina came down from Virginia about 1660 and occupied the area to the north of Albemarle Sound, which was then called Albemarle County. For some years they were few in number, and fortunately for them so were the Indians. Only the Chowanoc were strong enough at the time to have turned them back, but by a treaty made in 1663, that tribe agreed to peace. The settlers who came to the Cape Fear region shortly thereafter were not so fortunate.
The earliest recorded visit of the English to Cape Fear occurred in the fall of 1662 when William Hilton, representing a group of New Englanders interested in settling in the south, explored the river and its northeast branch. During the course of his visit Hilton came into contact with less than 100 Indians and these he considered to be weak and timid people. Hilton was impressed with the Cape Fear country and, according to the custom of the time, he purchased the land from the natives in the name of those he represented. Soon thereafter a number of New Englanders came down to Cape Fear to settle but returned north after only a short stay. Why they left is not known definitely, but some seventy years later a writer explained that they had been driven away by the local Indians. A hasty departure is indicated by the fact that they left behind their cattle and swine. They also left a note on a post advising others not to settle there.
In the summer of 1663, Hilton returned to the Cape Fear River to explore it again for a group on the far‑away island of Barbados. This time he also went up the northwest branch, as well as the northeast, and found the Indians to be more numerous and more spirited than on his previous visit. He again purchased the land from the natives, this time in the name of the Barbadians, and sailed away to make another glowing report of the region.
In May, 1664, settlers again arrived in the Cape Fear country which had been named Clarendon County. Within a year or two the scattered homestead of colonists from Barbados, and of others from New England and elsewhere, stretched along the river for a distance of sixty miles. For awhile it appeared that this attempt at settlement would succeed, but it did not. For various reasons the colony was neglected by the Lords Proprietors and by those on the island of Barbados who had been expected to support it. Before the end of 1666, the inhabitants of Clarendon County found themselves in serious difficulties for want of supplies. And they added to their troubles by abusing the Indians. It was said, a half-century later, the settlers had seized and sent away Indian children "under Pretense of instructing