Everything about Saponi totally explained
Saponi, also spelled
Sappony is the name of one of the eastern
Siouan tribes, related to the
Tutelo,
Occaneechi,
Monacan, Manahoac and other eastern
Siouan peoples, whose ancestral homeland is in
North Carolina and
Virginia. Two Saponi bands currently have state recognition in
North Carolina: the
Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation and the
Haliwa-Saponi. Several other groups and organizations currently claim Saponi ancestry, including the Mahenips Band of the Saponi Nation in the remote
Ozark hills, with its headquarters in
West Plains, Missouri; the Saponi Descendants Association based in
Texas; and the Saponi Nation of Ohio. A number of communities also claim to be Native American descendants of the Saponi through
Melungeon lines, such as the
Carmel Indians of Carmel, Ohio; and a group in
Magoffin County, Kentucky.
History
The first known contact between European settlers and the Saponi was recorded in 1670 when
John Lederer visited a Saponi village near
Charlotte Court House,
Virginia. In 1671 Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam led an expedition that passed through the same village as well as a second in Long Island in
Campbell County, Virginia. The Saponi, as well as the closely related Occaneechi, were brutally and unjustifiably attacked by settlers during
Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 after raids from the unrelated Doeg tribe. The Saponis were nearly decimated at this point and they moved to settle three islands with their allies the Occaneechis and
Tutelos at the confluence of the
Dan River and the
Staunton River in
Clarksville.
At the start of the 18th century, the Saponi and the two allied tribes began moving between North Carolina and Virginia in an attempt to gain security from both the colonial governments and with several other tribes. They fought unceasingly with the northern
Iroquois and also fought a war against the
Tuscaroras. One record from 1728 indicated that Colonel
William Byrd II made a survey of the border between Virginia and
North Carolina with a Saponi hunter named Ned Bearskin as his guide. Byrd noted several abandoned fields of corn, indicating serious disturbance among the local tribes. In 1740 a group of Saponis and Tutelos in
Pennsylvania surrendered to the
Iroqouis and joined them. Since most of the Iroqouis sided with the British in the
American Revolutionary War, the Saponis and Tutelos who had joined them were exiled to
Canada along with their new allies after defeat by the Americans. After that point, recorded history is silent about the tribe.
Language
There is little information on the now-extinct Saponi language. According to
William Byrd II, the Saponi spoke the same language as the
Occaneechi and the
Stenkenock. It was probably the same as that spoken by the Meipontsky. By the time linguistic data was recorded, these related eastern Siouan tribes had settled together at Fort Christianna in
Brunswick County, Virginia. While the language of the Tutelos was fairly well recorded by
Horatio Hale, that of the Saponi is known from only two sources. It is unclear how the language spoken by the Saponi differed from that of the
Tutelo, if at all.
One source is a word list of 46 terms and phrases recorded by John Fontaine at Fort Christianna in 1716. The other is a few translated creek names given by William Byrd in his
History of the Dividing Line betwixt Virginia and North Carolina in 1728. Fontaine's list is problematic as only 16 to 20 entries are
Siouan, while the others are
Iroquoian and
Algonquian. Bryd's scant list also proved to include several unrelated Indian names.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Saponi'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://saponi.totallyexplained.com">Saponi Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
