SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Bureau of American Ethnology BuUetin 164 Anthropological Papers, No. 52 REVALUATION OF THE EASTERN SIOUAN PROBLEM WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE VIRGINIA BRANCHES—THE OCCANEECHI, THE SAPONI, AND THE TUTELO By CARL F. MILLER 116 870929—57 10 AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BOLL. 164 116 BUREAU OF CONTENTS PAGE Preface 119 Historical documentation 121 Evaluation and interpretation of the facts regarding the Siouan question. 173 Summary and conclusion 205 Literature cited 207 ILLUSTKATIONS MAPS 8. Facsimile of John Lederer's map, 1672 116 9. Facsimile of John Lawson's map, 1709 125 10. Facsimile of William Byrd's map of the Dividing Line (Boyd, 1922).. 129 11. Facsimile of F. L. Hawks' map, 1663-1729 132 12. Facsimile of Ogilby's map, 1671 134 13. Facsimile of map of the Rev. Peter Fontaine, Jr. (1787), who accom- panied the Commissioners as a chaplain 135 14. Modern map projecting the routes taken by Lederer and by Batts and Fallam 178 117 PREFACE After spending three seasons in the field in the Buggs Island-John H. Kerr Reservoir in southern Virginia and obtaining considerable ceramic and other artifactual remains from a number of sites in the area, I started to examine this material preparatory to writing a report of my results when a question arose regarding the origin of the pottery and the ethnic group to which it was attributed. The solu- tion of this question was not in the field of archeology, directly, but rather in the field of ethnology and linguistics. The recovered pottery assemblage was not recognized as that usually attributed to Siouan-speaking peoples, and since they were listed as the probable occupants of this section of Virginia it neces- sitated a perusal of the hterature dealing with this group—especially the Occaneechi, Saponi, and Tutelo—from the earliest incursions by whites up to the present day in order to see whether the solution could be found. This same peculiarity was also noted by Manson (1948) in the Potomac River area. Indian tradition is highly unre- liable, hence plays a very small role in the investigations of these tribes. The earliest of the writers consulted was Captain John Smith, who was known for the veracity of his statements. Never making actual firsthand contact with the group of peoples living in southern and central Virginia, he learned about them through Algonquian sources. From these he deduced that certain groups occupied areas indicated on his map of 1624, but so far the ones indicated have never been satisfactorily identified or related with known Indian groups. William Strachey, secretary of the colony from 1609 to 1612, tells about Algonquian habits and economy, and lists a number of Indian words, giving their English equivalents, which have a direct bearing upon the study underway. Others of this early period include John Lederer, Batts and FaUam, Needham and Arthur, Robert Beverley, and John Lawson. These were followed by the interpretative school, including among others, James Mooney, David I. Bushnell, Jr., Dr. John R. Swanton, and Dr. William N. Fenton, which brings us up to the present day. These are the principal writers upon whom we rely in the following account. Rather than change or reinterpret their statements, we have decided to use their own words in order to convey the exact meaning intended 119 120 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 164 by the original writer so that no bias of the present writer could creep into the text to color it in any manner. None of the modern writers can equal in authority, nor sm-pass in interest, the statements made in the original records by the men who not only saw these Indians in their natural habitat but actually had dealings with them, all of which were recorded and should be evaluated exactly as presented without letting inferences, assumptions, and preconceived concepts steal into the picture. Since the source material of this area is much scattered, it is hoped that the presentation of most of the pertinent data here will serve a broader purpose than the immediate requirements of this paper. Carl F. Miller. — REVALUATION OF THE EASTERN SIOUAN PROB- LEM, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE VIRGINIA BRANCHES—THE OCCANEECHI, THE SAPONI, AND THE TUTELO By Carl F. Miller HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION Recently a review of the literature dealing with the Occaneechi, the Saponi, and the Tutelo, three branches of the so-called Siouan family, has been made, and a nmnber of interesting facts have come to light. The first two members of this group were first mentioned in 1651 by Edward Bland. They were again mentioned in 1670 by John Lederer, and in 1671 Batts and Fallam (Fallow) mentioned the Tutelo or Toteros. References to these three tribes keep appearing in reports from time to time in Virginia and North Carolina until it is apparent they either migrated northward or were assimilated by other groups. The question as to whether these three tribes can be rightfully classified as Siouan linguistically has arisen and an examination of the whole premise has been made. Historically, the method has been to go over the original sources and to see what each author based his authority upon in constructing his premise: if inferential—how valid were these inferences; if factual from what soiu-ces were they gathered. Quoting the original som-ces chronologically, the"earliest*is[^Edward Bland's account, in 1651, in which he states: 1651.—At Blandina River we have some discourse with our Appamattuck Guide concerning that River, who told us that the branch of Blandina River ran a great way up into the Country; and that about three dayes journy further to the South-West, there was a far greater Branch so Broad that a man could hardly see over it, and bended it selfe to the Northward above the head of James River unto the foot of the great Mountaines, on which River there lived many people upwards, being the Occanacheans and the Nessoneicks, and that where some of the Occanacheans lived, there is an island within the River three dayes journy about, which is of a very rich and fertile soile, and that the upper end of the Island is fordable, not above knee deepe, of a stony bottome, running very swift, and the other side very deepe and navigable: Also we found many of the people of Blan- dina River to have beards, and both there, and at Woodford River we saw many very old men,^and that the'Climate'according to our opinions were far more tem- perate than ours of Virginia, and the inhabitants fulPof Children ;'they also told 121 122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 164 us that at the bottome of the River was great heaps of Salt; and we saw among them Copper, and were informed that they tip their pipes with silver, of which some have been brought into this country, and 'tis very probable that there may be Gold, and other Mettals amongst the Hils. fSalley, 1911, p. 16.] What is particularly interesting about this quotation from Bland is the description of the island upon which the Occaneechi lived. He gave us an actual fact—the "upper end of the Island is fordable, not above knee deepe, of a stony bottome, running very swift." As we go along let us keep this in mind in order to compare it with the state- ments of other observers. 1670.—^John Lederer, in 1670, first contacted the Sapon (Saponi) and later the Akenatzy (Occaneechi). After parting company with Major Harris and the rest of the Englishmen near the south fork of the James Eiver, he started out on his own. (See map 8, p. 116.) The fifth of June, my company and I parted good friends, they back again, and I with one Sasquesahanough—Indian, named Jackzetavon, only, in pursuit of my first enterprize, changing my course from west to southwest and by south to avoid the mountains. From the fifth, which was Sunday, until the ninth of June, I travelled through difficult ways, without seeing any town or Indian; and then I arrived at Sapon, a village of the Nahyssans, about an hundred miles distant from Mahock; scituate upon a branch of Shawan, aUas Rorenock-river . [Alvord and Bidgood, 1912, p. 152.] Sapon is within the limits of the Province of Carolina . [Ibid., p. 153.] Not far distant from hence, as I understand from the Nahyssan Indians, is their kings residence, called pintahae from the same river, and happy in the same advantages both for pleasure and profit . [Ibid., p. 153.] From hence, by an Indians instructions, I directed my course to Akenatzy, an island bearing south and be west, and about fifty miles distant, upon a branch of the same river, from Sapon. The countrey here, though high, is level, and for the most part a rich soyle, as I judged by the growth of the trees; yet where it is inhabited by Indians, it lies open in spacious plains, and is blessed with a very healthful air, as appears by the age and vigour of the people; and though I travelled in the month of June, the heat of the weather hindered me not from riding at all hours without any great annoyance from the sun. By easie journeys I landed at Akenatzy upon the twelfth of June. The current of the river is here so strong, that my horse had much difficulty to resist it; and I expected every step to be carried away with the stream. This island, though small, maintains many inhabitants, who are fix't here in great security, being naturally fortified with fastnesses of mountains, and water on every side.