The High Plains Sappony of Person County, North Carolina and Halifax
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1 CONTINUITY WITHIN CHANGE: VIRGINIA INDIANS NATIONAL REGISTER PROJECT UNDER REPRESENTED COMMUNITIES GRANT PROGRAM - HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND P15AP00020 The High Plains Sappony of Person County, North Carolina and Halifax County, Virginia Sites of Significance in the Christie Indian Settlement: Churches, Schools, and General Store July 2017 College of William & Mary Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Anthropology Department of Historic Resources Williamsburg, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Anthropological Research Report Series Research Report Series Number 5 Number 21 2 PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY BLANK 3 The High Plains Sappony of Person County, North Carolina and Halifax County, Virginia Sites of Significance in the Christie Indian Settlement: Churches, Schools, and General Store Authors Buck Woodard, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator Stephanie Hasselbacher, Ph.D., Lead Ethnographer College of William & Mary Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Anthropology Department of Historic Resources Williamsburg, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Anthropological Research Report Series Research Report Series Number 5 Number 21 4 This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Under Represented Communities Grant Program administered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY 7 Methodology 10–13 Field Visits to Sappony Sites of Significance Civic-Engagement and Ethnography Archival and Historical Research II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND UNTIL 1775 15 Language 15–17 Historical Saponi-Tutelo Settlements and Territory, 1650-1750 17–18 Saponi-Tutelo History and Culture, 1650-1775 18–29 Early Descriptions Bacon’s Rebellion and the 1677 Articles of Peace The Saponi Relocation to North Carolina, 1685-1708 Tributaries of Virginia and Fort Christanna, 1708-1728 Saponi Cyclical Warfare and Peace with the Iroquoians, 1727-1753 The Saponi in Virginia-Carolina, 1740-1775 III. THE HIGH PLAINS INDIAN SETTLEMENT, C.1775-1875 31–36 The Indian Settlement High Plains Demography, Farming, and Labor Christianity and Church Organization IV. THE SAppONY, C.1880-1940 37–49 Early Education The Village of Christie North Carolina State Recognition, 1911 Demography and Jim Crow Economics and Households Community Institutions and Socio-political Organization V. SAppONY SITES OF SIGNIFICANCE, C.1880-1970 51–74 The High Plains Indian School Christ Church at Mayo Chapel and Calvary Baptist Church The Christie Store VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 75–76 V1. WORKS CITED 77–86 6 Figure 1. “Locations of Saponi-Tutelo and neighboring groups, with dates of known occupancy.” Select villages and sites: 5. Massinacack (Mahock 1670); 6. Mowhemcho (Monakin 1670); 7. Manks Nessoneicks old fields (1650) and nearby Sappony creeks; 8. Totero (1671, 1674); 9. Sapon (1670), Hanathaskies (1671); 10. Saponi West and Saponi Town (1671); 11. Tutelo town and fort (1712-1714); 12. Saponi town and fort (1708-1714); 13. Sapona. Source: DeMallie (2004:287). 7 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY The oral history of the Sappony community the supporting materials necessary for nominating and the documentary record of the High Plains re- historical Sappony sites of significance to the Na- gion identify the village of Christie as an historically tional Register of Historic Places. The activity that important district to the Indian Settlement straddling is the subject of this report has been financed in the border of Halifax County, Virginia and Person part with federal funds from the National Park Ser- County, North Carolina. Multiple properties within vice, U.S. Department of the Interior. However, the the Christie geography – on both sides of the state contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the line – are “sites of significance” to the High Plains views or policies of the Department of the Interior, Indian community. Through the National Park Ser- nor does the mention of trade names or commer- vice’s Underrepresented Communities Grant Pro- cial products constitute endorsement or recommen- gram, and in collaboration with the state-recognized dation by the Department of the Interior. Sappony of North Carolina, the Virginia Depart- ment of Historic Resources [VDHR] seeks to identi- Special thanks and recognition are in order fy, research, and nominate minority populations’ his- for the Sappony, who completed a 2016 Memoran- torically significant locales to the state and national dum of Understanding [MOU] with the Virginia registry of historic places. The VDHR project Con- Department of Historic Resources in advance of tinuity Within Change: Virginia Indians National Register the conducted research. Sappony Chairperson Dor- Project moves that effort forward, through an archi- othy Stewart Crowe and Julie V. Langan, State His- val, ethnographic, and oral history investigation of toric Preservation Officer and Director, Virginia the Christie Indian Settlement, with attention to the Department of Historic Resources were signatories tribe’s relationship to the Christie General Store, the to the agreement. Sappony council members and community’s former Indian School, and the contem- representatives Jennifer Ash, Tonda Huddleston, porary and historical Sappony churches. Angela Martin, Charlene Martin, Johnny Martin, Lindsey Martin, and Julia Phipps offered guidance While the village of Christie no longer ex- to the MOU. Chief Otis Martin acted as tribal li- ists, the location of the former railway depot, ham- aison for the project. Sappony Executive Director let businesses, and the community’s social, political, Dante Desiderio and tribal member Tom Epps also and religious gathering spaces remain in the mem- facilitated the research. Formal and informal indi- ories of the Sappony descendant community, and vidual and group interviews included members list- chronicled in the archives of Virginia and North ed above, as well as James Coleman, Gerald Epps, Carolina. The High Plains Sappony continue to oc- Kenneth Epps, Sr., Robbie Epps, Royster “Chat” cupy the Christie environs, and the associated In- Epps, Shirley Hazel, Claude Martin, Jr., Della Faye dian family farms, homes, and cemeteries dot the Martin, George Washington Martin, Joyce Martin, landscape. This study, conducted by the Depart- Mary Sue Martin, O.C. Martin, Sheila Martin, Robin ment of Anthropology’s American Indian Resource Martin, Ambra Rennick, Mitchell Stewart, Rev. Jack Center at the College of William & Mary, provides Stewart, Luther Talley, Nettie Talley, Sue Vernon, 8 CHAPTER ONE and Sheila Wilson. They are thanked for their con- state line. The Christie district is a heritage resource tributions and service, and through verbal agree- significant to the Sappony people, and represents ment and MOU, agreeing to share the oral history aspects of the Sappony historical experience within of the Sappony community. the Commonwealth of Virginia. Founded c.1892, Christie, Virginia was a The Sappony are indigenous to the moun- hamlet that emerged around an Atlantic & Danville tain foothills, piedmont, and interior coastal plain Railway depot, and the associated economic and of Virginia and North Carolina, and closely related transportation activities. A small cluster of mer- to the region’s other Siouan-speakers, the Tutelo. chants and mills, primarily framed around farming, In historical documents the community’s name ap- became a hub of business and social exchange for pears in several forms, including “Saponie,” “Sapo- local residents. A significant population in this por- ny,” “Saponi,” “Sapon,” “Sapponese,” etc. At one tion of Halifax County, Virginia and Person Coun- point in the eighteenth century, a coalescent com- ty, North Carolina were Native Americans living munity of Saponi, Tutelo, and others were settled at on the “high plains” between Bluewing and Mayo Fort Christanna, Virginia and collectively all called creeks, tributaries of the Hyco River. The Chris- “Saponie” or “Christanna Indians.” Historically, tie train depot was established in the midst of the there were multiple Saponi settlements, and through neighborhood locally known as the “Indian Settle- the colonial era, several out migrations of Saponi ment.” By the 1960s, the train service was discon- and Tutelo to New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania, tinued and the railway tracks removed. Along with and South Carolina (Figure 1). The contemporary the railway’s departure, other transportation modi- residents of High Plains use the “Sappony” spell- fications to the area roadways effectively bypassed ing, whereas “Saponi” is most often used across the Christie. The businesses in Christie mostly closed at anthropological literature. Hereafter, “Sappony” this time, as did the post office, and the hamlet of will be used to discuss the specific High Plains In- Christie was no longer officially considered a locale, dian Settlement. “Saponi” or “Saponi-Tutelo” will except in the memories of the local residents. To- be used to discuss the historical ethnographic mate- day, the site is in the jurisdiction of Virgilina, Virgin- rials in the report, when discussing general Saponi ia and the Christie name exists only on road signs as history, language, and culture. “Christie Road” [Rt. 740] and “Christie Circle” [Rt. 862]. The Christie General Store [VDHR