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High Plains Community: THE
SAPPONY TRIBE On this page:
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| Newspaper Article - 1948
THE INDIANS OF PERSON COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA By Tom MacCaughelty Straddling the North Carolina border in the secluded hills east of U.S. Highway 501 is a community of American Indians whose history has remained as much a mystery as the fate of the Lost Colony. Commonly termed a "mixed-blood" group, these proud people are probably the product of marriages long ago of whites and Indians, and, in fact, have a tradition among themselves which says they are remnants of the Lost Colony. In color they vary between blondes and even red-heads with grey or blue-gray eyes to tawny and sometimes swarthy brunettes with hazel, brown, or black eyes. Some have the straight black hair associated with pure Indian, while others have differing shades of brown hair, either straight or wavy. In general appearance they are well- dressed and clean. They are a handsome people. Their history is mysterious. As Indians, they never have been positively identified. Can they be, as their tradition holds, the long sought descendants of the friendly Indians who received the colonists of John White? Strangely enough, among the approximately 350 people in the scattered farming community, only six family names are represented: Johnson, Martin, Coleman, Epps, Stewart (also spelled Stuart), and Shepherd. Stranger still, three of these names correspond closely with those among the list of Lost Colonists: Johnson, Coleman, and Martyn. But theirs are common English names long familiar in North Carolina, and intermarriage with the proximity to whites would be expected to extend such names among them. (A seventh prominent name among this group is Tally.) As far back as anyone knows, these people have displayed the manners and customs of white settlers, but in this they don't differ from identified Indians. Unfortunately, as far as settling the question goes, not a single Indian word had been passed down to the present group. If their former manner of speech could somehow be resurrected, there would be a good clue to their identity; for then experts could judge with some degree of accuracy whether they indeed originated among the coastal Algonquin language tribes. If so, there would be a good argument for the Lost Colony theory. If their language were Siouan or some other branch of the inland tongues, the score would be against the Lost Colony tradition. Dr. Douglas LeTell Rights, author of "The American Indian in North Carolina," (published by Duke University Press in 1947) says that there is a possibility that the people, officially designated as Person County Indians, are descendants of the Saponi, originally a Siouan tribe. He notes that Governor Dobbs reported in 1755 that 14 men and 14 women of the Saponi were in Granville county. Person County was once a part of Granville county. ( Dr. Rights also suggests that these Indians in Person County may be a branch of, or have mixed with, the Indians of Robeson County. The people themselves deny being a branch of the Robeson County Indian, but say that there have been a few marriages between members of the two groups.) The Person County Indians, if they are of the Saponi, couldn't choose a more highly regarded tribe. (Col. William Byrd, in his History of The Dividing Line describes this tribe.) Whether a remnant of the Lost Colony, or of the proud Saponi, or of some other group, these people have lived in the rolling hills and high plains northeast of Roxboro for countless generations. No one knows how long. According to E. L. Wehrenberg, for 17 years principal of the community school, it was not until 1920 that they were officially recognized by act of the North Carolina legislature as Person County Indians. Before that, however, they had always insisted upon being treated either as Indians or whites. Back in the days of subscription schools, they hired their own white teachers; and under the present county school system have always had white or Indian teachers. Wehrenberg estimates that there are about 70 families in the group. and that about two-thirds of the people live in Person County and the rest across the line in Virginia. This proportion has changed from time to time he says. |
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| Sappony Web Site Visit the tribe's web site ( https://www.sappony.org ) for the Sappony. |
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Sappony Heritage Exhibit at the Person County Museum of History The Person County Museum of History includes a "Sappony Heritage Exhibit" For information see the Sappony Heritage page. |
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References
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| Name Change 29 March 2003 – Courier-Times State House OKs request from The Indians of Person County are one legislative vote and the governor’s signature away from being recognized under North Carolina law as the "Sappony" tribe. And those next two steps aren’t likely to prove more than formality, after the House this week passed a bill effecting a formal name change for the Indians of Person County, who have been officially known by that name for the past 90 years. The legislation was introduced earlier this month by Rep. Gordon P. Allen, D-Person, and Rep. Ronald Sutton, D-Robeson at the request of the High Plains Indians Inc. on behalf of the Indians of Person County. The measure also had the support of the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, which adopted a resolution to that effect on Jan. 10, and also made the name change as part of the commission’s legislative goals for 2003. Section 1. G. S. 71A-7 of state law that officially recognizes the Indians of Person County by that name is effectively rewritten by the Allen-Sutton bill, which simply supplants "Indians of Person County" in the language of the measure with "Sappony." As passed by the House this week, on Tuesday, March 25, the statute reads: The Indian Tribe now residing in Person County, officially recognized as the Indians of Person County by Chapter 22 of the Public-Local Laws of 1913, who are descendants of those Indians living in Person County for whom the High Plaints Indian School was established, shall, from and after February 3, 1913, be designated and officially recognized as Sappony, and shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as citizens of the State as now or hereafter provided by law, and shall continue to be subject to all the obligations and duties of citizens under the law. In addition, the House similarly amended the section of state law establishing membership of the State Commission of Indian Affairs so as to replace "Indians of Person County" with "Sappony," thereby assuring Sappony recognition by and a representative seat on the state commission. The measure now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to win approval and be passed on for Gov. Mike Easley’s signature, thus becoming law. The legislation stems in large measure from an extensive research project conducted by the Indians of Person County, with the help of a federal grant, into the tribe’s history and identity. The research confirmed the Person County tribe as Sappony, the spelling of which also was authenticated, according to tribe officials. The Sappony have resided for centuries in what became known as the High Plains Community, which straddles the North Carolina-Virginia border now separating northeastern Person County and southeastern Halifax County, Va. The Sappony represent the remnants of a much larger tribe, the majority of which moved north to join the Iroquois or south to join the Catawba, according to tribe leaders. The State of North Carolina apparently first recognized the tribe as the Indians of Person County in 1911, in advance of the formal legislation to that effect in 1913, when the State of Virginia also recognized the Indians living in Halifax County, Va. Today, according to tribal leaders, the Sappony have about 850 tribal members, all of whom descend from the tribe’s seven main families. A representative from each of the seven family surnames – Stewart, Epps, Shepherd, Martin, Johnson, Talley and Colman – serves on the Sappony Tribal Council, which is led by a tribal chair and tribal chief. Dorothy Crowe is the current chair, Otis Martin, chief, and Dante Desiderio is the tribe’s executive director. Julia Phipps represents the tribe on the Commission of Indian Affairs. |
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__________ A check of the NC General Assembly web site leads me to believe that the bill has passed and has been signed by the Governor. The following text is from http://www.ncleg.net/html2003/bills/allversions/house/h355vc.html
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2003 |
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A Bibliography of Resources on the Indians of Prepared by the North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (This information was copied from the UNC Chapel Hill Library web site at: Books, Theses, and Government Reports
Journal Articles
Newspaper Articles
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Contact info: ©2013 to present by the NCGenWeb Project, Inc., and/or individual contributors. Last updated 11/02/2021 |
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