Stephanie's Scribble

  Dialect: Early Explorers Lewis and Clark named rivers and subsequently introduced terms used to identify people living nearby, just like surveyor Lawson and other transcribers. This contributes to some identity misconceptions. The Iroquoian language and Algonquian language were not easily distinguished from one another and that also led to misconceptions. As explorers and settlers translated what they understood, misspellings occurred. All these things contribute to a lesser history of the North Carolina Tuscaroras. For example, the country of India has over 17 dialects. I challenge any American who does not know the language to go there, attempt to correctly distinguish their dialects, and return to correctly transcribe who said what and which dialect was spoken. I’ll give you two years, ten months, and four days – same as Lewis and Clark, to cover the entire country on foot, canoe and horseback. William Byrd names his three hunters Tuskeruda Indians in his work The Westov...

 Excerpt from Strachey's text in The Historie of Travaile into Virginia concerning The Lost Colonists working as Tuscaroras' coppersmiths: Bear in mind that Croatan is Hatteras is Tuscarora, and Roanoak is a Tuscarora trading post and "mayde" is maid is female. Why does this matter?  Because the Tuscarora legacy has been desecrated by conquerors' misconceptions, misspellings, derogatory language that drove further angst against the Natives and continues in the 21st Century as the friendly NC Tuscaroras seek justice from under the dominant Lumbees. For example: Excerpt from The Exsanguination of the Second Society: Scholarly Historical Fiction Relating to Robeson County, North Carolina’s Tuscarora : “They changed their name in 1885 and these same people shop for new identities all the time up in Washington. The Lumbee claim that the Tuscarora are a “splinter group” of their tribe when all along, a lot of ‘em are Tuscarora. Did you know that the tribe once tried ...

North Carolina Tuscarora press conference April 28, 2007 at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke with honored guests, elders Vernon Bellecourt and Floyd Red Crow Westerman, is inspiring. This video shows that the same issues in 2007 are the same issues as today in 2020. Worse than that, the video reveals that in 2007, there was real hope for the Lumbees and NC Tuscaroras to unite and in 2020, that hope is greatly diminished.  The elders in this video are the voices of the past who reflect the heart of the Nation and need remembrance.  Tuscarora Rising of the Tuscarora Nation FB video The irony of this video being taped at UNCP's Old Main building is that the Museum of the Southeast American Indian is right behind the speakers. The museum features Lumbee exhibits and even after scholarly research with Tuscarora lineage charts that correctly identify founder of UNCP Preston Locklear, and local hero Henry Berry Lowrie as Tuscarora, were provided in Jan. 2019, they are sti...

  There is an underground movement in Robeson County, North Carolina for the indigenous Tuscarora who enrolled into the Lumbee Tribe to disenroll. The Tuscaroras enrolled for several reasons, from needing an identification card to be hired in a Lumbee dominant culture, to being accepted by the dominant culture, to needing and hoping for HUD assistance, and educational funding and other things the Lumbee Tribe offers in a socio-economically distressed county. The adage, when you know better, do better is heeded during this disenrollment movement. Many Tuscaroras have learned to be independent and are thriving. They are a shining light of inspiration. Public Domain: World Trade Center Memorial by Denise Gould (DOD Photo 060911-F-9471G-006) The one true thing that North Carolina’s Tuscaroras need to be true to their heritage is bravery – like the kind our firefighters, police and other service persons relied on when saving and attempting to save the victims of Sept. 11, 2001. Bra...

  This is a reason to rewrite history books: The facts have been verified and there are only 4k to 5k indigenous Natives in Robeson County, North Carolina. Robeson County, North Carolina's Tuscaroras descent from aboriginal tribes is a  fact of life  and the research will stand the test of time. The Tuscaroras of Robeson County are the same referenced as Katteras by the earliest explorers and as Croatan by The Lost Colonists. Croatan was adopted by white democrats to obtain federal funding for the local natives to have their own school.  Under the 1956 Lumbee Act, the Croatan name was changed to Lumbee.  There are over 65k people enrolled in the Lumbee Tribe which is state identified and they are eligible for HUD assistance and other economic relief programs.  But --- Tuscarora pedigree charts indicate there are only 4k to 5k indigenous NC Tuscarora today. Tuscaroras are identified in federal documents, letters and logistically their historical presence...

This research reveals only 30 Saponi in 1708, and plenty of war with our Tuscarora against those determined colonists. Logistically, in 1708, Virginia was part of Tuscarora Territory for these major traders who traveled all the way to Canada and back down to into the borders of Florida. The Algonquian Powhatans had been warriors but were reduced to a tributary status, making yearly payments to the colonial government as a sign of dependence when they lost all lands between the York and Blackwater Rivers, when in 1677 another treaty was made with the colonists.   While our Mighty Tuscaroras were still giving "the Lord's men their due." WAR! With only 30 Saponi bowmen one may reasonably guesstimate just as many women and maybe some children in 1708, so, perhaps there were 80 to 100 altogether. According to this same research, the Saponi were informants to the Colonists and it looks like the Saponi may have also been afraid of the Tuscaroras.  This is interesting because...