THE SAPONI AND TUTELO

THE SAPONI AND TUTELO.

The

Tutelo

and

Saponi tribes

must

be considered together. Their history umler either

nnme

begins in 1070.

As

already stated,

Monahassanngh and Nahyssan

are other forms of Ye.sa", the

name

given to themselves

by

the last surviving Tutelo,

and

which seems to have been the genericterm used

by

all the tribes of this connection to designate

them

as apeople.

The name

Sa])oni (Monasickapaiiough ?)

was

generally limited to a particular tribe or aggregation oftribal remnants,Avhilethe Iroquois

name

Tutelo, Totero, or Todirich-roone, in its vaiions forms, although

commonly

nsed

by

the Englishtodesignatea particulartribe,

was

reallythe genericIro- quois term for all the Siouan tribes of Virginia

and

Carolina,including even the Catawba. In 1722 the remnantsof all the tribes ofVirginia

and

the adjacent partsofCarolina, included nnder thisgeneraldesig- nation by the Iroquois,

had

been gathered at Fort Christanna

and

were

commonly known

collectivelyasChristanna Indians or Saponi.

After their removal to the Iroquois countryin the north the Iroquois collective term, Tutelo,

became more

prominent. In deference to Hale,

who

first established their Siouan affinity,

we

have chosen to use theform Tutelo,althoughTotero is

more

inagreementwith theold authorities. Vv'ith the Iroquois it takes the tribal suflix rone^ as Todirich roone. Ilale states that, so faras

known,

the

name

has no

meaning

either to the Tutelo,

who

call themselves Yesang, or to the Iroquois (Hale, 2).

As

the

name

is used

by

Batts

and Lawson

it

probably belongsto

some

southern language

and was

adopted

by

the Iroquois. It frequently hap])eiis that Indian tribes can notinterpret their

common

tribal designations, but

know

themselvessimply as "the

people.''

38 STOUAN

TRI15ES

OF THE

EAST. _[Ithnology

The

nextreference toeitberofthesetribesisin 1G86,

when

theFrench missionary Lambreville reported that the Seneca of

New York

were preparing to go againsttlie''Tolere," a misprintfor Totere(Hale, 3).

In 1699

we

findthe Earl ofBellomontwriting from

New York

as tothe convenience of Carolina for treaty with the Shatera (misprint of Totera), Twichtwicht (Miami),

and Dowaganhas

(Shawano) Indians,

"and

a worldof othernations,"whichthenortherntribes

had

informed

him

wereas

numerons

as the sands on theseashore (X. Y., 8).

In their frontier position at thebase of the monntains the Saponi

and

Tutelo were ^directly in thepath of the Iroqnois,

whose war

trail

toward the

Catawba

crossed the

Dan

at a pointbetween the

months

of Smith river

and Mayo

river, about on the lineofthe presentrail-

road (Byrd, 6). Unable to withstand the constant assaults of their northern enemies, the

two

western tribes

abandoned

their villages and removed (some time between 1G71

and

1701) to the junction of the Staunton

and

the Dan,

where

they established themselves adjoining their friends

and

kinsmen the Occaneechi,

whose

history thenceforth merges intotheirs.

The

Occaneechi, of

whom more

will be saidlater,

although

now

themselves reduced

by

the

common

enemy,

had

been an important tribe

They

occupiedat this time a beautifulisland about 4 miles long, called

by

their tribal name, lying in the

Roanoke

a short distance below the forks of the stream, in

what

is

now

Mecklen-

burg

county, Virginia.

Above and

below Occaiu^echi island, in the

same

stream, were

two

other islands, of nearly equal size.

The

Saponi settled on thelower of these, while the Tutelo took possession oftheupper onejustatthecontluence of thetworivers.

How

long they remained there is not definitely

known,

butit isevidenttheywerenot able to hold their position, even with theriver on all sides asapro, tectingbarrier, for in 1701 all threetribes were far

down

in Carolina- unitingtheir decimated forces

and

preparing to

remove

into the Eng-

lish settlements.

They may have

been driven from theirposition on the

Roanoke

by thatgeneral Indian upheaval, resulting from the con- quest of theConestoga or

Susquehanna by

the Iroquois about 1G75, which culminated in Virginia in the

Bacon

rebellion. In 1733

Byrd

visitedtheislands,

and

foundtallgrass growingintheabandonedfields.

On

theTutelo island he found a cave where, according to his story,

"thelastTeteroking,"withonly

two

men,

had

defended himself against alargepartyofIroquois

and

atlastforced

them

to retire (Byrd, 7).

After Lederer

and

Batts, the next definite information comes from

John

Lawson, the surveyor-general of North Carolina.

With

a small party he left Charleston, South Carolina, on

December

2.S, 1700, and, after ascending Santee

and Wateree

rivers to the

Catawba

countr}'',

struck across

and came

outabout seven weeks lateron Pamlico river inNorthCarolina.

A

considerable portion of hisjourney

was

along the greatIndian trail and trader's route,

known

to the Virginia traders as the Occaneechi or

Catawba

path, which extended from

Bermuda

Hundred, on

James

river, in Virginia, to Augusta,Georgia.

He had

i^oNEv]

LAWSON AMONG

^SAPONI

AND TUTELO. 39

intended to follow this trail to Virginiii, but

was

obli.ced to leave

it at theOccaneechi village (near the i»reseut site of Ilillsboro, North Carolina),

and

tiiru southeastward on account of the alarm created

by

afreshinroad of thedreaded Iroquois.

While

stopping at the village of the

Waxhaw

on a small eastern tributary of the Catawba,just within the limits of South Carolina, a messenger arrived from the Sapoui to arrange

some

tribal business with the

Waxhaw. The

visitor

had

his entire face i)ainted with ver- milion,

and

carried acutlass in his belt

and

a

gun

in his hand. His coming"

was

celebrated that night

by

a

masquerade

dance, to which

Lawson and

^hisparty were invited.

Continuing on his journey,in the course of which he found several fresh remindersof the Iroquois in theshape of stone heaps erectedto

commemorate

several of their victims slain nearthe path, he arrived at lastat the Saponi village, situatedon

Yadkin

river, in the nighbor- hoodof the present Salisbury,NorthCarolina.

Lawson

callsthestream Sapona,

and

incorrectly supposeditto bea branchof

Cape

Fearriver.

The name

is still retained inconnectionwith a smallvillagea fewmiles northeast of Salisbury in

Davidson

county.

He

has

much

to say of the beauty of the stream,

making

constantmusic asitrippled overits

rocky

bed

in unison withthe songs ofinnumerable birdson the hills

round

about.

He

declaresthatall

Europe

could not afibrdapleasanter stream,

and

describes the surrounding country as delicious, leaving nothingtobe desired

by

acontented mind.

He

found the people asfriendly as the location

was

agreeable,

and

rested there several daysas the si^ecial guest of thechief,

who had

lostan eyein defense of

an

English trader,

and who added

to his dig- nity as a chiefthe sacred character of a

medicineman. While

here the

Englishmen

were well entertained with feasting

and

presents of

game and

medical dissertations

by

one of the Indian doctors.

Near

the villagetheynoticed several stone sweat-houses,

which

werein fre-

quentuse, especially forrheumaticpainsdue1oexposure inthewoods.

From

one of the Toterowith

whom

hetalkedat thisvillagehe found thata

powder made

from theso-calledbezoarstone, a hairy concretion sometimes tbund inthe stomachof the deer

and

other ruminants,

was

in greatrepute

among

their hunters,

who

believed that

when

blown into the eyesitstrengthenedthe sight.

The

Saponi

had

recently taken prisoner several ''Sinnagers" (Iro- quois),

whom

theywerejireparing to burn

when Lawson

arrived.

The

burning

was

to be

by

thehorrible splinter torture, inwhich the

body

of the victim

was

stuckfullofpine splinters,which weretlien lightedlike so

many

^candles,while thesufferer

was

compelledtodancearoundafire until hisstrengthfailed

and

he^fell,

when

the

tomahawk

put an endto his agony.

A

^{ceremonial feast}

^was

always an

accompaniment

of the tragedy. Before the burning,however,

some

"Toteros" (Tutelo)

came

down

from theirtribe living intheneighboring mountains toward the west, probablyabout theheadwatersof theYadkin,

and

askedj)osses-

40 SIOUAN TRIBES OF THE

EAST. _[^BUREAU_ETHNOLOGY^OF