School History of North Carolina (From 1584 to the Present Time) | Page 7

bands of the Cherokees. Amid the towering peaks, and along the beautiful French Broad and other rivers, lived and hunted these simple children of the hills. They were generally disposed to peace, and were averse to leaving the paradise they inhabited for the dangerous honor of the warpath.
7. The Indians were, in many respects, a peculiar people. Though ignorant and savage, they were not idolaters. They believed in one God, whom they called the "Great Spirit." They were not shepherds or farmers, for they had no domestic animals except dogs, and their corn fields were but insignificant patches, cleared and cultivated by their women. They cleared these little patches of land by burning down the trees, and their plow was a crooked stick with which they scratched over the ground for planting the corn. The men hunted, and fought with other tribes, but disdained to be found engaged in any useful labor.
8. Such habits made large areas of land necessary for the subsistence of the people. Thus all of the tribes were jealous of the intrusion of others upon their hunting grounds, and whenever one found another getting closer than usual war was begun. Their lives were filled with terror and apprehension; not knowing when some enemy would kill and scalp every person in the tribe.
9. The Meherrins lived in the fork of Meherrin and Chowan Rivers. They were long at war with the Nottoways, who lived in Virginia, south of James River. The Meherrins at last left their old men, women and children and went on the warpath against their enemies, who happened to be approaching them on a similar errand. They chanced to miss each other, and the Nottoways therefore found the lodges of their foes completely undefended, and they slew every human being in the captured village. The Meherrins left their old homes in despair and disappeared in the west. This occurred after many white people had settled in the Albemarle country.
10. Such a state of society necessitated the control of one leader; so the Indian tribes were governed by chiefs, who led them to battle and in pursuit of game. Some of these chiefs, like Powhatan and King Philip, were men of marked ability, and extended their power over other tribes. When a chief died his son succeeded to his office only when fitted for the place; if weak or cowardly, some other brave was chosen. In this way the honor was not strictly hereditary.
11. The Indians had no knowledge as to the working of iron. They had only bows, arrows, stone tomahawks and such weapons for war. They lived in small communities, embracing from ten to thirty cabins, for protection, but had no large towns, because of the impossibility of feeding great numbers at one point. They held it a part of their religion to seek vengeance for all injuries, real and imaginary, and their general traits of character were as savage as their habits. In war they had no pity on captives, no reverence for helpless age, and were strangers to the sentiments of honor and justice. They were brave, yet much given to cunning and treachery. They rarely forgot benefits or forgave injuries.
12. Many relics of these savages are yet to be found in almost every county throughout the State. Broken pieces of pottery, arrowheads and tomahawks are often plowed up in the fields; and mounds of various sizes, made by the Indians, are still seen in some sections. There had long been a tradition among the Indians that, in the course of time, pale-faced strangers from beyond the seas would possess their land; and so, after ages of petty warfare among themselves, as the sixteenth century drew to its close, they were confronted by men who built ships that withstood the ocean's storms, and shook the solid earth with the roar of their artillery.
QUESTIONS.
1. Who were the original inhabitants of the country now known as North Carolina?
2. Who had made settlements on the American continent a century before the English? What two great men were leaders in making those settlements?
3. Give the location of the various tribes of Indians in North Carolina.
4. Who were the Tuscaroras? What was the feeling of the Indians toward the white people?
5. In what part of North Carolina were the Tuscaroras found? What were their habits?
6. What tribes were found in the western portion of the State? What were their habits?
7. What kind of people were the Indians? How did they cultivate the soil?
8. Give further description of their habits.
9. Where was the home of the Meherrin Indians? The Nottoways? What were the relations existing between these two tribes?
10. Describe the government of the Indians.
11. How did they live? What were some of their traits in war?
12. What relics of the Indians are still to be found