History of the Indians, of North and South AmericaGoodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
History
History of the Indians, of North and South America
Goodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
Indians of North America -- History; Indians of South America -- History
No very striking event succeeded, in the history of the Virginia
colony, till the year 1675, when the Indians again began to rob and
murder the colonists. Intestine divisions raged, and they seemed, in
their broils, to forget that an enemy lurked around them, who might
take fatal advantage of their unguarded and feeble condition. Although
the Indians dared not appear, as they had formerly done, in the very
heart of the settlements,--for these had increased, and the tribes
had been driven back into the interior,--yet they attacked those who
dwelt on the frontiers, wasted their fields, burned their houses, and
committed other ravages. The colonists were in no condition to avenge
themselves of these outrages. Had the Indians, indeed, known the full
extent of their weakness, they might have been emboldened to still more
daring invasions; but, being successfully attacked by the whites, after
a brief conflict, they were glad to accept of peace. The ascendency of
the English being once established, the tribes gradually wasted away,
and it would now be difficult to find a remnant of the once powerful
people by which the eastern portion of Virginia was formerly inhabited.
The tract of country first called Virginia embraced more than is now
comprised in the limits of the State; and as a part of North Carolina
was included in its boundaries, it may be proper, in this connection,
to notice the history of the Indians who occupied this region.
North Carolina was first discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1584.
In the account given by him, it seems the Indian name of this region
was Wingandacoa, the king being called Wingina. His chief town was
six days’ journey from Wococon. His brother, Ganganameo, resided at
a village on the Roanoke. The third day after the English arrived,
some natives appeared, and one of them went on board of the ships. The
English gave him a shirt, some wine, and plenty to eat. He paddled
away, and, having laden his boat with fish, returned, and divided
them into two parts, meaning one portion for one ship, and the rest
for the other. The next day Ganganameo came to see them, with fifty
men, spread out his mat on the point, without any apparent fear, and,
sitting down, made signs to the English to sit down with him. He then
stroked his head and breast, and theirs also in a gentler manner, thus
signifying, that, henceforth, their heads and hearts should be one.
He made a long speech, and they presented him with some toys, which
greatly pleased him. They then opened a trade, and he gave them twenty
deer-skins for a pewter basin; a sample of the dealings between the
English and natives. The chief made a hole through the basin, and hung
it about his neck for a breastplate. He also gave fifty more skins for
a copper kettle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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