Early History

• In the 1600s, the Occaneechi were part of a group of Siouan tribes living in the Carolina and Virginia Piedmont area, which is along the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. They subsisted on a combination of hunting, gathering and agriculture, according to an archaeology primer by the University of North Carolina Research Laboratories of Archaeology. John Lederer, an early European explorer, visited the Occaneechi island village on the Roanoke River in 1670, which helped establish trading relations between the colonists and Indians in the area. Two other early explorers, James Needham and Gabriel Arthur, visited the Occaneechi in 1673, and noted that the Occaneechi seemed to dominate the colonial trade "through warfare and intimidation," according to the North Carolina archaeology primer.
  
  

Bacon

• In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon, a wealthy Englishman and Virginia colonist who thought all of the Indians of the backcountry were enemies, convinced the Occaneechi to join his militia to wipe out a rival tribe, the Susquehannocks. Once the Susquehannocks were defeated, Bacon and his militia attacked the Occaneechi, who sustained losses so heavy the tribe could no longer defend its island village on the Roanoke. As a result, the Occaneechi fled south and established a new village on the Eno River, near present day Hillsborough, N.C. However, continuing contact with the Europeans led to more hardship for the Occaneechi, not only from warfare, but from infectious diseases introduced by Europeans and rum.
  
  

Treaty

• In 1713, the Occaneechi united with remnants of other tribes, including the Saponi, Eno, Tutelo and several others, to form the Saponi Confederation. The confederation signed a peace treaty with the Colony of Virginia and settled at Fort Christianna, which is in present day Brunswick County, Virginia, according to the University of North Carolina Economic Development Office. The fort was a center of trade and would also offer the Saponis protection against rival tribes. But as Virginia became further settled by Europeans over the next 50 years, the Occaneechi and their allies lost all of their lands in Virginia.
  
  

Further Migration

• According to the UNC Office of Economic Development, by the 1780s, members of the Occaneechi began to migrate back to the area of Alamance County, North Carolina. There, they established a community known as "Little Texas." By 1830, the population of the community was between 250 and 300 people. The Occaneechi began to purchase land from white residents and make a living from farming. The Occaneechi Tribe reorganized itself in 1984, and is officially recognized as an American Indian tribe by the Orange County Board of Commissioners. There were 600 people on the tribe's roll as of 2003, according to the UNC Economic Development Office.