FROM WARRIORS TO MERCENARIES: TUSCARORA SERVING AS TRIBUTARIES IN NORTH CAROLINA 1715-1761 By Chandler Scott Allred December, 2025 Director of Thesis: Dr. Christopher Oakley Major Department: History ABSTRACT Following the end of the Tuscarora War in 1715, the Tuscarora Nation's influence in North Carolina had shrunk. The war the Tuscarora fought ended in the diaspora of their people, with hundreds killed and hundreds enslaved by militiamen and Yamasee warriors. Tuscarora families scattered; some hid further in the pine barrens and swamplands of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Other families relocated to the North to take shelter with their Haudenosaunee kin. However, a significant population relocated onto reservation territory under the rule of Chief Tom Blount, selected as the “King of the Tuscarora,” by the North Carolina Council. The Tuscarora were in a new state of existence that they had never experienced before. With their power lessened and needing to rebuild from years of war, the Tuscarora found themselves as a tributary nation at the behest of North Carolina. Although this was a foreign concept to the Tuscarora, their leadership, under Chief Blount, understood that they had to use their position to maintain some level of autonomy under the oppressive thumb of colonial power. From 1715 to 1761, the Tuscarora served the Colony of North Carolina as tributary mercenaries, fighting alongside, defending, and working with the colonists in three separate wars. Between wars, they brought gifts and reaffirmed their position as tributaries to North Carolina. The Tuscarora on the Indian Woods Reservation were the last nation in eastern North Carolina to hold out against the wave of Manifest Destiny, securing their lands until 1828. The objective of this thesis is to examine the tributary work conducted by the Tuscarora and how, through it, they navigated this new world. From Warriors to Mercenaries: Tuscarora Serving as Tributaries in North Carolina 1715-1761 A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of History East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in History By Chandler Scott Allred December 2025 Director of Thesis: Dr. Christopher Oakley, PhD Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Eric Oakley, PhD Dr. Todd Bennett, PhD © Chandler Scott Allred, 2025 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to all those who supported me throughout my journey in writing this thesis. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Christopher Oakley, for his assistance in helping me plan, research, and execute this thesis. Throughout all four semesters at ECU, you have always been willing to help, and for that, I am incredibly grateful. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee, Dr. Todd Bennett and Dr. Eric Oakley, for serving on my committee and providing their thoughtful and valuable advice. Dr. Bennett, if it weren't for your tour of ECU’s History Department when I was still an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, I would never have made it this far. Lastly, thank you, Dr. Eric Oakley, for fulfilling the promise you made to me in my second semester by serving on my thesis committee. I would be remiss if I did not offer my sincere gratitude to my friends, family, and loving wife, Elena, who encouraged me to pursue my degree. Without the continuous support of my loved ones, I know that this thesis would have never come to life. I also hope to dedicate this to my ancestors, who, without their story of resilience following the end of the Tuscarora War, this thesis would have no meaning. I hope this thesis will serve as a reminder of my appreciation and love to all of you. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: The Birth and Struggle of a Nation ................................................................ 1 The Beginning: Cosmology and Culture of the Tuscarora ....................................... 3 The Arrival of Foreigners and the Aftermath of the Tuscarora War ......................... 8 Historiography ........................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2: Reorganizing after the Tuscarora War............................................................ 20 The Yamasee War: The Beginning of Tuscarora Tributary Services ........................ 21 The In-Between Stage: Appeasing North Carolina Between Wars .......................... 32 CHAPTER 3: Taking up the Hatchet: Tuscarora Joining in the French and Indian War and Anglo-Cherokee War ............................................................................................................ 48 The French and Indian War: Tuscarora Warriors Answer the Call of the English .... 55 Marching with the English Drum: Tuscarora on Forbes Campaign to Fort Duquesne 63 Blood in the Mountains: Tuscarora Service in the Anglo-Cherokee War ................. 73 CHAPTER 4: The End of Tributary Status ........................................................................... 80 Fading in Time: The Demise of the Indian Woods Reservation ............................... 80 Continued Existence: The Tuscarora Following the Sale of Indian Woods Reservation 85 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 89 1 Chapter 1: The Birth and Struggle of a Nation Following the end of the Tuscarora War, the Tuscarora people found themselves in a precarious position. Before the war, they reigned as one of the largest nations in the Southeast, controlling trade systems across the east coast and raiding from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. Traditional Tuscarora territory was predominantly located on the eastern side of what is now North Carolina, spanning from the Neuse River in southeastern North Carolina to the Roanoke River in southeastern Virginia. However, the territory also extended beyond this region, depending on alliances and military might, as territory was fluid for Indigenous nations.1 Although a population estimate prior to contact with European’s is unknown, in 1683, Lord Culpeper, the governor of Virginia, believed the Tuscarora’s population was anywhere between 6,000 and 8,000 in total.2 The Tuscarora were revered by their allies and feared by their enemies. The Tuscarora people were a formidable nation, but after generations of molestation, expansion, disease, and war with the colonists, by 1715, they were beaten and scattered. The nation was no longer at its height of political and cultural influence. The Tuscarora people were thrust into a new reality, one in which their every move was closely monitored and controlled by the North Carolina colonists. By the end of the war, the colonists had significant control over the Tuscarora. In a foreign reality compared to their previous one, the Tuscarora had to find novel ways to negotiate their new existence in their homelands. If the Tuscarora wanted to maintain any semblance of their autonomy in the face of the ever-growing threat of westward expansion, colonization, and the eradication of tribal communities, they had to find a way to work with their 1 Peter Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” Durham, Spring 1992, 15. 2 Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” 19. 2 enemies, the colonists. The Tuscarora Nation preserved their autonomy and sought stability in a time of dramatic changes as tributaries to the growing province of North Carolina. Although the Tuscarora War had ended, future conflicts with other Indigenous and European nations were inevitable. A truth abundantly clear in the 18th century was that wars in North America were often fought and won with the assistance of Indigenous warriors, as evident in the Tuscarora War, where colonists heavily relied on the Yamasee and other Indigenous tribes to fight the Tuscarora on their behalf. Now that the Tuscarora’s war was over, other Indigenous tribes presented a threat to the colonists' plans of expansion. The Tuscarora understood the need of the colonist for Indigenous allies, and they found their new method of maintaining their autonomy. Instead of continuing to fight the colonists, the Tuscaroras accepted their new position as a Tributary Nation to the colonists. Within their new status, Tuscarora warriors became mercenaries for the colonists, serving as raiders, scouts, and foot soldiers in three different wars alongside the English colonists. Their new status as tributaries was not born out of newfound admiration for the colonists, but rather out of pure survival and necessity. This thesis will focus on the period between 1715 and 1761, when the Tuscarora tributary status was at its height. Throughout this time frame, the Tuscarora fought in three separate wars at the colonists' behest. The Tuscarora fought these wars to maintain a position of importance within the North Carolina colony and to garner personal wealth and rewards for service. The success of the Tuscarora warriors in these conflicts ultimately determined the future of the colony. The leaders, Chief Tom Blount and his heirs, served as intermediaries between the colonists and the Tuscarora living on the Indian Woods Reservation. Throughout this period, the Tuscarora performed their duties as tributaries to the colonists while also testing the limits of their status through ongoing cultural practices, warfare against enemy tribes, and diplomacy with 3 their Iroquoian-language family cousins, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, in the Northeast. While other historians focus mainly on the Tuscarora before and during the Tuscarora War or the migration of the Tuscarora to the north to join the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, this thesis examines the experiences of the Tuscarora people who decided to continue living in their homelands and work alongside the colonists. Little is written about the period between the Tuscarora War and the sale of the Tuscarora Indian Woods Reservation in the 19th century. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the continued resistance of the Tuscarora as a tributary nation living in their homelands, where they faced scrutiny and continued pressure from the colonists while fighting to remain autonomous and reduce population loss. The Beginning: Cosmology and Culture of the Tuscarora The Tuscarora Nation was a regional powerhouse before becoming a tributary to the English. The beginning for most Native people starts with their personal cosmology story. The Tuscarora share a similar story to their Iroquoian cousins in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The story introduces a spiritual being known as Sky Woman, who fell from Sky World and created the earth on top of a turtle's back.3 According to legend, the Tuscarora were originally located in the Northeast with their Haudenosaunee cousins until they eventually migrated to the Southeast, into the lands they knew as Katenoah, or the place where the "pine grows in water."4 Following the Tuscarora migration story, they were led to their new home by a spiritual being known as Tarenhiawagen (Ruler of Skyland).5 Tarenhiawagen greatly favored the Tuscarora and kept them protected by the Hine (Thunder beings) while he traveled back to the north to form the 3 Frank Roy, Johnson, The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Vol. 1, United States: Johnson Publishing Company, 1967, 18-19. 4 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Vol. 1, 51. 5 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Vol. 1, 58. 4 Haudenosaunee Confederacy.6 The timeframe for when the Tuscarora arrived in the Southeast region is not exact, but by at least 600 A.D., they were settled in their villages in present-day eastern North Carolina.7 Upon arriving in the Southeast, the Tuscarora quickly began establishing themselves in their new home. Although resettled a reasonable distance away from the rest of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Tuscarora and members of the confederacy made frequent inroads into one another's villages as their territories intersected one another. According to tradition and early colonial records, the Tuscarora quickly rose to prominence in the South, forming alliances similar to their cousins in the North, primarily comprising the Iroquoian-speaking Nottoway and Meherrin, the Siouan-speaking Woccon, and the Algonquin-speaking Machapunga and Pamlico.8 The Tuscarora alliance was run similarly to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, where village-level issues were handled locally and larger issues were addressed as a united council, referred to as the "Assembly of the great."9 Due to their alliance, the Tuscarora boasted an extensive territorial control of the Southeast, spanning from modern-day southeastern Virginia down to northeastern South Carolina. In this territory, trade routes, diplomatic engagements, and warfare was overseen and directed by Tuscarora headmen and headwomen.10 Tuscarora influence extended as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, particularly in warfare, and as far north as the territory of their Haudenosaunee cousins.11 The 6 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Vol. 1, 58-59 7 David La Vere, The Tuscarora War: Indians, Settlers, and the Fight for the Carolina Colonies, Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2013, 40. 8 Frank Roy Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, Murfreesboro, NC: Johnson Publishing Company, 1968, 84. 9 Christoph von Graffenried, Vincent H. Todd, and Julius Goebel, Christoph von Graffenried’s Account of the Founding of New Bern, Raleigh, NC: Edwards & Broughton Printing, 1920, 265. 10 Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” 15-16. 11 Douglas Wesley Boyce, “Notes on Tuscarora Political Organization, 1650-1713,” Thesis, Chapel Hill, 1971, 38. 5 Tuscarora were so influential that their language became the primary trade language among the majority of Indigenous nations in North Carolina.12 The cultural practices of the Tuscarora were significant and profoundly shaped by their daily lives. The Tuscarora were culturally and linguistically Iroquoian, although they were surrounded by Algonquin and Siouan cultures.13 Little difference is found between the Tuscarora culture and their cousins in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.14 The Tuscarora were a matrilineal people; their bloodlines followed their mother's lineage, which also determined their clan membership.15 Land, air, and water animals, including Bears, Wolves, Deer, Turtles, Beavers, Eels, and Snipes, represented their clans.16 The clan served multiple roles in Tuscarora culture. For one, a person's clan signified their birth citizenship. Although Tuscaroras identified as members of the Tuscarora Nation, their primary duty was to their clan, in which all, regardless of bloodline, were treated as relatives.17 Members of the same clan were forbidden from marrying one another. When a man married a woman from a different clan, he would move in with her clan and raise their children alongside the mother's clan.18 The Tuscarora were agricultural people, and their ceremonial practices were closely tied to the agricultural calendar. Planting and harvest ceremonies were conducted throughout the year, during which the clans would plant the crops for the coming season and give thanks to 12 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 47. 13 Anthony F. C. Wallace, “The Modal Personality Structure of the Tuscarora Indians As Revealed by the Rorschach Test,” Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 150 , December 1952, 23. 14 Wallace, “The Modal Personality Structure of the Tuscarora Indians As Revealed by the Rorschach Test,” 23. 15 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 40. 16 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 40. 17 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 40. 18 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 40. 6 Tarenhiawagen and other spiritual beings for their assistance with the harvest, as the winter months approached.19 The women oversaw the planting and harvesting of crops. Corn, beans, and squash, collectively known as the Three Sisters, provided a staple food source for the people.20 According to Tuscarora beliefs, the Three Sisters were a gift from Tarenhiawagen; when grown together, they support one another as sisters would. The corn grew and provided a sturdy base for the beans to climb, while the squash's leaves grew and collected enough photosynthesis to provide nutrition for all three. During the Fall and Winter, the focus shifted from agriculture to hunting, in which the men were typically responsible for setting up hunting expeditions and supplying their villages with meat and furs used for clothing.21 Warfare was deeply ingrained in the culture of the Tuscarora. One of the Tuscarora deities was the Sun God, referred to as Elder Brother Sun, who also served as the God of War.22 For the Tuscarora, going to War was a spiritually charged event, and when the occasion arose, special ceremonies were performed to seek spiritual guidance and strength.23 Men preparing to go to war conducted spiritual purification ceremonies, during which they would have their hair combed, faces and bodies painted, and accessories for the occasion adorned with the help of women.24 Dances and songs were performed to detail the violence that the warriors wished to inflict upon their enemies in combat.25 Warfare was the ultimate test to see what warriors were suitable leaders in both war and peacetime. The Tuscarora were renowned warriors, and their 19 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Vol. 1, 64-65. 20 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Vol. 1, 65. 21 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 41. 22 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Vol. 1, 95. 23 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 46. 24 John Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984, 192-193. 25 Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina, 174. 7 enemies, notably the Catawba, Cherokee, Creek, and other Algonquin and Siouan-speaking tribes that were not part of their alliance, lived in fear of Tuscarora warriors.26 The Catawba passed down a traditional tale of a dog and a child, who were the only survivors of a village that the Tuscarora had attacked.27 The Tuscarora had War Chiefs, later recorded as War Captains, who planned and led the expeditions. The War Chiefs were calm and calculated individuals chosen based on their nature to make rational decisions. If a War Chief decided that war was the only option, it typically meant that all other means had been exhausted, or other methods would not work in the specific circumstances.28 Warfare was usually used to enact revenge for a previous attack and to capture enemy tribe members for torture or to replace the loss of community members in villages.29 The Tuscarora never engaged their enemies in large battles; instead, they ambushed and raided them, striking quickly to kill and retreat with captives within a short time span.30 War parties were considered successful if warriors returned with captives and plunder they had taken during their travels, along with limited casualties. Since their arrival in the region known today as North Carolina, the Tuscarora adhered to the guidance of Taranhiawagen. Listening to and abiding by Taranehiawagen's guidance assisted in the growth of the Tuscarora and made them a prominent nation in the area. The Tuscarora expanded their alliances, forming their own confederacy, just as their cousins did. They practiced their rituals given to them by Tarenhiawagen and continued to follow their ceremonial duties. 26 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 8. 27 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol.2, 8-9. 28 Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina, 199. 29 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 56. 30 Lawson, A New Voyage to Carolina, 199. 8 They grew their clans and cultivated their crops, while also hunting to ensure the village's sustainability. They participated in warfare to appease the War God and promote their nation's influence. Life was pleasant for the Tuscarora, and their generations were assured to reap the benefits of their labor. However, Tuscarora life and culture became threatened when a new group of foreigners arrived in their region. These foreigners came across the ocean and brought many gifts and tools to the Tuscarora, helping bolster their warriors with new weapons and supplies that assisted with everyday life in their villages. But the foreigners also brought havoc in the form of diseases, false promises, and deceitful representatives. Life as the Tuscarora knew it would become turned upside down, and what followed was their fight to survive in this new existence that the foreigners had created. The Arrival of Foreigners and the Aftermath of the Tuscarora War The Tuscarora did not fall into their eventual tributary status until generations after the arrival of the first Europeans. The initial European arrival in the Carolinas was not the prophetic beginning of the end for the Tuscarora people and culture. The coming of Europeans offered several opportunities for the Tuscarora to expand their power and commerce. One of the first physical encounters the Tuscarora had with the English was Ralph Lane's expedition into the interior of North Carolina in 1586.31 Lane's mission to map out the river system and his pursuit of riches was cut short when the Tuscarora ambushed his boats and destroyed all of Lane's men's provisions, sending them back to the coast.32 Although this initial interaction with the English colonists was not ideal in terms of collaboration, subsequent interactions led to increased trade 31 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 20. 32 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 20. 9 and national expansion. The decline of the Algonquin tribes, such as the Chowanoke, was facilitated by colonial settlements on the coast, which afforded the Tuscarora the opportunity to expand their control over the land and Algonquin villages.33 With the decline of the Algonquin "buffer" tribes, the Tuscarora had more interactions with European colonists. The Tuscarora, like other Indigenous nations on the East Coast, participated in the "play- off system," in which they bartered and played the different European nations against each other.34 Francis Yeardly took one such recording in 1653, when his men reported that the Tuscarora had Spaniards living amongst them in their village and trading with them. The Tuscarora wished to learn what the English could supply them with in comparison to the Spanish. The headman of the village sent his son along with Yeardly to be tutored by the English.35 In the 1660s, some English settlers encroached too far inland on the Chowan River to establish a settlement. In response to the English squatters on the Chowan River, the Tuscarora attacked and pushed the settlers back off their land, leading to an unnamed treaty establishing a peace between the two parties, "a firm perpetuall and inviolable pease to continue So long as Sun and moon Endure."36 The Tuscarora, over time, inserted themselves into the Piedmont Indian trade and trade systems that extended further towards the Gulf of Mexico and up to the Great Lakes.37 Exports of Tuscarora trade included salt, dried fish, yaupon, baskets, mats, bowls, and knives.38 Imports of trade with Europeans included guns, ammo, metal goods, beads, cookware, 33 Thomas C. Parramore, “The Tuscarora Ascendancy,” The North Carolina Historical Review 59, no. 4 (1982): 307–26, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23521798, 309. 34 Parramore, “The Tuscarora Ascendancy,” 310-311. 35 Lindley S. Butler, A History of North Carolina in the Proprietary Era, 1629-1729, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2022, 46-47. 36 Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” 18. 37 Parramore, “The Tuscarora Ascendancy,” 312. 38 Parramore, “The Tuscarora Ascendancy,” 312. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23521798 10 and alcohol.39 Tuscarora wealth in European goods had risen to such a level that when William Byrd I went to them to negotiate the release of some runaway slaves they had taken in, he found there was little in English goods he could offer that they did not already possess.40 Ultimately, European trade was a lucrative endeavor for the Tuscarora, enabling them to increase their autonomy and control over the Southeast. Soon, though, the Tuscarora became entrapped in another lucrative European trade, which they wanted no part in on their own accord. Before the mass influx of enslaved Africans into North America, there was the Indigenous Slave Trade that took place in the Southeast. The Indigenous Slave Trade morphed over time from settlers kidnapping and enslaving Indigenous people to settlers paying Indigenous people with weapons and other commodities to hunt down and capture other Indigenous people.41 Settlers had to coerce Indigenous people to work in the trade, typically by allowing Indigenous people to buy trade items on credit until they reached a limit they could not pay back. When the Indigenous person had so much credit they could not pay back, the trader then bargained that if they brought back captured Indigenous peoples for enslavement, they would clear their credit.42 Before European arrival, most Indigenous tribes practiced forms of unfreedom, but not chattel slavery like that introduced by the Indian Slave Trade.43 For the Tuscarora, during wartime, they captured enemy Natives and brought them back to their village. The individual who was captured either faced ritual torture, adoption, or remained unfree performing menial tasks until they were adopted or passed away. 39 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 41. 40 Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” 17. 41 Alan Gallay, The Indian Slave Trade : The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002, 8. 42 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 51. 43 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 52. 11 Participation in the slave trade was mixed, but in the Southeast, one was either the enslaver or the enslaved, and unfortunately for the Tuscarora, they were the latter. Traditional enemies of the Tuscarora, mainly the Yamasee and Siouan-speaking tribes, used the slave trade to boost their power by gaining firearms and other European goods while also whittling down the Tuscarora population. The Tuscarora were infuriated by their newfound position as targets for the slave trade. Tuscarora people, especially those living within their southern territorial lands known as the Lower Towns, living off the lower Neuse River and Contentnea Creek, faced enslavement and molestation frequently due to their geographical location closer to the Siouan nations and the Colony of South Carolina.44 The Tuscarora tried to resolve this issue by speaking with the North Carolina government, but their pleas were disregarded.45 To make matters worse, when some Tuscarora villages met with representatives from Pennsylvania in 1710, bearing wampum belts, in hopes of relocating closer to the Haudenosaunee kin, the North Carolina government denied their request to relocate.46 Finally, after years of abuse, enslavement, and theft of land, the Tuscarora decided to put down the wampum and pick up the tomahawk. By September 1711, the Tuscarora had dealt with consistent disrespect and molestation by the North Carolina settlers. The colonists appeared to have become far too comfortable in disregarding the Tuscarora people, their land, and their culture. Their allies, the Seneca, also believed that the Tuscarora should go to war with the colonists. The Seneca believed the Tuscarora had been far too nice and needed to show their military strength to the settlers. The Seneca’s prodding was likely due to their desire to increase the power of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in the North, and their allies, the Tuscarora, would serve as an extension of the 44 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 53. 45 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 53. 46 LaVere, The Tuscarora War, 53-54. 12 confederacy's military might.47 After receiving sufficient provocation from their allies, the Tuscarora people in the Lower Towns decided to teach the settlers a lesson they would seldom forget.48 The conflict initially started after Tuscarora warriors from the village of Catechna captured John Lawson, Christoph De Graffenried, and their two enslaved Africans.49 The two Englishmen were on a scouting mission to explore further trade routes and potential land for settlement in Tuscarora territory. After their capture, they were brought back to Catechna, where Chief Hancock presided over the proceedings. After several days of deliberation, the Assembly of the Great decided to execute Lawson and spare Graffenried.50 After the execution of Lawson, the Tuscarora, specifically the Lower Towns, agreed that a quick and deliberate strike across the colony would not only surprise the settlers but also leave little room for a counterattack, and so on the morning of September 22nd the offensive began with "Tuscaroras, Cores, Machapungas, Pamlicos, Weetocks, and Bear River Indians," assaulting farms and settlements throughout the colony.51 As expected, the Tuscarora and their allies met little resistance. After minor skirmishes between settlers, most of the fighting force pulled back, feeling they had accomplished their mission in teaching the colony a lesson. Unfortunately, the colony could not allow such an offensive to go unanswered for long. North Carolina did not have an available fighting force to handle a war with the Tuscarora, so they turned to their neighbors for help. South Carolina agreed to send a mixed force of colonists and Indigenous warriors, mostly Yamasee, to help fight the Tuscarora led by 47 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 57-58. 48 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 57-58. 49 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 38. 50 Graffenried, Christoph von Graffenried’s Account of the Founding of New Bern, 270. 51 Vere, The Tuscarora War, 69. 13 Colonel John Barnwell in the Winter of 1712.52 Barnwell and his force met little resistance as they marched through Tuscarora territory, finding most villages deserted.53 The majority of the hostile Tuscarora received word of Barnwell's forces and decided to retreat to the heavily fortified village of Catechna with Chief Hancock.54 Barnwell's forces eventually surrounded Catechna, but after several thwarted attacks and a siege, Barnwell and the Tuscarora agreed to a peace treaty that spring.55 However, the treaty was broken soon that same summer after a massacre at another peace conference, where an estimated 50 Tuscarora allies were killed and the rest enslaved.56 The Tuscarora and their allies resumed raiding the frontier, which prompted another expedition from South Carolina, this time led by Colonel James Moore. Similar to Col. Barnwell's expedition, Moore's forces met little resistance until they surrounded the heavily fortified Fort Neoheroka in March 1713.57 After several days of siege warfare, Moore's forces successfully sieged the fort, leading to nearly a thousand Tuscarora men, women, and children being killed or enslaved.58 The massacre at Fort Neoheroka was a massive blow to Tuscarora power, which marked the beginning of the end of the war between the Tuscarora and the colony. Although some fighting continued, it typically consisted of smaller-scale skirmishes and ambushes for the next several years, extending into 1715.59 52 Wayne E. Lee, "Fortify, Fight, or Flee: Tuscarora and Cherokee Defensive Warfare and Military Culture Adaptation," The Journal of Military History 68, no. 3 (2004): 713- 770, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jmh.2004.0124, 735. 53 Lee, "Fortify, Fight, or Flee, 735. 54 Lee, "Fortify, Fight, or Flee, 735. 55 Lee, "Fortify, Fight, or Flee, 738. 56 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 133. 57 Lee, "Fortify, Fight, or Flee, 743. 58 Vere, The Tuscarora War, 169. 59 Vere, The Tuscarora War, 176. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jmh.2004.0124 14 The Tuscarora Nation served as a barrier, stopping the westward expansion of settlers. For generations, the Tuscarora were feared and highly respected by the settlers and other Indigenous nations. Unfortunately for the Tuscarora, after decades of fighting, enslavement, and disease, their control eventually withered away. The Tuscarora War was the last stand between the Tuscarora people and the land-hungry colonists. Sadly, the Tuscarora were divided by conflict, with most of the Upper Towns that lived off the Upper Neuse, Roanoke, and Tar Rivers under the rule of Chief Tom Blount remaining neutral, while the Lower Towns and their allies fought against the colonists. The Upper Town Tuscarora had maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with Virginia traders and knew that if they openly declared war on the colonists, they would lose their trade. However, the Upper Town Tuscarora did provide protection and housing for Lower Town Tuscarora women and children within their own villages during and after the war.60 By the end of the war, the Lower Towns experienced the most violence, just as they had before the war, leaving the Upper Towns largely unscathed in comparison. After the Massacre of Neoheroka, the Lower Towns, having sustained the most losses, split, with some moving into the Upper Towns, others fleeing into the swamplands, and others beginning their trek north to find shelter among the Haudenosaunee. The state of the Tuscarora Nation in North Carolina at the end of the War was far from its pre-war state. For Tuscarora to maintain any influence and autonomy, they had to work with the colony that sought to destroy them. Historiography Historians have mostly overlooked the Tuscarora during the tributary period, and coverage of it greatly lacks adequate discussion and examination of the actions taken by the 60 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 109. 15 Tuscarora. For many scholars, their primary focus is on the Tuscarora War, which took place from 1711 to 1715. It is understandable to focus on the Tuscarora War; this conflict was, in retrospect, a watershed moment that led to the end of the Southeastern Indian Slave Trade. Without the Tuscarora War, the Yamasee War would not have occurred, which was the primary catalyst for ending the slave trade as it was. The Tuscarora War also marks the beginning of forward settlement into the interior of North Carolina, which was previously impossible, as the Tuscarora Nation's diplomatic and military capabilities had hindered the colony's growth, along with geographical barriers. The Tuscarora War also demonstrated a unique style of warfare, with the Tuscarora relying on highly fortified forts to protect them from sieges, like English-style warfare, which was largely successful until the Massacre of Fort Neoheroka. Whatever the fascination is with the Tuscarora War for historians, it seems to outshine the rest of Tuscarora history. When historians do cover the Tuscarora during the 1715-1761 Tributary Period, it is typically in relation to other topics at hand. Historians discussing the Yamasee War often mention Tuscarora service on behalf of the colonists, primarily due to the irony of the situation. During the Tuscarora War, the Yamasee served in the South Carolina companies formed to attack, destroy, and capture the Tuscarora, both during Col. Barnwell's expedition and Col. Moore's expedition. Then, in the same year the Tuscarora War ended, the Yamasee War began, and Tuscarora warriors served in the ranks of North Carolina companies who sought to attack, destroy, and capture the Yamasee and their allies. In The Yamasee War: A Study of Culture, Economy, and Conflict In the Colonial South, William L. Ramsey concluded that, "The irony of the situation could not have been clearer. The same colony that had sought to destroy the Tuscaroras by massing its native allies in 1713 now begged for help from Tuscarora refugees 16 against those former allies."61 Still, the Tuscarora remain anecdotal in Ramsey's work, only mentioned when their impact on the conflict needs discussion. During the Tributary Period of the Tuscarora, another massive conflict developed, remembered as the French and Indian War. The Tuscarora, both those in North Carolina and New York, served in multiple capacities during this conflict. However, the Tuscarora in North Carolina are typically unidentified in major historical works when recounting the War. The lack of Tuscarora inclusion is likely due to the limited number of available warriors to fight alongside the English in the War. The Tuscarora are mentioned in several articles and books, but their mentions are typically limited to a single page or less. One article that mentions the Tuscarora in the French and Indian War is Buck Woodard and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz's "The Millie Woodson-Turner Nottoway Reservation Allotment and Farmstead." This article's focus is on the Nottoway, who were close allies of the Tuscarora. During the French and Indian War segment of the article, it is mentioned that the Tuscarora served alongside the Nottoway as raiders, scouts, and caravan security throughout the campaigns of 1757 and 1758.62 Other sources, such as Douglas R. Cubbison's The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne, mention the Tuscarora twice, as they were part of the Forbes Campaign effort. The issue is that the Tuscarora warriors were considerably smaller in number compared to the Catawba and Cherokee, whom Cubbison primarily focused on. In Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, 61 William L. Ramsey, The Yamasee War: A Study of Culture, Economy, and Conflict In the Colonial South, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008, 164-165. 62 Buck Woodward and Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, “The Millie Woodson-Turner Nottoway Reservation Allotment and Farmstead.” United States: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 2017, 24-25. 17 and Slaves in the American Southeast, 1756-1763, Daniel J. Tortora mentions the Tuscarora a handful of times, as they appear during the French and Indian War and the Anglo-Cherokee War. Once again, the focus is on the Cherokee, and the Tuscarora are brought up only in connection with how their participation affected the Cherokee. Although most articles and books mention the Tuscarora during the tributary period, only two books cover this period. In Frank Roy Johnson's book The Tuscaroras: Mythology, Medicine, Culture, Volume 2, a continuation of his previous work, Johnson covers Tuscarora history from their arrival in North Carolina up until the 20th century. In Johnson's book, the Tuscarora Tributary period covers three chapters. Over the course of these three chapters, Johnson examines the reservation life under Chief Tom Blount and how the Tuscarora people provided services to North Carolina settlers to maintain their reservation and goodwill with the colonists. Johnson mentions Tuscarora participation in the Yamasee War and the French and Indian War, and also discusses the Tuscarora's other methods of serving as tributaries, such as their annual visits with the Governor of North Carolina.63 Overall, Johnson provides a decent investigation into the Tuscarora Tributary Period. Unfortunately, Johnson's book is several decades old, having been published in 1968. Due to the date of Johnson's work, he lacks resources that were unavailable to him during the time of his writing, such as the recorded “Treaty of Holston River” between the Cherokee and Tuscarora during the Anglo-Cherokee War, which highlights the tributary status and services of the Tuscarora. Johnson also does not provide detailed information regarding Tuscarora participation in the French and Indian War and the Anglo-Cherokee War. These two conflicts only amount to a page and a half in his book.64 63 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 166. 64 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 186-187. 18 The latest book by David La Vere, titled Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, was published in 2024 and covers the tributary period the best. La Vere's book is a continuation of his 2013 work, titled The Tuscarora War: Indians, Settlers, and the Fight for the Carolina Colonies. In his earlier work, La Vere provides significant detail on the causes of the Tuscarora War and the war itself. In the conclusion, The Tuscarora War La Vere summarizes the tributary period with one sentence: "The Tuscaroras managed to hang onto their Indian Woods reservation the longest, but in the end it was still extinguished."65 In his latest book, La Vere was determined to cover the largely left-out part of Tuscarora history after the Tuscarora War. To La Vere's credit, he details the reservation period of the Tuscarora people in North Carolina and finishes with the present-day issues of the Tuscarora in North Carolina. La Vere's book is far ahead of Johnson's in terms of coverage of the tributary period and the collection of sources. Still, La Vere's book also dedicates a significant portion of its chapters to discussing other tribes and North Carolina colonial history. Another issue with La Vere's latest book is his brief summary of the conflicts in which the Tuscarora fought as part of their tributary status. The Yamasee War is only briefly mentioned, occupying two pages.66 The French and Indian War is discussed in only two and a half pages.67 Lastly, the participation of Tuscarora warriors in the Anglo-Cherokee War was briefly mentioned in a few sentences spread across several pages.68 La Vere's Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina significantly contributes to the discussion of the Tuscarora during the tributary period. Still, its lack of detailed examination of sources on the Tuscarora service continues to leave the period without fully receiving the 65 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 204. 66 David La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, United States: Syracuse University Press, 2024, 90-91. 67 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 160-162. 68 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 162-164. 19 discussion it deserves. This thesis will provide a further detailed examination of legislation, letters, and treaties that the Tuscarora impacted throughout this period, which La Vere does not. The purpose of this thesis is to accurately and thoroughly examine the significant impact of the Tuscarora people in North Carolina during their tributary period. Previous resources only mention the Tuscarora’s services in passing, leaving much uncovered. The two works by Johnson and La Vere attribute a greater focus to this monumental period of Tuscarora history, but both have their shortcomings. This thesis will examine the tributary period over the course of several chapters, utilizing all available primary and secondary resources to analyze and assess the contributions and lives of the Tuscarora who resided on the Indian Woods Reservation from 1715 to 1761. The history of the Tuscarora during this period is crucial in understanding the experiences of other Indigenous nations in North Carolina during the same time. This period sheds light on how Indigenous people fought to resist colonial pressures within the Imperial English colonies. Lastly, this period demonstrates the resilience of the Tuscarora, who, after suffering significant losses from the Tuscarora War, fought to remain in their homelands while recovering from generations of colonial oppression through tributary services rather than warfare. 20 Chapter 2: Reorganizing after the Tuscarora War For the Tuscarora who decided to stay in North Carolina following the end of the war, their existence was constantly under threat by the colonists and their rival Indigenous nations. To remain in their homelands, they had to accept their position as a tributary nation under the overwatch of the colonists. The Tuscarora War significantly reduced the overall fighting power of the Tuscarora, resulting in at least 1,000 dead and captured, or around 20% of their prewar population, thereby decreasing their ability to engage in another conflict with North Carolina. The Tuscarora were also dealing with the diaspora of their people. After the Massacre of Fort Neoheroka, the Tuscarora people were in disarray. Some of the Tuscarora fled to the swampland interior of North Carolina to hide out from Col. Moore and his men. Other groups fled into Virginia, where they lived as refugees.69 A few members of the Tuscarora, Core, and Machapunga continued small raids on North Carolina homesteads until 1718.70 Governor Pollock appointed the title “King of the Tuscarora” to Chief Tom Blount after he abided by his word and kept the Upper Town Tuscarora mostly out of the war.71 Blount’s appointment as ruler of all Tuscarora caused dissatisfaction amongst many Tuscarora, who saw his neutrality in the beginning of the war and his betrayal of Chief Hancock and the Lower Towns as the cause for their defeat, leading some to relocate to the north with the Haudenosaunee.72 Still, the Tuscarora remained one of the most populous Indigenous nations in eastern North Carolina, with approximately 3,000 individuals under the rule of Blount in 1715.73 With a war lost and his people in turmoil, Chief Blount had to begin strategizing a new relationship for his people and 69 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 74. 70 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 198. 71 Alexander Spotswood, “Letter from Alexander Spotswood to Thomas Pollock,” April 1713. 72 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 87. 73 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 74. 21 the North Carolina Government. Whether he liked it or not, Chief Blount held the future of the Tuscarora nation in his hands. Luckily for him, a new conflict arose that he could consider advantageous to his Tuscarora. The Yamasee War: The Beginning of Tuscarora Tributary Services While the Tuscarora were still collecting themselves after their War, they were quickly thrown into another conflict as an obligation of their status as a tributary nation for the Colony of North Carolina. Enemies of the Tuscarora but friends to the colonists, the Yamasee had served as South Carolina's trusted Indigenous allies. The Yamasee were notoriously involved in the Indigenous Slave Trade to boost their personal autonomy and power in South Carolina. The Yamasee emerged from the Tuscarora War in good standing with the colonists, having done the dirty work of killing and enslaving Tuscarora men, women, and children. The Yamasee also collected plenty of loot for their trouble when ransacking Tuscarora villages. For the colonists, it seemed that their relationship with the Yamasee was only growing stronger every day. However, the Yamasee, having witnessed and committed atrocities against the Tuscarora people at the behest of the colonists, began to reassess their current relationship with the Carolinians. Although their current relationship with the European colonists was prosperous, they knew it was only a matter of time until they would find themselves enslaved by the colonists. Due to this, interactions between Yamasee and the colonists became strained. Noticing the new distrust from the Yamasee, on April 14, 1715, South Carolinian negotiators met with the Yamasee at their village of Pocotaligo to discuss their future relationship and to ease the growing tension of the Yamasee.74 On the surface, the meeting 74 Ramsey, The Yamasee War, 1. 22 between the two parties went well; however, by the next morning, the Carolinian negotiators were either killed in their sleep or ceremonially tortured by the Yamasee.75 That same day, a coalition of “Yamasees, Guales, Apalachees, Savannahs, Cheraws, Catawbas, Waterees, Waccamaws, Cape Fears, and to the west the Lower Creeks, Yuchis, and Cherokees,” swept through South Carolina in a surprise, large-scale assault, reminiscent of the September 22nd attacks conducted by the Tuscarora and their allies in 1711.76 This new war not only threatened the lucrative Indigenous Slave Trade but also the very existence of South Carolina as a colony. South Carolina was in shambles, and all their trusted Indigenous allies were now attacking their settlements. The conflict quickly began to spill into North Carolina, launching the North Carolinians into panic not long after the Tuscarora War. The North Carolinians needed assistance in this war; however, their number one ally, who saved them from the Tuscarora, was South Carolina, along with their Yamasee warriors. Now, who would come to the rescue of the North Carolinians still licking their wounds from the Tuscarora, Core, and Machapunga attacks? The solution needed to arrive quickly, as Charles Town, the largest port city in the South, was under attack, along with other settlements to the north, by the Cheraws, Waterees, Santees, and Catawbas.77 It was only a matter of time before bloodshed painted the southern North Carolina settlements red once again, so the time to act was crucial for North Carolina. While this conflict arose in South Carolina, Chief Blount and the Tuscarora people were still settling down on their assigned reservation land between the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers.78 This land was historically under Tuscarora control, and near his old village, which was promised 75 Ramsey, The Yamasee War, 1. 76 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 179. 77 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 180. 78 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 87. 23 to Blount, along with his position as “King of the Tuscarora,” if his Upper Towns remained out of the conflict his Lower Town cousins were engaged in during the Tuscarora War, as stipulated in the 1713 Treaty.79 Blount is a polarizing figure in history for the Tuscarora. On the one hand, his neutrality in the Tuscarora War was a significant factor in the defeat of the Lower Town Tuscarora. His agreement with Governor Pollock's assignment of him as the ruler of all Tuscarora in the colony also makes him appear like a traitorous, power-hungry dictator, only caring about himself and his personal gain. But, on the other hand, his neutrality saved his village and the other Upper Towns from molestation during the Tuscarora War. Blount also made numerous promises to fight and capture the Lower Town Tuscarora for Gov. Pollock throughout the war. He seldom kept these promises outside of handing over Chief Hancock and several others from the Catechna Tuscarora Alliance.80 Blount had dissenters amongst his people, which led many to relocate to the swamps of North Carolina or voyage to their Seneca cousins in the North rather than live under his rule. Ultimately, Blount, like many figures in history, cannot be considered good or bad, a traitor or a savior; he was simply a man put in extraordinary circumstances, and whether it was right or wrong, he did help keep his village and other “neutral” Tuscarora relatively safe. The betrayal of the Yamasee and their attacks in South Carolina became known to Blount. After the Tuscarora War and relocation onto their reservation, many Tuscarora villages were abandoned on the frontier. Soon after the conflict arose in South Carolina, Cheraws began moving into and occupying abandoned Tuscarora villages on Contentnea Creek.81 This news 79 Spotswood, Letter to Pollock, April 1713. 80 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 78-80. 81 William L. Saunders, The Colonial Records of North Carolina 1713-1728, Vol. 2, Raleigh, NC: Joseph Daniels, 1886, 288-289. 24 must have been a significant blow to Blount and the Tuscarora. The Cheraw were ancestral enemies of the Tuscarora. In the past, if the Cheraw attempted to set foot in Tuscarora territory, they would be met with arrows, clubs, and hatchets. Unfortunately for Blount and his Tuscarora, they were still recovering from years of war and learning to accept their place as a tributary nation to North Carolina. As tributaries to North Carolina, the Tuscarora were expected to work with the colonists during times of war and peace, while also showing mutual respect for colonial officials through gifts and obedience to the colonial government. Even if they wanted to leave their reservation land and route the Cheraw out of their old villages, their new situation made their freedom of movement almost impossible. They were now consolidated in one location, which made planning easier, but also left their nation vulnerable to attack, primarily due to the location of their reservation. The Cheraws' sudden arrival had made Blount drastically aware that his people were not situated in a strategically tactical area. Additionally, they were under the jurisdiction of North Carolina, which had not forgotten their attacks in 1711. If the Tuscarora made any moves outside of the approval of North Carolina, they would find themselves victims of militia roaming the frontier. If Blount wanted to remove the Cheraw from their old villages, he had to gain approval from North Carolina. North Carolina was already planning to join the fight against the Yamasee, and the new Cheraw inhabitants of their old villages fell under the list of tribes the colony was at war with. Although North Carolina officials had their eyes set on the Yamasee and their allied tribes conducting raids in South Carolina, Blount was able to convince them that the Cheraws also posed a credible threat, not just to his Tuscarora people, but also to the settlers on the frontier.82 For now, though, North Carolina's gaze was on the Yamasee, the leaders of this new conflict. 82 Saunders, The Colonial Records of North Carolina 1713-1728, Vol. 2, 288-289. 25 Governor Charles Eden ordered the mustering of two militia companies under the command of Colonel Theophelus Hastings and Colonel Maurice Moore, as well as a patrol under Captain Drinkwater, to monitor the land between the Neuse and Pamlico for hostile forces.83 Blount’s Tuscarora and some Core warriors were assigned under the command of Col. Maurice Moore. Ironically, for Blount and Moore, Col. Maurice Moore was Col. James Moore’s brother. Colonel Maurice Moore also fought against the Tuscarora throughout 1712-1713. A few years prior, the Tuscarora warriors had been fighting against Col. Moore’s militia and the Yamasee warriors; now the two parties were united to bring war to Col. Moore’s old allies, the Yamasee. The assignment under Col. Moore may have made Chief Blount and the Tuscarora and Core warriors bitter due to their past. Still, they seemed to have understood the importance of their participation in this conflict on the side of North and South Carolina. For one, this conflict created an opportunity to gain trust and earn rewards from North Carolina. After several years of war with the Carolinians, the Tuscarora's arrival to aid them may have helped alleviate the fears that the settlers still harbored for their Tuscarora neighbors. The Tuscarora were not the guilty party in their war with the Carolinians; they were the original inhabitants of the land on which the Carolinians built their settlements and suffered slavery and molestation at the hands of the colonists until they finally went to war with them in 1711. However, as Chief Blount and the other Tuscaroras already knew, the colonists seldom regarded themselves as the aggressors in their conflicts. Another bonus for Blount and the Tuscaroras was that this time they could fulfill their warrior duties, pick up their weapons, and bloody the ground of the Yamasee and other ancestral enemies, with the full support of the Carolinians. Lastly, South Carolina officials deemed it appropriate to incentivize the Tuscarora to join the fight on the colonial side by 83 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, May 25, 1715, North Carolina Council. 26 enacting a piece of legislation that for every Tuscarora life lost or enemy Indian killed or captured by the Tuscarora, a Tuscarora slave would receive freedom and be sent back to Blount and the Tuscarora in North Carolina.84 This piece of legislation from South Carolina further motivated the already willing Tuscarora into this new war. This conflict was their chance to bring home the stolen relatives of Blount’s Tuscarora. For the Tuscarora, it was time to go on the warpath once again, and this time their results at the end of the war were drastically different compared to their previous ones. Around mid-July 1715, Col. Maurice Moore and his company of militiamen, Tuscarora, and Core warriors began their trek south to join forces with Gov. Craven’s forces under Lt. Gen James Moore to the north of Charles Town.85 Before Col. Maurice Moore could get his forces underway, his brother, Lt. Gen. James Moore, in South Carolina, had already raised three regiments of militia and fortified the city of Charles Town in preparation for the next attack.86 After fortifying the city of Charles Town, Lt. Gen. Moore sent out his militia regiments to engage the Yamasee south of the city. During these skirmishes, the militia was able to eliminate key leaders of the Yamasee, leading to their reprieve from the conflict.87 With the Yamasee retreating from the conflict, this ensured the southern front of Charles Town was secured. However, other Siouan tribes to the north of the city, mainly the Cheraw, continued to carry out raids and wage war. The Cheraw’s raids were the primary focus for the North Carolinian forces coming south. Col. Hastings' company was ordered to depart south immediately by water. At the same time, Col. Maurice Moore took his company by land 84 Acts of the South Carolina General Assembly, March 24, 1715, South Carolina General Assembly. 85 Enoch Lawrence Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 1663-1763, United States: Literary Licensing, LLC, 2011, 40-41. 86 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 179. 87 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 180. 27 along the coast of North Carolina.88 Col. Moore’s route by land took him along the Cape Fear River in southeastern North Carolina. The Cape Fear River basin served as the traditional dividing line between Tuscarora and Siouan territories. At the onset of the Tuscarora War in 1711, Major Christopher Gale wrote a letter pleading for southern reinforcements to “fall upon those Indians our enemies, whose families are since fled down to the seaboard between Weatuck and Cape Fare rivers, whilst their men are still ravaging and destroying all before them.”89 Gale’s letter confirms two things: first, at the time of the Tuscarora War, the Tuscarora sought refuge alongside the Cape Fear River; and second, they did so without the presence of their warriors, which suggests that the land was within their territorial control. The Tuscarora’s history with this region was a significant asset for Col. Moore’s forces, as they knew the land better than he and his white militia. The presence of the Tuscarora proved vital, as unbeknownst to Col. Moore, his forces were marching towards a trap. While scouting ahead of Col. Moore’s forces, some Tuscarora scouts discovered an ambush lying in wait for the company. The ambush was planned by a force of Cape Fear and Waccamaw warriors who had aligned themselves with the Cheraw.90 The scouts brought this information back to Col. Moore to prevent a massacre of his forces, including the Tuscarora and Core warriors accompanying him. With this new information, Col. Moore devised a strategic plan to abandon the forward march towards the ambush and instead altered their route so that they surprised both the Waccamaw and Cape Fear warriors lying in wait and continued into their 88 Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 40. 89Christopher Gale to His Sibling, “Letter from Christopher Gale Including a Memorial Concerning Attacks by Native Americans” Charleston, South Carolina, September 2, 1711. 90 Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 41. 28 villages. This plan relied on the assumption that the majority of the Cape Fear and Waccamaw fighting forces at the ambush site were too focused on the proposed route of Col. Moore's company to respond to a surprise attack. Col. Moore's plan was successful, and his forces caught the Waccamaw and Cape Fear warriors off guard, resulting in their swift defeat.91 Col. Moore did not stop there; he continued his march into their villages and took their weapons and ammunition that they had stockpiled. Col. Moore interrogated the Cape Fear to learn how they had stockpiled firearms and ammunition. According to the Cape Fear, they had received their weapons and ammunition from the Cheraw, who were pushing for their involvement in this conflict.92 Another part of Col. Moore’s attack and visit to the villages was to secure captives for enslavement, and he did just that, collecting around eighty Cape Fear and Waccamaw as prisoners.93 For the Tuscarora warriors accompanying Col. Moore, this action must have felt reminiscent of their own experiences at Col. Moore's hands during their war prior. This event signified the first recorded time the Tuscarora had participated in the Indigenous Slave Trade as enslavers and not the enslaved. This event acted as a sobering reminder for the Tuscarora of their new allies. Following the skirmishes with the Cape Fear and Waccamaw, Col. Moore’s company continued their march to Charles Town. The rest of the trip was uneventful for Col. Moore and his forces. After a rendezvous with Col. Hasting and the troops from South Carolina, strategic planning began to put an end to the war. The Yamasee and the majority of the other Siouan forces were subdued and unable to continue a large-scale conflict with the colony. However, the Cherokee and Creek seemed to have allied against the colonists, and their forces combined 91 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 180. 92 Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 41. 93 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 180. 29 meant inevitable devastation for South and North Carolina. South Carolina officials determined that the forces of North and South Carolina needed to march into Cherokee country and negotiate for Cherokee neutrality. The leader of this meeting was Col. Maurice Moore, who brought around five hundred militiamen and Indigenous allies as a show of force in January 1716.94 This force included the Tuscarora and Core Warriors. The meeting between Col. Moore and the Cherokee went exceptionally well. The Cherokee decided to partner with the English settlers in the conflict. To show their allegiance to the settlers, they killed the Creek ambassadors amongst them. The meeting with the Cherokee ultimately led to the end of the Yamasee War, as the majority of the belligerents were too exhausted to continue fighting without the assistance of the Cherokee and Creeks. The Yamasee, having lost the war, relocated to Spanish Florida, escaping the grasp of North and South Carolina.95 Although North and South Carolina emerged victorious, they learned a valuable lesson from their dealings with Indigenous people. The Yamasee were the major collaborators of the Southeast Indigenous Slave Trade. Now that they had turned against the traders and colonists, there was no one else willing to fulfill their position, and the war had cost far too much for South Carolina. The end of the Yamasee War also represented the end of the Indigenous Slave Trade, which was the ultimate cause of both the Yamasee and Tuscarora Wars. Although the fighting was essentially over, South Carolina remained vulnerable, especially at the southern frontier of Charles Town. Their Indigenous allies, the Yamasee, who originally guarded the southern frontier for South Carolina, were gone, having lost their war with the colonists. It was also impossible to believe that the Yamasee would have wanted to rekindle a 94 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 181. 95 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 181. 30 relationship with South Carolina, or that the South Carolinians would trust the Yamasee to protect them after the Yamasee had attacked their settlements. Still, the southern frontier needed protection from possible future raids of hostile Indigenous warriors or Spanish soldiers. The Tuscarora, under the command of Col. Moore, were asked if they would stay and patrol the southern frontier, keeping the South Carolinians along the Savannah River safe.96 The Tuscarora warriors agreed and fulfilled their duty so well that they were eventually offered land grants for themselves and their families to stay and continue guarding the southern frontier, keeping Charles Town safe from surprise attacks. The Tuscarora warriors, once again, agreed and seemed to have fallen under the leadership of a Tuscarora named Chief Foster, and ironically, Col. Barnwell, their new neighbor, who befriended them. Unfortunately, little is known about the future of this group of Tuscarora, as they are last mentioned in the historical record in 1718. The last known recording of this band of Tuscarora is when Chief Foster and a colonist named Daniel Callihaun appeared in a dispute after Callihaun stole a canoe and threatened Foster.97 The court ruled in favor of Foster and granted him trade goods, while reprimanding Callihaun. After this, the future of Chief Foster and his Tuscarora band is lost in history. Although the majority of the Yamasee allied belligerents made peace with the colonists, one remained a threat to North Carolina and Chief Blount's Tuscarora. The Cheraw were still inhabiting abandoned Tuscarora towns and, according to Blount, were reportedly attacking settlers and had captured a Tuscarora.98 At the behest of Blount and in their own good interest, North Carolina officials sent militia and some Tuscarora to investigate and disrupt the Cheraw in 96 Acts of the South Carolina General Assembly, March 24, 1715, South Carolina General Assembly. 97 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 183. 98 Saunders, The Colonial Records of North Carolina 1713-1728, Vol. 2, 288-289. 31 the old Tuscarora villages. The Tuscarora soon learned that these Cheraw were well-armed and posed a significant threat not only to North Carolina but also to themselves.99 After the Yamasee War subsided, the Cheraw sought peace with the colonists in North Carolina and desired to relocate to the colony permanently.100 Thankfully for Blount and his Tuscarora, North Carolina officials declined this offer from the Cheraw. North Carolina officials created a mixed militia and Tuscarora force to patrol the area between the Core Sound, Neuse River, and the Forks of the Neuse, looking for Cheraw warriors to kill or capture.101 Eventually, after 1718, the Cheraw relocated and lived with the Catawba in their territory to the west.102 With the threat of the Cheraw gone, North Carolina no longer felt the need to patrol the territory along the Neuse. However, for Blount and his Tuscarora, the presence of the Cheraw demonstrated how they were in a strategically bad location for defense. Blount needed to assure the survival and safety of his people, so he once again pursued the North Carolina government with a request. In 1717, Chief Blount requested that North Carolina officials grant land for a new reservation off the Roanoke River. This land was also a part of traditional Tuscarora territory and served as a strategically defensible location for Blount and the Tuscarora.103 Another strategic point of this location was its proximity to the Governor of North Carolina. Living closer to the Governor of North Carolina meant Blount had more opportunities to meet and discuss the future of his people while continuing to act as a tributary nation. The North Carolina Council convened in June 1717 and discussed Blount’s request.104 After deliberation, Governor Charles Eden 99 Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 41. 100 Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 44. 101 Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 44-45. 102 Lee, Indian Wars in North Carolina, 45. 103 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 91. 104 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, June 4, 1717 – June 5, 1717, North Carolina Council. 32 decided to grant the land to Blount and the Tuscarora. A significant rationale for Governor Eden’s decision was Blount’s service to the colony both during the Tuscarora War and the Yamasee War.105 The Tuscarora warriors proved themselves brave and true to their word for North and South Carolina against the Waccamaw, Cheraw, and Cape Fear. The warriors also maintained patrols and security for South Carolina south of Charles Town. Tactically, it was smart for Governor Eden to keep the Tuscarora appeased and nearby for his beckoning, just in case an issue may arise. Satisfied, Blount and the Tuscarora relocated by December 1717. The In-Between Stage: Appeasing North Carolina Between Wars The new reservation that Blount secured was known as the Indian Woods Tuscarora Reservation, and it demonstrated to the Tuscarora that if they adhered to their obligations as tributaries, the colonists would listen to their grievances and work with them for mutual benefit. The new reservation had incorporated the villages of Ooneroy and Resootskeh and spanned 41,000 acres across the Roanoke River in present-day Bertie County.106 This reservation afforded the Tuscarora great opportunities to continue practicing their traditional lifeways. Their new home had expansive traditional hunting grounds filled with White-tailed Deer, Black Bear, Beavers, and other animals to trap and hunt, allowing the men to continue their roles as hunters and provide for the people.107 This land was also situated between several waterways, where they could catch fish and use the rivers for travel.108 For the women, this land was promising for farming, allowing them to continue growing and sustaining the two towns within the reservation 105 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, June 4, 1717 – June 5, 1717, North Carolina Council. 106 Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” 28. 107 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 92. 108 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 92. 33 with crops such as Tuscarora White Corn, beans, and squash.109 It seemed that this new reservation had potential for the Tuscarora to continue preserving their nation and promoting their traditional lifeways. For Chief Blount, this new land represented a promising future for his people, with their position as a tributary nation for North Carolina. Securing this land enhanced his leadership position amongst his people. Although he was not chosen as the supreme leader of all the Tuscarora by his own people, he demonstrated his ability to work with North Carolina officials in securing a new life for his people in this foreign tributary existence. Whether the Tuscarora people wanted him as their leader, he was, and nothing changed as long as he was alive and in good standing with the colonists. Although the new reservation was promising for the Tuscarora, it was still a far cry from their old lifestyle. While the Indian Woods Reservation was in a portion of their traditional territory, they were still limited on the new land. Previously, hunters and fishermen could trek for miles in any direction of their traditional territory to find game or fish. Now the Tuscarora had to be mindful of their English neighbors surrounding them. A condition of Governor Eden’s for Blount to obtain this new reservation was that his people would not “molest nor disturb the Inhabitants nor their stocks in Hunting in any of the adjacent Grounds.”110 Governor Eden likely understood the probable issues that may arise from granting the Tuscarora this land. This land, and most of eastern North Carolina, was traditionally home to the Tuscarora. Placing imaginary borders for where hunters could hunt and fishermen could fish was a strange concept for the Tuscarora. The idea of fixed borders is European, so it was inevitable that the Tuscarora eventually crossed them. Also, as Gov. Eden himself stated, they just assisted the colonists in 109 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 92. 110 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, June 4, 1717 – June 5, 1717, North Carolina Council. 34 their war against the Yamasee and their allies. Had the Tuscarora not demonstrated that they were friends to the colonists? Even before the Yamasee War, the Tuscarora had engaged in trade with the English and, on occasion, served as guides for them. The Tuscarora also allowed for Christoph De Graffenried's settlement of New Bern near Chief Taylor's village of Chattooka.111 Regardless of the friendship the Tuscarora provided the colonists, they still went to war against them in 1711, and the settlers did not forget the conflict. This new reservation presented great opportunities for Blount’s Tuscarora; unfortunately, it also brought misfortune built on misunderstanding and greed on the part of the colonists. Issues for Chief Blount and the Tuscarora presented themselves soon after settling down in their new home. In 1722, a Tuscarora man went hunting and ended up killing a deer outside the bounds of the Indian Woods Reservation.112 He was confronted by a colonist named Luke Measel, who was displeased that a Tuscarora man was hunting on his land and essentially killed one of his deer. An altercation broke out, and by the end of it, the Tuscarora man was wounded, having sustained blunt force trauma from his own musket, which Measel apprehended, and was suffering from a bite wound on his leg, inflicted by Measel’s dog.113 Similarly, in the same year, a Tuscarora hunter named Sighacka Blount was attacked by Christopher Dudley after he caught Sighacka hunting beaver with dogs on his property outside of the reservation. Similar to the previous incident, Sighacka was struck with a blunt object and, by the end of the skirmish, also broke his arm.114 For both incidents, Chief Blount traveled and reported the assaults to the North Carolina Council. The Council found both settlers at fault for the incidents. 111 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 31. 112 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, June 14, 1722, North Carolina Council. 113 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, June 14, 1722, North Carolina Council. 114 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 110. 35 As these two incidents show, the neighbors of the Tuscarora were not very friendly, especially when they found a member of the nation on their property. Anytime a Tuscarora left the reservation, they were susceptible to abuse by settlers.115 It is also telling how much influence Blount had on the North Carolina Council, as both incidents, along with others, ended with Blount’s Tuscarora not facing any charges from the colonists. A significant factor in this may have been the North Carolina Council’s unwillingness to anger the Tuscarora people. Although the Tuscarora War resulted in a substantial decrease in their population, the Tuscarora remained the largest and most prominent nation within the bounds of the growing colony, still able to field a few hundred warriors.116 The North Carolina Council was aware that the Tuscarora still held significant power. If they chose to, they could initiate a new war with the colony while receiving reinforcements from their northern allies. The Tuscarora were also a tributary nation of the Colony of North Carolina, and their services were very much needed, as the Yamasee War demonstrated. The last thing the council needed was to upset their valued tributaries. The Council's fears were justified as the Tuscarora on the Indian Woods Reservation were known to go on the warpath along with their Seneca brethren against other Indigenous nations in the Southeast. Although on the surface the war between the colonists and the Tuscarora Nation seemed settled, it was far from that. The Tuscarora, especially under Blount's leadership, seemed to quickly recover and shake hands with the colonists, then rush into battle against the Yamasee and their new enemies at the behest of the colonial powers. However, the Tuscarora did not easily forget the actions of the colonists, and losing a significant portion of their people at the hands of 115 Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” 29. 116 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 107. 36 the colonists during the Tuscarora War was seared into their collective memory. Unfortunately, the dead could not be brought back, but the colonists did not kill all their people either; a few hundred were captured and enslaved by the colonists. Portions of those captured during the war were already shipped off to the Caribbean, forever lost across the vast ocean, never able to return home.117 The only thing Blount’s Tuscarora could do for their kin who took those dreadful voyages was send them prayers of love and compassion, hoping they found ways to survive in the dreaded sugar cane plantations. Nevertheless, a portion of the Tuscarora captives were not sent to the Caribbean. These other Tuscarora were sent to South Carolina and put on local plantations in the colony.118 While serving in the Yamasee War, Tuscarora warriors fought not only to avenge the bloodshed caused by the Yamasee a few years prior, but also to free their kin who were enslaved in South Carolina, as an incentive for the commitment to the fight by South Carolina legislators.119 Unfortunately, the war ended, and not all of their kin had been freed. It would have been a hard pill to swallow for Tuscarora warriors to know they still had enslaved kin within a few days' journey of them, and they could not go and free them. So, they did not swallow that pill and made frequent incursions into South Carolina following the end of the Yamasee War to free their cousins and vent some of their rage onto the unsuspecting enslavers running the plantations. The raids into South Carolina began before the Yamasee War and intensified after its conclusion. Tuscarora warriors were known to depart from their reservation land and journey south to plantations to free their kin and wreak havoc on the enslavers of their people.120 It was 117 La Vere, The Tuscarora War, 99. 118 Woods, “Tuscarora Roots Historical Report,” 27. 119 Ramsey, The Yamasee War, 164-165. 120 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 104. 37 common for Tuscarora warriors to kill or steal livestock off these plantations, steal clothing or other valuable items, and free their enslaved kin, along with some enslaved African Americans.121 During these incursions by the Tuscarora, they were usually accompanied by Seneca from the North, who wished to continue conducting warfare against the Siouan tribes in the Southeast. These incursions were frequent enough after the Yamasee War that on May 10th, 1731, William Waites, South Carolina Representative, held a meeting in Edenton, North Carolina, with Tuscarora Headman William Blunt, unknown relation to Chief Tom Blount, War Captain George, and six other Tuscarora men, along with North Carolina Governor Burrington. Waites called this meeting on behalf of South Carolina Governor Robert Johnson, who grew tired of reports of Tuscarora raiding plantations and killing South Carolina’s peaceful Indigenous allies, mainly the Catawba.122 Throughout this meeting, Waites detailed eyewitness testimony of Tuscarora and Seneca warriors liberating enslaved Tuscarora people, injuring or killing friendly Indians, stealing and killing horses and cattle, and taking clothing and valuable items from plantation owners.123 The Tuscarora representatives denied any fault in the matter and blamed the Senecas. The Tuscarora also reported that they themselves were under attack previously by warriors from South Carolina who killed their War Captain Jack, injuring another Tuscarora man, and stealing and killing their livestock.124 In their eyes, they were justified in exacting revenge against the southern Indians 121 Robert Johnson, “Instructions to William Waties concerning the relationship between North Carolina and South Carolina and Native Americans,” April 10, 1731. 122 William Waties, “Report by William Waties concerning the actions of the Tuscarora Nation,” May 10, 1731. 123 William Waties, “Report by William Waties concerning the actions of the Tuscarora Nation,” May 10, 1731. 124 William Waties, “Report by William Waties concerning the actions of the Tuscarora Nation,” May 10, 1731. 38 who attacked them first. Quickly, Waties realized this meeting was going nowhere. He tried to threaten the Tuscarora by claiming South Carolina would send the Cherokee and Catawba to conduct war with them. This threat fell quickly when the Tuscarora delegates explained to Waites that those two nations “were at warr and they killed one another which they knew and did not fear they would both come against them.”125 The meeting ended with Waties threatening that if the Tuscarora did not pay for their damages, South Carolina would recruit the Saponi and both parties would come to their reservation and wipe them out. Once again, this threat had no effect on the Tuscarora representatives, who continued to deny any involvement in the issues raised during the meeting.126 The meeting with Waties demonstrated a few things about the Tuscarora during their early tributary period. For one, the Tuscarora were masters at denying any involvement in the raids in South Carolina. The delegates consistently rejected the participation of their people and blamed the Seneca for the issues Waties raised throughout the meeting. Although the Tuscarora and Seneca were close allies, the Tuscarora could not let any blame fall onto them, even though they participated in the southward raids. Additionally, the Tuscarora recognized that the Seneca in the North held a more advantageous position than they did. The Seneca were still a numerous nation with prestige built from their interactions with their colonial government of New York, as well as their position in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Although South and North Carolina may have had issues with the Seneca, they were seldom willing to commit to a war with them, knowing the power of the Haudenosaunee and afraid that the Tuscarora would join sides against 125 William Waties, “Report by William Waties concerning the actions of the Tuscarora Nation,” May 10, 1731. 126 William Waties, “Report by William Waties concerning the actions of the Tuscarora Nation,” May 10, 1731. 39 the colonists in such a conflict. Another critical part of the meeting was that at no point did Waties complain that the Tuscarora harmed or killed a white person. Waties mentions the killing of friendly Indians by the Tuscarora and Seneca, but never an attempt to kill a white person. In one of the testimonies, Waties recalls the Tuscarora killing some horses and taking a Tuscarora slave in front of Mr. Masho.127 This retelling from Mr. Masho’s eyewitness testimony shows that the Tuscarora were selective with their raids and did not intend to kill or harm any colonist, knowing it would cause war with South Carolina and probably North Carolina. Ultimately, the Tuscarora tactically conducted their raids and learned how to navigate the delicate balance between threats and full-scale war with South Carolina. Following the end of the Yamasee War, the Tuscarora not only sought to free their enslaved relatives but also wished to continue conducting warfare against their traditional enemies. Warfare was a ceremonial aspect of Tuscarora life. After suffering a population loss at the end of their own war, according to tradition, they needed to enact revenge against their assailants and capture members from enemy tribes to replenish their own population. Tuscarora warriors were able to bloody their tomahawks during the Yamasee War, which must have helped satisfy some of their grief. When the Yamasee War ended, the Tuscarora continued to enact revenge against their enemies without the support of the colonists. They received plenty of assistance from the Haudenosaunee, particularly the Seneca, who came down to engage in war away from their own colonies' borders. The main nation the Tuscarora and Seneca attacked was the Catawba. The Catawba were ancestral enemies of the Tuscarora, so it was not uncommon for the two nations to engage with one another in combat. In 1717, outside Fort Christanna, a party 127 William Waties, “Report by William Waties concerning the actions of the Tuscarora Nation,” May 10, 1731. 40 of unarmed Catawba were surprised and attacked by Seneca and Tuscarora warriors who killed five, captured another five, and injured several more.128 War between the Tuscarora and Catawba persisted for decades following the 1717 attack. South Carolina, already upset with the turnout of Waties’ meeting, grew tired of the violence brought onto the Catawba and other Siouan nations in their colony. South Carolina officials mandated that any Tuscarora caught crossing into their colony were lawbreakers and considered enemies of the state.129 South Carolina also incentivized their allied Indigenous nations, claiming that they would pay if a Tuscarora warrior were brought in dead or alive.130 Aggression continued between the Tuscarora and Catawba up into the 1750s. Outside of the Catawba, the Tuscarora also attacked and captured the Saponi. Raids against the Saponi eventually led to the scattering of that nation, similar to the Tuscarora, with some Saponi families fleeing to join the Catawba, others moving north to the Haudenosaunee, and a few relocating near Indian Woods and eventually absorbing into the Tuscarora, along with some Chowan and Core families.131 In 1752, Moravian Minister Bishop Spargenberg visited the Indian Woods Reservation. Spargenberg recorded that the Tuscarora population was “few in number,” along with their land, wealth, and overall status as a nation on the reservation.132 Spargenberg recorded that although the Tuscarora suffered greatly because of it, they still felt persistent in their fight against the 128 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 105-106. 129 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 176. 130 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 177. 131 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, April 3, 1733, North Carolina Council. 132 Adelaide L. Fries, ed, Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, Vol. I, Raleigh NC: Edwards and Broughton, 1922, https://archive.org/embed/recordsofthemora01frie, 41. https://archive.org/embed/recordsofthemora01frie 41 Catawba alongside their Haudenosaunee brethren.133 The Moravian minister also noted that the Tuscarora on the reservation were somehow still ignorant of the Christian God and spoke their own language.134 The brief entry provides evidence that the Tuscarora continued to practice their traditional language and religion into the 1750s, despite being under tributary service. At the end of his entry, Spargenberg records that the Tuscarora wish he would send a message to the Catawba on their behalf. The message was short and clear: the Tuscarora wanted the Catawba to know they still had enough capable young men willing to travel to Catawba country and descend upon them if needed.135 The Tuscarora and Seneca apparently applied enough pressure that in 1737, the Catawba requested that South Carolina allow them to relocate their reservation out of their traditional territory and into the old Waxhaw villages, which were safer from disruption by their enemies.136 This move was reminiscent of Chief Tom Blount's request in 1717, when the Tuscarora relocated to the Indian Woods Reservation for a more strategically defended location. While Indian Woods was better for protecting against enemy tribes, the Tuscarora learned shortly after their move that the greatest threat to them was their colonial neighbors. The Tuscarora were constantly struggling to get along with their neighbors. Settlers living near the reservation viewed the Tuscarora as inferior to them. They fought a war and beat the Tuscarora, and maybe they were in the wrong in the first place, but that did not matter to them. The English neighbors must have also forgotten the new status the Tuscarora held as tributaries to their government, having rushed to the colonists' aid in the Yamasee War. Nevertheless, the English settlers surrounding Indian Woods were not known to respect the 133 Fries, ed, Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, Vol. I, 41. 134 Fries, ed, Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, Vol. I, 41. 135 Fries, ed, Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, Vol. I, 41-42. 136 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 177. 42 Tuscarora. Issues arose with traders selling and distributing alcohol on the reservation.137 It was far too common during dealings between Natives and traders for alcohol to get passed around, usually leading to dishonest dealings, land sale theft, or violence. The alcohol, according to Blount, made the men weak and unable to fulfill their traditional duties of providing for their families by hunting, fishing, or working.138 The Tuscarora also faced discrimination by local businesses, such as ferrymen who overcharged them or refused to lend them any service at all.139 Chief Tom Blount was enraged by such sales and abuse suffered by his people, so he sought better accountability from the North Carolina Officials.140 In 1735, Chief Blount invited Governor Gabriel Johnston to the reservation so he could complain about the injustices.141 Governor Johnston listened to all of Blount’s complaints regarding the ill-treatment by the neighboring English settlers. Still, he ultimately did not assist the Tuscarora beyond requesting that the Commission of Indian Affairs investigate the complaints. Another consistent issue plaguing the Tuscarora at Indians Woods was the squatting and illegal land sales by the English. In 1717, when the Tuscarora were given the reservation land, it was dictated to fall between “Mr. Jones’s Lower land on the northside of the Morratock river to Quitmak Swamp.”142 Unfortunately, this was not specific enough, and the Tuscarora were constantly in disputes over their land with nonnative settlers. Shortly after their move to the land in 1722, it was re-surveyed at the behest of Blount by the NC Council. This new survey 137 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, March 22, 1735, North Carolina Council. 138 Arwin D. Smallwood, A History of Three Cultures: Indian Woods, North Carolina, 1585 to 1995 (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 1999), 102. 139 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, March 22, 1735, North Carolina Council. 140 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, March 22, 1735, North Carolina Council. 141 Smallwood, A History of Three Cultures, 102. 142 Minutes of the North Carolina Council. June 4, 1717 – June 5, 1717. North Carolina Council. 43 concluded with the 41,000-acre agreement from Gov. Eden in 1717.143 Settler encroachment onto and around the Indian Woods Reservation was a persistent issue for the Tuscarora after 1722. Throughout Chief Tom Blount’s life, he fought for his people's land rights against the local settlers and used his connections with the NC Council and the various NC Governors. After the Yamasee War, there was no fighting that North Carolina needed Tuscarora warriors in for several decades. So, the main tributary that the Tuscarora paid to North Carolina was their annual visits to the Governor, in which the headmen dined with the Governor and promised another year of loyalty to the colony.144 These occasions always highlighted the master politician that Chief Blount was, who always dressed in English fashion, pledging his allegiance to North Carolina. But Blount was not stupid; he knew that his people's issues stemmed from the creation of the colony. At one time, his people could have stopped North Carolina from existing entirely, but due to his own choices to remain neutral, they did not, and now they served their oppressors. Still, Blount knew that his choices also saved his people, at least momentarily, so he continued to play nice with North Carolina officials; however, this did not mean he could not be a thorn in the side of North Carolinians. Chief Tom Blount committed minor rebellious acts against the colonists throughout his time as leader. On several occasions, Chief Blount apprehended enslaved Tuscaroras from white settlers and sent them with the Seneca on their trek back north. A famous example of this occurred in 1724 when Chief Blount took John Royalls' Tuscarora slave named March, while 143 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, June 4, 1717 – June 5, 1717, North Carolina Council. 144 John Brickwell, The Natural History of North-Carolina: With an Account of the Trade, Manners, and Customs of the Christian and Indian Inhabitants, Ireland: 1737, 282-283. 44 Royalls was visiting the reservation.145 Royalls complained to the NC Council, but Blount, much like he did throughout his life, denied any responsibility and blamed the Seneca. Blount knew that if the enslaved Tuscarora made it north, there was little North Carolina officials could do. No one wanted to anger the Seneca, especially over a couple of freed enslaved Tuscarora. Blount never faced any actual repercussions throughout his life, which demonstrates the master negotiator he was. Eventually, Blount passed away due to an unknown reason in 1739 on the reservation.146 He was a controversial figure among the Tuscarora due to his neutrality in the Tuscarora War and his leadership position over all Tuscarora in the colony, which was bestowed upon him by the North Carolina Council. Still, Chief Tom Blount fought for his people and, to his credit, did a great job negotiating for his people, particularly his warriors, out of tight spots throughout his life. The time to grieve came and went, and eventually a new leader was needed to represent the Tuscarora on Indian Woods. Surprisingly, the North Carolina Council allowed the Tuscarora people to select their new leader, and Chief James Blount was chosen. Along with selecting Chief James Blount, the Tuscarora asserted the power of a council on the reservation, which was a little closer to their traditional governing style, outside of recorded leadership positions for women who, after the Yamasee War, lost most of their traditional prestige in the nation.147 Due to the Tuscarora’s tributary status with the colonists, they were required to adhere to English rules of leadership and negotiation, which ultimately eroded the traditional aspects of women's 145 Minutes of the North Carolina Council, October 28, 1724, North Carolina Council. 146 La Vere, Erasure and Tuscarora Resilience in Colonial North Carolina, 153. 147 Johnson, The Tuscaroras: History-Traditions-Culture, Vol. 2, 184. 45 leadership among the Tuscarora. With Chief Tom Blount dead, it was now Chief James Blount’s turn to represent and prove his leadership capabilities for the Tuscarora Nation. In 1748, another survey was conducted at the behest of Chief James Blount. The survey concluded that, after land sales within the reservation, the reservation was 30,000 acres, reducing its size by 11,000 acres from its original 1717 size.148 This was not the first time Tuscarora witnessed land loss at the hands of the colonists. Before their war, the Tuscarora witnessed the encroachment of settlements onto their lands, which began with the establishment of colonial satellite forts along the coast. Then the settlements moved closer to Tuscarora villages, such as New Bern, which disrupted Chief Taylor's village. The difference now, though, was that the colonists promised this reservation land to the Tuscarora and their future generations.149 Over the years, it seemed that the colonists had forgotten all the efforts on the Tuscarora's behalf to serve as honest tributaries to the colony. To the credit of the NC Council, they did enforce the land rights of the Tuscarora whenever a complaint was sent to them. But North Carolina was still suffering from generations of conflict even before the Tuscarora War. Unlike its sister colonies, permanent settlements in the region of North Carolina were held back from expansion during the 16th and 17th centuries, which, ironically enough, was due to the Tuscarora acting as a “cork” preventing further settlements into the interior.150 Due to this lack of growth, the governing sphere of the colony held little to no proper authority over the settlers for decades after the Tuscarora War. 148 Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, October 15, 1748, North Carolina General Assembly. 149 Minutes of the North Carolina Council. June 4, 1717 – June 5, 1717. North Carolina Council 150