Roanoke Island

Roanoke Island is an island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. About twelve miles long and three miles wide, the island lies between the mainland and the barrier islands, with Albemarle Sound on its north, Roanoke Sound on its east, Pamlico Sound on its south, and Croatan Sound on its west. The island contains the towns of Manteo at the northern end and Wanchese at the southern end. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is on the island.

Controversy over the lost colony

While the ultimate disposition of the 1587 settlers is unrecorded (leading to their being known as the "Lost Colony"), there are multiple theories as to the colonists' fate.

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The most likely is that the colony dispersed and was absorbed by the indigenous population. The Lumbee, an indigenous people living on Croatoan, have the support of some historians in their belief that they are the descendants of a tribe that assimilated the Roanoke settlers. The settlers had left a clear message that they had gone to Croatoan (also spelled Croatan). The Lumbee people have in the past been denied federal Indian status due to their high degree of mixed blood. Despite John White's difficulty in locating the settlers, about fifty years later the Croatan people were reportedly found to be practicing Christianity and having many of the last names of the Roanoke settlers. Stephen B. Weeks wrote in 1891, "their language is the English of 300 years ago, and their names are in many cases the same as those borne by the original colonists." Weeks, however, compiled his report from local hearsay rather than through empirical observation. This theory was put forward by historian Lee Miller, in Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony: Roanoke

Related Topics:
Lumbee - Christianity - Stephen B. Weeks - 1891

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Another theory is that the colony moved wholesale and was later destroyed. When Captain John Smith and the Jamestown colonists settled in Virginia in 1607, one of their assigned tasks was to locate the Roanoke colonists. The natives told Captain Smith of men who dressed and housed as the English living within fifty miles of Jamestown. Captain Smith was also told by Powhatan, Weroance (Chief) of the Powhatan Indians, that he had wiped out the Roanoke colonists just prior to the arrival of the Jamestown settlers, as they were living with the Chesapeake Tribe, a tribe that refused to join Powhatan's confederacy. Powhatan reportedly produced captured English-made iron implements to back his claim.

Related Topics:
John Smith - Jamestown - 1607 - Powhatan - Powhatan - Chesapeake Tribe - Confederacy

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Also surmised is that the colonists gave up waiting and tried to return to England, but perished in the attempt. When Governor White left in 1587, he left the colonists with a pinnace and a number of small ships for exploration of the coast or removal of the colony to the mainland.

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Some claim that with the region in drought, the colony must have suffered a massive food shortage. With the villagers starving and nothing to eat, they may have been forced to resort to cannibalism, like the Donner Party in Nevada 190 years later.

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Finally, some theorize that the colony was eradicated by the Spanish, as they had eradicated a similar French colony near present-day Jacksonville earlier in the century. This last theory is the least likely, as the Spanish were still looking for the location of the English colony as late as 1600, ten years after White discovered that the colony was missing.

Related Topics:
French - Jacksonville - 1600

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http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/B1540

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http://linux.library.appstate.edu/lumbee/6/POUN001.html

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http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/535805422.html?did=535805422&FMT=ABS&FMTS=AI&date=Dec+26%2C+1894&author=&desc=STRANGE+RACE+OF+PEOPLE

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