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I have never pointed this out before although we have briefly noted the town of Saxapahaw.
This town is thought to be the original village of the Eastern Blackfoot people, the Sixsapaha (and various spellings), it is in Alamance County NC next door to Orange County, NC.
My family for can be traced back to Orange County, I believe that Alamance was derived from Orange about 1842.
Like many people here my family has the oral history of being “Blackfoot Cherokee”.
Many of our families relatives leave this central NC area and move out into the extreme eastern SC, just across the border from the Lower Cherokee communities and then marry into “OLD TN”. familes for the time, ealry 1800’s.
Just some more supporting information for the term “Blackfoot-Cherokee”.
Pretty direct I have to say!
This may be the source for the term or atleast it may look that way, but I still have to agree with the general concensus that the term probably dates much earlier back into the early 1700’s.
But the locations support the terms………………….
The following is a supportive text; from..
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/NativeAmericanHistory.html
From Clarksville, Virginia, the trail led on to the southwest, probably passing four or five miles north of Durham, North Carolina, through Hillsborough to a settlement of the Sissapahaw at Haw Old Fields, in present Alamance County. Leading westward along what is now Interstate 85, it entered present Guilford County, where it appears to have divided near Greensboro. The Saura fork or Occonee fork of the Occaneechi Path led west to Upper Saura Town, passong on the way near Winston-Salem and westward to the Indian settlements around Lenoir, finally reaching the Cherokee towns near Asheville where it connected with the maze of trails thereabout.
The other or southern fork of the Occaneechi Path from its origin near Greensboro to Catawba County was identical with the Lower Cherokee Traders’ Path. It passed southwest through High Point and Lexington to the Indian town of Sapona at the famous Trading Ford, about one and a half miles below the present Yadkin River crossing of the Southern Railroad about six miles northeast of Salisbury. From there it passed through Concord and Charlotte and led to the Catawba towns in South Carolina where it joined a great maze of trails leading to every point of the compass. (13)
” Haw River, which was probably so named by the inhabitants of present Alamance County for the Sissipahaw or Saxapahaw Indians; and possibly Little and Big Alamance Creeks. The name Alamance is claimed by some to be derived from the Indian word meaning”blue clay.” See David Leroy Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943 (Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History, 1950), p. 1. “
“From Clarksville, Virginia, the trail led on to the southwest, probably passing four or five miles north of Durham, North Carolina, through Hillsborough to a settlement of the Sissapahaw at Haw Old Fields, in present Alamance County. Leading westward along what is now Interstate 85, it entered present Guilford County, where it appears to have divided near Greensboro. The Saura fork or Occonee fork of the Occaneechi Path led west to Upper Saura Town, passong on the way near Winston-Salem and westward to the Indian settlements around Lenoir, finally reaching the Cherokee towns near Asheville where it connected with the maze of trails thereabout.”
“The other or southern fork of the Occaneechi Path from its origin near Greensboro to Catawba County was identical with the Lower Cherokee Traders’ Path. It passed southwest through High Point and Lexington to the Indian town of Sapona at the famous Trading Ford, about one and a half miles below the present Yadkin River crossing of the Southern Railroad about six miles northeast of Salisbury. From there it passed through Concord and Charlotte and led to the Catawba towns in South Carolina where it joined a great maze of trails leading to every point of the compass. (13)”
Thanks Tom for posting this; the last few paragraphs pretty much sum it up, don’t they? Thanks again.:)
Shirley
I was told that I descend from Blackfoot, Cherokee, Mohawk (Monahoac maybe?), and more that I may not know about. Thus far, I do believe that I may be a descendent of the Saponi Nation too. However, from our research here on Saponitown and from other sources, Fort Christanna had other nations living with the Saponi Nation and were all grouped together as “Saponi.”
I know that there are some controversy regarding people always “claiming” Cherokee, Blackfoot, or Blackfoot-Cherokee.
Hey, this knowledge was passed down to me orally. And no I have not found this information documented.
Thanks Tom
1 Optimistic I am in a similar situation as you for I was also told that my father was decendent from Blackfoot, Cherokee, and others that are unkown to me . I have not found any documentation to support this but after doing research here I too believe that he is a descendent of the Saponi Nation.
I have however found a possible link that my mother’s mother was a descendent of Cherokee and Gullah people But I see my families surnames of Wright and Gibson both on this site and on other geneology sites that I have done research on that has these names common within the Cherokee people of South Carolina as well leads me to question if they were mixed Cherokee and Saponi or if they were just Saponi .
tia
Thanks Tom for this link. 🙂 I’m going to go over there and finish reading the article, but wanted to stop in here and say thanks for posting this.
I had to laugh a little at this statement though:
“Of other work the men do none, thinking it below the dignity of their sex, but make the poor women do all the drudgery. They have a blind tradition amongst them, that work was first laid upon mankind by the fault of a female, and therefore it is but just that sex [which]should do the greatest part of it.”
Seems that nothing has changed since ancient times.. Just kidding!
You know, it seems that most ‘Indian History’ was written by white men. It would be very interesting to read it from an Indian’s point of view.
There are accounts from the Little Big Horn by atleast 2 Lakotas? who were there.
The line that got me was “save the last bullet for yourself” and from all acounts they did!
Tom,
Some of this sounds very similar to what I had posted here:
http://www.saponitown.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2879&highlight=occaneechi+path
And a little here on the Saxapahaw:
http://www.saponitown.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2228&highlight=occaneechi+path
Found this interesting, because there is a group of family in Hanging Dog, Cherokee co NC..coming originally out of the Drury and Lurana Allen line and out of Person co. Person to Rutherford and on to Cherokee, Macon and also into Monroe co Tn. Some buried in Rafter cemetery in Monroe close to Tellico..others in Hanging Dog. Some of this same group that began in Alamance co, and Person co end up in Webster co Ky and Henderson co Ky. Allen, White, Melton. Drury’s son Charles died in Henderson co Ky. Other son James died in Cherokee co NC and other son David in Macon co Nc.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~gacherok/eastern_okla_cherokee.htm
Sue J
I also have been told that I was Cherokee and Blackfoot, but found no proof so far. And to top it off, I have been trying to find information on my 2x Gr-great grandfather Hiram Meek(s) – and have not been able to find anything on him. I have found his wife, Elizabeth Wright, whose father is Joel Wright and her mother is Esther Calhoun. But no proof she was Blackfoot – or not.
However, I did find a Hiram MEEK born in OR, whose father was from VA. Hiram’s mother was a daughter of a Nez Perce Chief named Kowesote, translated as “Thunder Eyes.” I don’t know if this is MY Hiram Meeks, my 2x-great-grandfather or not, as there is no info on him, except for his name. I have wondered if because he has had no info on him, if he was NA? Just wondering if the two Hiram Meek(s) are one and the same…….
Anita B. aka Sparrow
Anita:
I thought I posted this, but maybe I did not. Meeks is a known mixed surname in my hometown, related to my ancestors. The story in my family is also Cherokee Blackfoot, although I am sure that at least some were Shawnee.
Maybe look in Jackson County, Jones County or Dubuque County, IA.
Techteach
This is most interesting! I have ancestors from Orange, Bute (now Warren), Rowan, Randolph, Mongtomery, Stanly, and Catawba Counties in North Carolina with Indian roots. The oral history in our family says Cherokee, but I find this doubtful. I am descended from an alledged Cherokee Chief named Black Hawk; but I have never been able to find such a Chief. His daughter, said to be a “Cherokee Princess”, married a German immigrant named Wendell MUELLER. Given the location, I think Saponi Blackfoot could be a very good possibility. Not to mention the fact that my grandmother looks just like people from the Haliwa-Saponi and Person Co. Indian families.
My family names within this line include: Bell, Chavis, Foutz, Kirk, Ledbetter, Miller, Parker, Randle, Shaver (Shavers, Chavers), and Steele
Some of my relatives in these lines claim Tuscarora and some Lumbee.
Lee
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