- This topic has 3 voices and 6 replies.
-
Posts
-
I think I can now call myself a Saponi descendant. I was recently {yesterday, in fact} able to verify my descent from the old Saponi Stewart family. I am now a bit confused on what exactly the Saponi were. I’ve read many historical accounts that they were a single tribe or a confederacy of several other Siouan tribes. I also read the Saponi called themselves the Yesah but I was curious if any other tribes called themselves that as well.
If the Saponi were a confederacy or a label for a larger unit of tribes, how did they see themselves? Were these tribes related in any way?
Any help on this at all would be much appreciated.
My feeling from all the sources I have read is that the Saponi themselves were distinct, but part of a larger Siouan-speaking Confederacy. The Catawba and Tutelo are two other Nations that are grouped with the Saponi in that Confederacy. Many accounts say intermarriage between these groups was routine. The historic accounts show the Saponi living with the Catawba in Rock Hill around the time of Fort Christanna.
The Nations names for themselves also show the connection, Tutelo and Saponi both call themselves Yesah, the Catawba Ye iswah h’reh.
There are a lot of other Nations and remnants from VA/NC/MD and elsewhere that likely became ‘confederated’ in more recent times as the Saponi migrated. Like the Tutelo who joined the Cayuga and Seneca in the 1700s.
I’m not sure if distinct tribes of Saponi have been identified in the historic record, but I think it’s fairly clear they were part of larger confederations.
Do you know anything about this below?
In researching these tribes, Lawrence Dunmore points out some definitions of words that will be useful to keep in mind. “The term Stuckenock was used by the Virginians to describe the Eno, Shakori and Sissipahau peoples while individual terms were used for each group by the North Carolinians. All three were one people, recognized by Virginia as Stuckenock and were part of a larger group of people, Yésah.” [the Saponi]. Also, “the term Adshusheer was the name of a Eno village and the term Keyuawee was a Shakori village. They were not separate tribes.”
Which southeastern Siouan tribes were considered “Yesah”? Did it apply to all of the tribes that made up the Saponi?
Yésah would include all the Saponi, Tutelo, and Occaneechi. It’s their name in their own language. Saponi and Tutelo are anglicized names that came later. Whether that applied to all these groups I don’t know, but they all had language in common.
The Eno were just west of the Powhatan originally, but were forced out of their territory. By the time that was written they were living with the Catawba and Saponi. They were also Siouan speaking, as were the Shakori, another distinct group that was forced out of their original lands and allied with the Catawba and others.
The Sissipahau, another Siouan-speaking NC (Linda has written about this at: http://www.saponitown.com/Blackfoot.htm) could be the origin of the Blackfoot oral history in many family histories. As isi asepihiye is literally “blackened foot” in Yesanechi (Tutelo).
The Stuckenock are another Siouan-speaking group. Byrd noted they spoke they same language as the Saponi and Occaneechi.
Okay, thanks. However, I did read Stuckenock was a generic term used by the Virginians for the Eno, Shakori and Sissipahau. Thanks again, though.
By the way, I was able to verify my Saponi connection recently via the Stewart family. I’m descended from Elizabeth Stewart {born abt 1695}. Her children were born in the 1720s or around then. They lived in Virginia. I was told either she or her childrens’ father was Saponi, and they are listed as “Indian” and/or “mulatto” in records.
Do you know anything about them? Were they they Saponi proper or a different tribe? Maybe it doesn’t matter if they called themselves a different name than Saponi.
Also, some of her children were bounded out to Colonel William Eaton. Does this imply anything?
I have not seen sources that say Stuckenock (Staganaki) was a generic term. The Stuckenock are liated along with the other groups you mention, so in that context its definitely not a generalization. The Stuckenock are included as Yesah along with Occaneechi, Saponi, Tutelo and Monacan. The primary sources from this era are limited.
Many, if not most, sources lump the Shakori with the Eastern Sioux, and indeed they were marrying and mixing with the Sioux from their arrival in the 1200s, but the Shakori predate the arrival of the Eastern Siouan group in piedmont NC. It is my belief that the Shakori have been on the Flat River since Archaic times.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
