842 



TUSCARORA 



[b. a. e. 



Tuscalaways.— McCullough (1764), Narr., 104, 1839. 

 Tuscarawa.— Croghan (1765) in Rupp, West. Penn., 

 app., 166, 1S46. Tuscarawas.— Lewis Evans' map, 

 175.0. Tuscarawi— Loskiel. Hist. Miss. Unit. Breth., 

 pt. 3, 74, 1794. Tuscarorans. — Gvissefeld map, 1784. 

 Tuscaroras. — La Tour map, 1779 (error). Tuscaro- 

 was. — Boiumet (1764) in Kupp, West. Penn., app., 

 148, 1846. Tuscavoroas. — Esnaut.sand Rapilly map, 

 1777 (misprint). Tuscorawas. — Heekewelder in 

 Trans. Am. Philos. Soe., iv, 396, 1831. Tuskara- 

 was.— Hutchins map in Smith, Bouquet Exped., 

 1766. 



Tuscarora {Skaru''ren', 'hemp gather- 

 ers,' the Apoci/nnm cannabinum, or Indian 

 hemp, being a plant of many nses among 

 the Carohna Tuscarora; the native form 

 of this appellative is impersonal, there 

 being no expressed i)ronominal atfix to 

 indicate person, number, or gender). 

 Formerl}' an important confederation of 

 tribes, speaking languages cognate with 



ELIAS JOHNSON— TUSCARORA 



those of the Iroquoian linguistic group, 

 and dwelling, when first encountered, on 

 the Roanoke, Neuse, Taw (Torhunta or 

 Narhontes), and Pamlico rs., N. C. The 

 evidence drawn from the testimony of 

 writers contemporary with them, con- 

 firmed in part by tradition, makes it ap- 

 pear that while occupying this primitive 

 habitat tha Tuscarora league was com- 

 posed of at least three tril)al constituent 

 members, each bearing an independent 

 and exclusive ai)pellation. The names 

 of these component members still survive 

 in the traditions of the Tuscarora now 

 dwelling in w. New York and s. Ontario, 

 Canada. The first of these tribal names is 

 Kd'te'nu'd''k(V, i. e. 'People of the Sub- 

 merged Pine-tree'; the second Akawen- 

 tc'aka' (meaning doubtful) ; and the third, 

 Skarii^re^', 'Hemp Gatherers.' Cusick 



( Hist. Six Nations, 34, 1828) wrote these 

 tribal appellations "Kautanohakau," 

 "Kauwetseka," and "Tuscarora" re- 

 spectively, and (p. 31 ) refers also to the 

 "Esaurora, or Tuscarora," from which 

 it may he inferred that Esaurora is a 

 synonym of Skarii^re'^'. According to 

 the same authority (p. 36), the Tuscarora, 

 on traditionary evidence, possessed in 

 early times the "country lying between 

 the sea shores and the mountains, which 

 divide the Atlantic states," in which 

 they had 24 large towns and could muster 

 6,000 warriors, probably meaning per- 

 sons. Ijawson, a better authority, wrote 

 that in 1708 the Tuscarora had 15 towns 

 and about 1,200 warriors — perhaps a 

 minimum estimate of the true number of 

 their fighting-men; and Johnson (Le- 

 gends, etc., of the Iroquois, 1881) says 

 that the Tuscarora in North Carolina had 

 6 towns and 1,200 warriors, which was 

 probably approximately true of the Tus- 

 carora proper. Col. Barnwell, the com- 

 mander of the South Carolina forces in the 

 war of 1711-12, said that the Tuscarora 

 or "the enemy can't be less than 1,200 

 or 1,400 [warriors], which may be easily 

 judged by their large settlements;" but 

 Gov. Spotswood of Virginia placed their 

 fighting strength at 2,000 men in 1711. 

 According to Barnwell the Tuscarora had 

 3 towns on Pamlico r., of which one was 

 Ucouhnerunt, but that most of their 

 towns were on Neuse r. and its inany 

 affluents. Some indication of the extent 

 of the territory claimed by the Tuscarora 

 may be ol)tained from the terms of the 

 truce declared between the Tuscarora 

 and Col. Barnwell in 1712. It was agreed 

 therein that the Tuscarora were "to plant 

 only on Neuse river, the creek the fort is 

 on, quittingall claimstoother lands. . . . 

 To quit all pretensions to planting, fish- 

 ing, hunting or ranging to all lands lying 

 between Neuse river and Cape Feare, 

 that entirely to he left to the So. Carolina 

 Indians, and to be treated as enemies if 

 found in those ranges without breach of 

 peace, and the enemy's line shall be be- 

 tween Neuse and Pamblico . . . fishing 

 on both sides Bear river." This would 

 indicate that Cape Fear r. was the south- 

 ern boundary of the Tuscarora territory. 

 History. — The data for the history of 

 the Tuscarora are meager and fragmen- 

 tary, hence while they were at first an 

 important people of North Carolina, little 

 is definitely known regarding them, and 

 that little usually applies to only a part 

 of the people. The first authentic infor- 

 mation concerning the Tuscarora is that 

 recorded by Lawson, the Surveyor- 

 General of North Carolina, who knew 

 them well, having lived in close contact 

 with them for many years. His History 

 of Carolina, having been written about 



