Neusiok
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The Neusiok , also called Neuse , were an Indian tribe whose tribal area was in what is now the state of North Carolina in the southeastern United States . They have been considered extinct since the Tuscarora War (1712–1714). Linguistically, they can probably be assigned to the small group of the North Carolina Algonquin , although this relationship has not yet been proven beyond doubt. A linguistic proximity to the Tuscarora and Coree , their neighbors and allies in the west and south, who belong to the Iroquois language family , would also be possible.
Tribal area and way of life
Around 1585/86, at the time of their first contact with Europeans, their tribal area was on a peninsula bounded to the north by the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound and to the east and south by the Atlantic Ocean. It extended for the most part across what is now Craven and Carteret Counties in eastern North Carolina. Their villages were called Marasanico and Newasiwoc and were on the south bank of the lower Neuse River. Between 1708 and 1712 there were two villages further upstream near what is now New Bern , namely Chatooka and Rouconk .
The Neusiok were sedentary and lived in small villages that were near a body of water. Life was determined by the provision of daily food. The fields where men and women cultivated corn , beans , pumpkins and tobacco were located close to home . The plants formed a kind of symbiosis . The beans climbing between the corn enriched the soil with nitrogen , while the strong corn stalks provided the climbing bean tendrils with the necessary support. In addition, the corn provided the shade that the pumpkins growing on the ground needed until they were ripe. The annual growing season of around 240 days often allowed two harvests from the same field.
The densely populated villages were usually located on a steep bank by the river and were surrounded by palisades . The approximately 11 to 14 meter long houses had a rectangular floor plan, had rounded roofs made of curved poles and were covered with tree bark. From their villages the men went hunting in the woods or fishing on the Neuse River and its tributaries. Spring was the time of fishing and shell-collecting. Fish were caught in rivers and estuaries with weirs and structures made of reed , or they were shot with spears from canoes . At night fish were lured to the boats by fire and caught with nets. Birds and mammals were hunted with bows and arrows, and snakes and turtles were prey in the swamps . In autumn the Indians gathered roots, nuts and berries in the forests.
history
The banks and the catchment area of the Neuse River were settled a very long time ago and there are numerous sites of artifacts from the settlements of prehistoric Indians in North America . In 1584 Walter Raleigh sent two British ships to explore the east coast of North America. The expedition was under the command of the captains and researchers Artur Barlowe and Philip Armadas . They reached the coast of what is now North Carolina on July 2, 1584 and met members of the Neusiok tribes on the Neuse River. This encounter was later mentioned in her report to Queen Elizabeth I of England . After the fall of the Roanoke Colony in 1690, it was more than sixty years before the English tried again to gain a foothold in North Carolina. Like the other natives of North Carolina, the Neusiok suffered from infectious diseases such as smallpox and measles introduced by Europeans . James Mooney estimated their population to be around 1,000 tribesmen in 1600, while John Lawson put a total of only 38 people in 1709.
The initially good relationship between the Indians and the European immigrants deteriorated noticeably from the middle of the 17th century. The Neusiok realized that the white traders cheated on them by exchanging furs with defective tools. Many Indians were sold into slavery and their land was occupied by white settlers. More and more white hunters appeared in the hunting grounds. Against this background it came to the Tuscarora War (1711-1714). The Neusiok were traditionally allied with the Tuscarora. In addition, other tribes of the North Carolina Algonquin fought on the side of the Tuscarora, such as the Machapunga and Pamlico . The Indians were defeated in two decisive battles for Fort Narhantes (1712) on the Neuse River and Fort Nooherooka (1713) in Green County . The surviving Neusiok probably fled north to New York State together with the Tuscarora . Since then there is no more information about the tribe.
See also
List of North American Indian tribes
literature
- Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15: Northeast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978. ISBN 0-16004-575-4
- Wilcomb E. Washburn (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 4: History of Indian-White Relations. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1988. ISBN 0-16004-583-5
- Alvin M. Josephy Jr.: 500 Nations. Frederking & Thaler GmbH, Munich 1996. ISBN 3-89405-356-9
- Alvin M. Josephy jr .: America 1492. The Indian peoples before the discovery. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1992. ISBN 3-100-36712-X
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15. Northeast. Christian F. Feest : North Carolina Algonquians , 272.
- ↑ Alvin M. Josephy jr .: America 1492. The Indian peoples before the discovery. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1992. Page 156
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15. Northeast. Christian Feest: North Carolina Algonquians , 273.
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15. Northeast. Christian Feest: North Carolina Algonquians , 280.
- ↑ Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15. Northeast. Christian Feest: North Carolina Algonquians , 279-280.