The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-09

Ceremonial Stones, Pots, Nor
tarS, Pipes, Arrow and Spear
Heads and Other ImpIe-
mentS Show the Remarkable
Skill and Ingenuity Of the
Red Men

None oL the numerous ana varted
exhibits III the North Caroliua Hall Of
History attract more general atten-
ton than those which illustrate the
life nf the North Carolina. indian.
who are not even memory now i'll
the 5reater part of the State, though
n the extreme western counties there
lies a reservation, as the wards of the
United States and not OF North Caro-
line. the 2.000 Cherckees who form
the eastern Band" of that Nation"
the others living in Oklahoma. The
Cherokees have q written languag ge.
SO II IS easy 10 tell the English Of
their names, # places, etc
IN 1884, When the first F,nSlishmen
landed at Roanoke Island, there were
about 21 tribes OF Indians III what is
now North Carolina The Cherokees
mad absolutely ali the territory west
Of the Blue Ridge and they We're nu-
merouS and powerful. The Tusca-
roras dominated the northeastern
section There were along the lower
Neuse, in Craven ard Cartaret coun-
ties the Neusiok tribe, unclassified
and perhaps OF the Iroquois stock
Later they were called the Neuse In
dians The TuscarOras absorbed
them, as they did most Of the others
The Tuscaroras (the word mean
| ing hemp gathererS," because these
! Indians made great use Of the Indian
hemp) lived il 1854 on Roanoke.
Neuse, Tan Cor Tar and Pamlico
| rivers. They had as associated or
affiliated tribes the -Coree Cor Core
| Pamlico. Mattamuskett, Bear River
and Matcha pungo Indians The Tus-
| caroras were put afar by the invading
| whites for the settlers were really in =
vaders. and the massacre by the Tus-
| caroras in III Of 100 cOlonists was
brought about by oppression, injus
| uce and many crueltleS. Luckily the
| TuScaroras, now in New York, have 8.
written language, SO that the mean
ing Of most Indian names in this part
! Of the State is easily told.
| The Occaheechi composed small
| tribe which ranged from Clarksville
to Hillsboro and which was increased
by the Saponi and Tutelo tribes and
for a time by the Covertogas.
The Indian collection in the Hall OF
History doubtless shows objects which
| were the workmanship Of many
great men Of these tribes From the
east come ornaments carved from sea
shells, Of which the up-country In
dians We're fond while the hundreds
OF stone objects were the handiwork
Of the central and western Indians
The OccaneechIs and the Cherokees
! were clever workers in stone.
The collection illustrates war and
peace, the ceremonies and the games
and the industrial life and show that
the Indians, when on considers the
limitations and they had only stone
and clay ard wood and know nOthia z
OF metals, were high class craftsmen.
Given the tools they had and the
| materials they worked upon. the
wLite man Of 1915 would find himself
hard pressed to learn in life time to
do what they did.
| They greatly priced the sOapstone,
as it made pots and mortars and all
sorts of ceremonial stones and the
much priced pipes They Quarried
the soapstone with picks OF stone or
deer bone and then shape it. They got
out the harder stones, such as the
flints. from Quarries, and at these had
worksho ps. There were such quar-
ries and shops in Wake, where there
are many kinds of stone which the
| Indians used.
They knew the location OF stones
1 d.