FRAUD ALERT
Be aware of multiple fraudulent text scams requesting payment for NCDMV fees, fines or tolls. NCDMV will NEVER request payment by text. Please report it as spam and delete. Learn More
Topics Related to Native American History
On December 29, 1835, U.S. government officials and about 500 Cherokee Indians claiming to represent their 16,000-member tribe, met at New Echota, Georgia, and signed a treaty. The agreement led to the forced removal of Cherokees from their southeastern homelands to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.
On December 9, 1868, at a Grand Council held at Cheowa (modern day Robbinsville), the body politic of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) was created.
On November 25, 1838, the Cherokee Indian known as Tsali was executed.
On November 20, 1858, distinguished Cherokee warrior Junaluska died. Little is known of his early life. Although he was not chief, Junaluska spoke for the tribe in 1811 when he refused the Shawnee request for the Cherokee to join in fighting against the influx of settlers.
On June 4, 1924, the United States Congress passed an act aimed at terminating the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Indian Agent Fred A. Baker was tasked with preparing an official roll of all members of the Eastern Band. The roll anticipated a final allotment of land and granting of United States citizenship to the Indians. Now known as the Baker Roll, it was to be the final conclusive list of the Band’s membership.
On June 1, 1586, Algonquian chief Pemisapan was decapitated by Edward Nugent, a member of Ralph Lane’s Roanoke Island colony.Originally known as Wingina, Pemisapan was a well-respected regional leader in the Algonquian tribe on Roanoke Island and the adjacent mainland in the 1580s. Although he and his people helped the English colonists on Roanoke at first, Pemisapan came to the same conclusion that many native chieftains would in future years: the Europeans intended to take over by any means, including violence.
On May 10, 1838, General Winfield Scott issued a proclamation to eastern Cherokees, by order of President Martin Van Buren, to evacuate their ancestral homeland. The subsequent military-enforced migration to what is now Oklahoma became known as the Trail of Tears.
On April 19, 1585, Algonquian Indians Wanchese and Manteo set sail aboard the English vessel The Tyger to return to the Roanoke Island region. The Indians had sailed to England in 1584 with Arthur Barlowe and Thomas Harriot. They caused a sensation when they were presented at the English Court.
On April 3, 1730, Scotsman Sir Alexander Cuming was present at a meeting of Cherokee leaders at the council house at Nikwasi. With Cuming’s support and apparent influence among the Indians, local headman Moytoy was selected to be “Emperor of the Cherokee.” Moytoy and Cuming then persuaded those present to pledge their allegiance to King George II. In a ceremony of friendship and possibly of political adoption, the Indians presented Cuming with the “Crown of Tannassy,” a dyed possum-hair headdress.
On March 7, 1887, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing for the construction of a secondary school for the Robeson County Indians then called the Croatan and now known as the Lumbee.First known as the Croatan Normal School, the institution’s main goal was to train Indians to become school teachers.