HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-1995-058 Resolution of Support for State and Federal Recognition of Occaneechi Band of the Saponi NationRESOLUTION OF SUPPORT
FOR
STATE AND FEDERAL RECOGNITION
WHEREAS, the ancestors of the Occaneechi - Saponi were an ancient people who
collectively called themselves Yesah or the people who originally came from
lands to the west, over the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountains in an area
known today as the Ohio River Valley, and
WHEREAS, nearly one thousand years ago, the Yesah came under attack from a
powerful enemy and were forced to migrate over the mountains to their east
and settle in what is now the piedmont of Virginia and North Carolina, and
WHEREAS, as a result of their power, the influence of the Occaneechi and
of the Yesah peoples were spread far and wide and both the general language
of trade and the rituals of the Indigenous religion of the region were
spoken in the Occaneechi dialect, and
WHEREAS, in May of the year 1676, the independence of the Occaneechi and of
the Yesah peoples came to an abrupt end, when Nathaniel Bacon led his
Militia into the land of the Occaneechi in the spring of the year and
forced a fight which ultimately broke the power of the tribe and scattered
the Yesah people, and
WHEREAS, after being attacked by Bacon's militia, the Occaneechi were
forced south and settled along the Eno River near present day Hillsborough,
North Carolina, and
WHEREAS, in 1713, the colony of Virginia and Great Britain signed a treaty
of peace with the Yesah and the Occaneechi returned to Virginia where they
were joined by their cousins the Saponi, Tutelo, Stuckanocks, and
Meiponsky, and
WHEREAS, all the tribes joined together and adopted the name of the Saponi
and were thereafter known as the Saponi Nation, and
WHEREAS, by the mid 1700's the tribe had resettled in what is now
Greensville, Brunswick, Mecklenburg and Northampton counties on the
Virginia /North Caroilna border, and
WHEREAS, they stayed there until the 1780's when in response to increasing
pressure from neighboring whites, the community began moving back to the
area near the Eno River where they had once lived, settling in the
northeast section of Alamance County and adjoining Orange County and
WHEREAS, since that time, some of the people moved to Ohio and Indiana but
the bulk of the Saponi people remained in "Little Texas" forming an
independent Indian community which was based on small scale farming, and
WHEREAS, the Saponi people formally reorganized in 1984 as the Eno -
Occaneechi Indian Association, Inc. with a Tribal Board of Directors which
represents the tribe at the Local, State and National level and which deals
with problems facing the community, and
WHEREAS, in February of 1995, the Tribal Board of Directors voted to amend
the name of the tribe to the OCCANEECHI BAND OF THE SAPONI NATION
to more accurately reflect the ancestry of the tribe.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS does hereby
recognize the OCCANEECHI BAND OF THE SAPONI NATION as a Native American
tribe indigenous to Orange County and
FURTHERMORE, THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS does hereby support
the OCCANEECHI BAND OF THE SAPONI NATION in their request for State and
Federal recognition.
This the 4th day of December, 1995.
Moses Carey, dr., C