This guide is designed to introduce researchers to the resources available at UNC-Chapel Hill's Wilson Special Collections Library about Indigenous peoples of North Carolina. This guide is intended to provide a starting point for research and not comprehensive. This guide contains a list of materials in Wilson Special Collections Library on each tribe, including books, government reports, and journal articles.
The State of North Carolina, through its Commission of Indian Affairs, recognizes eight tribes in the state: the Coharie, based in Sampson and Harnett counties; the Eastern Band of Cherokee, in the Western section of the state; the Haliwa-Saponi, in Halifax and Warren counties; the Sappony of Person County; the Lumbee, in Robeson, Hoke, Scotland, and Cumberland counties; the Meherrin, in Bertie and Gate counties; the Waccamaw-Siouan, in Columbus and Bladen counties; and the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, in Orange and Alamance counties. Also included is the Tuscarora based in Robeson County - the Tuscarora Nation of New York has Federal recognition but it is not recognized by the State of North Carolina.
Search your address at Native-Land.ca to see Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages.
Areas of research covered in this guide: