Indigenous Peoples of North Carolina: Occaneechi

Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation website

Entry for Occaneechi in NCpedia

John Hayles Blackfeather Jeffries Collection on Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, 1950-2017

The collection of John Hayles Blackfeather Jeffries contains photographic prints, photographic albums, printed items, clippings, articles and essays, transcriptions of interviews, a petition for acknowledgment of tribal status for the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation in North Carolina, sound recordings, video recordings, and other items pertaining to the Occaneechi. Jeffries, who identifies as tri-racial (American Indian, African American, and white) is a member of the Tribal Council and a crafter of traditional costumes, weapons, and tools. Collection materials reflect the leading roles he played in the Occaneechi's gaining recognition in the state of North Carolina and construction of the Occaneechi Village in Hillsborough, N.C., and document his efforts to preserve Occaneechi history and traditions. Photographic images depict Occaneechi powwows in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, the reconstruction of the eighteenth-century Occaneechi Village, and Occaneechi costumes, weapons, and tools crafted by Jeffries. Also included are images of Jeffries, his wife Lynette Coles Jeffries, the Jeffries family, related families, family friends, the Jeffries residence, and Jeffries’ workshop, which he calls “The Shed." The collection also contains sound and video recordings compiled by Jeffries, including recordings of Occaneechi, Saponi, and Tutelo songs and powwows.

Books, Theses, and Government Reports

Nowell, Jeremiah James, Jr. “Red, White and Black: Race Formation and The Politics of American Indian Recognition in North Carolina.” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000. 313 pp. C378 UO2 2000 NOWELL

Price, Margo L. "Native North Carolinians: Then and Now." Master's Thesis. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1990. 

Contains three articles about the Eno-Occaneechi, including a brief history of the tribe, and a profile of John Blackfeather Jeffries. C378 UO2 1990 Price, M.L.

Ross, Thomas E. American Indians in North Carolina: Geographic Interpretations. Southern Pines, N.C.: Karo Hollow Press, 1999. See chapter eleven, “The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation,” pp. 199-210. C970.01 R826a

Journal Articles

Hazel, Forest. “Occaneechi-Saponi Descendants in the North Carolina Piedmont: The Texas Community.” Southern Indian Studies vol. 40 (October 1991). C970.01 S72

Excavating Occaneechi Town

Online version of CD-Rom and fuller presentation of the project.

Excavations at the Love House in Chapel Hill