Orange County History Guide: Native Orange County
Occaneechi
Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation website
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.
This report describes and interprets the buried remains of Occaneechi Town, a village of the Occaneechi tribe that stood on the banks of the Eno River in North Carolina at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Also known as the Fredricks site, this village was excavated by archaeologists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Publications
- Hazel, Forest. “Occaneechi-Saponi Descendants in the North Carolina Piedmont: The Texas Community.” Southern Indian Studies vol. 40 (October 1991). C970.01 S72
- 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.
Materials held by UNC-CH Libraries on the subject of "Occaneechi Indians"
Chapel Hill
Excavations at the Love House in Chapel Hill
European Settlers in Orange County
John Lederer - The Discoveries of John Lederer, In three several Marches from Virginia, to the West of Carolina, published in London, 1672. Transcription.
Search the transcription for Sapon, Akenatzy, Oenocks
John Lawson - A New Voyage to Carolina, published in London, 1709. Transcription.
Search the transcription for Achonechy, Enoe
