Chances are you’ve never heard of the Saponi Tribe.
They are the indigenous people of Western Virginia and the Piedmont area of North Carolina, related to the Catawba. The first settlers from Europe met the Saponi in 1670, and my ancestors from Ulster colonized the same area about 65 years later. According to the Rowan County North Carolina History Project:
The Saponi and Catawba were the first Native Americans to reside in present-day Rowan County. German and Scotch-Irish settlers from the northern colonies of Pennsylvania and Virginia, traveled the Great Wagon Road to Rowan. Farmers took advantage of the fertile soil in Rowan and the county grew throughout the 1740s and 1750s.
By 1837 all the indigenous people had either succumbed to disease, died in war, or been driven out of the area. My family has lived there since the mid-1700s.
To be indigenous means that you were the original occupants of the land. It means that your ancestors did not take the land by invasion. The Saponi were – as far as anyone knows – the original occupants of Rowan County, North Carolina and they are long gone. But I still have family there today.
This is information I need to know as a human being. And today – Indigenous People’s Day – is a good day for all of us to do a little research.
Who lived at your current address before you lived there? And who lived there before them? And before them? And before them? Once long ago there were original occupants of the the land where we currently live. It’s important that we know what became of them and their descendants.
- Were they killed in battle?
- Were they forced to resettle?
- Were they exposed to disease brought in by colonizers?
It’s important to know because – at least in my own understanding of theology – the sins of the world are corporate sins. Although I didn’t personally displace any Native Americans, I have benefited from the actions of those who did. It’s something to remember when we congratulate ourselves for “being blessed” with success and prosperity.
I am indeed blessed. I would also call it white privilege. I enjoy the enormous privilege of having pale skin and European ancestry.
This is the day we remember the original occupants of the United States of America. This is the day we ask God to help us be better human beings than we’ve been in the past.
Image from the June 2019 Saponi Nation Pow Wow in Burlington, North Carolina.
A Church for Starving Artists 
My Brown / Stephens / Family were original inhabitants of Old Rowan / Davidson counties. We have records of own land there as early as late 1600s.
We lived near Trading paths, next to creeks, and swamp regions. Slightly before the trail of tears 1800s our homes were burned down 3 different times. This tactic was used to move people off their land.
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I am BBC a descendant of the original indigenous people of Old Rowan county.
we owned as early as late 1600s
we were mix blood “Portigee”
Slightly before the Trail of Tears our homes were burned down 3 different times in two year time frame to burn us off our land.
we left with the Mormons on Mormon trail.
Brown Family
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Thank you so much for sharing this.
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My grandfather Sterling Evans said he was Blackfoot from Virginia. Recently found out that the Saponi descendants called themselves blackfeet which is not the same as the plains blackfoot nation. It all makes sense now since our Evans family hail from Mecklenburg, VA , Sapony, South Hill , Flat Creek in Virginia census which are Saponi Tribal areas. I now know where my small anount of native blood comes from.
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