The Hathcock involvement with the tribe has created a division amoung researchers concerning this idea. Many have heard of indian blood in their families and many have not. Therefore, it creates a problem as to whether or not you can prove their Indianess. As stated on my book page, when dealing with tribes which were not considered part of the Five Civilized tribes by the Dawes Commission, few, if any official tribal records exist. This creates another problem. To those seeking proof on paper that one belonged to or descended from one of these tribes, the evidence may never show up. However, there are court cases as far away as Michigan that show Hathcocks as being Indian. It appears that my line of Hathcocks and these came from a common source, but many still argue with that.
There is a good
bit of circumstantial evidence that there is truth to the family traditions.
My book goes over these and gives the reader an opportunity to make their
own decision. When you couiple these attributes with family stories, you
being to put a picture of the past together without documentation that
would be found for any of the other tribes. However, in the site of the
general population, this is never good enough. My advice? If you make your
own decision and do your own research, then. after compiling all of these
things together...make up your own mind and be proud of who you are. Just
remember, realistically, not all things are documented and not all mixed
bloods lived as Indian or claimed any such heritage. A study of the discrimination
back then will give you a good reason why.
Originally, the Saponi came from what is known as the Ohio river valley anc crossed the Appalacians and settled in the Piedmont regions of North Carolina and Virginia. They called themselves Yesah, which means "The People".
They occupied territory near Clarksville, VA. and controlled much of the trade on the Great Trading Path to other tribes. They were very intimidating and quite adept at warfare. It was said that a small band of Occaneechi-Saponi could hold off a much larger group with amazing success.
In the late 1600's, the tribe was scattered as a result of Bacon's Rebellion. This forced the tribe to move to what is now known as Hillsborough, North Carolina. After this move, there were still other tribal movements and of course, loss of land due to the government giving their original reservation land out to colonists. It is amazing how that has happened so many times!!
In 1984, the tribe was reorganized. Today, it is known as the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation in Mebane, NC. The tribe is presently working on many projects to preserve the proud history of our ancestors. Please visit the following pages to learn more about the Saponi: Today, the Tribe is an officially State recognized Indian tribe of North Carolina.
Voncannon/Furr/Lambert/Hathcock Family research, Brian Voncannon
Hathcock Family Web Site, by Ron Hathcock Web page, A Brief History of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation By Lawrence A. Dunmore, III, Esq.
North
Carolina: The Indian Tribes of North America by John R. Swanton
Southeastern Indian Refugees
from Virginia,the Carolinas,and Tennessee In Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan
by Richard Haithcock and Vickie Hathcock
Copyright 2000 Brian Voncannon