Occaneechi Indian Tribe to be Featured on N.C. Highway Historical Marker

An American Indian tribe linked to settlements along the Eno River in central North Carolina soon will be recognized with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.

The marker commemorating the Occaneechi Indian Tribe will be dedicated during a ceremony Thursday, May 30, at the Occaneechi Tribal Center (4902 Daily Store Rd.) in Burlington, N.C. The marker will be unveiled in conjunction with the Tribal Center Open House from 5-8 p.m.

The Occaneechi Indian Tribe often migrated between what is now central North Carolina and southern Virginia.

When explorer John Lawson traveled through what is now Alamance and Orange counties in North Carolina in 1701, he visited the village of the Occaneechi Indians on the banks of the Eno River in what is now the town of Hillsborough. The tribe had recently moved to the area from southeastern Virginia, where they had dominated the trade in deerskins from their strategic location on an island at the ford of the Roanoke River, just north of Clarksville, Va.

After a short stay on the Eno, the tribe returned to Virginia and settled at Ft. Christanna, along with several other tribes from the North Carolina-Virginia border area. Here they were educated and taught about the Christian religion, while serving as rangers alongside the white soldiers at the fort to guard against less friendly tribes further west. By 1720 the fort was abandoned, and most of the Occaneechi had left the immediate vicinity and settled in what is now the area along Fountain’s Creek in modern Greensville County, Virginia.

Shortly after the American Revolutionary War, they began drifting southwest, settling in the area of what is now northeast Alamance County and adjacent sections of Orange and Caswell counties. This area became known as “Texas,” or “Little Texas,” both because of the local reputation it gained as a rough and tumble community, as well as the Indian appearance of many of its citizens.

The Indian people there began building schools shortly before the Civil War, and the early churches, like Jeffries’ Cross were built around the same time. Prior to that time, many of the Indian people attended local Primitive Baptist churches such as Wheeler’s Chapel and Harmony Church. Schools included one on the grounds of Jeffries’ Cross, the Durham School, which stood beside what is now Martin's Chapel Church, serving as both school house and church in the early 1900s. Other schools with significant numbers of Indian students were Oaks, Haith, Crawford, Patillo and McCray. In the 1930s an effort was made to have the federal government create an Indian school in the Texas community, but while the Office of Indian Affairs verified the community’s Indian background, they declined to assist with educational matters.

In the early 1980s members of the community formally organized with the goal of obtaining official recognition by the State of North Carolina. A petition was submitted to the State Commission of Indian Affairs in 1990, and historical research continued. In 2002, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation became the eighth officially recognized tribe in the state of North Carolina.

The tribe is governed by a Tribal Chair and council. The tribe currently owns 25 acres of land in the Texas community which contains its ceremonial grounds, office, and the beginnings of a reconstructed Occaneechi Village and Depression-era farm. The tribe holds an annual Fall Festival which emphasizes the traditional life and history of the Indian people of the area.

The marker is one of nine markers being dedicated in 2024 that highlight American Indian culture and history in North Carolina. Historical markers were approved for the Coharie, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi, Sappony, and Waccamaw Siouan tribes. In addition, historical markers were approved for the site of the East Carolina Indian School and the Buie Mound site. The N.C. American Indian Heritage Commission staff worked closely with N.C. tribes to complete applications to be considered for the historical marker program.

For more information about the historical marker and the event, please visit https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/21/occaneechi-indian-tribe-g-142, or call (919) 814-6625.

The Highway Historical Marker Program is a collaboration between the N.C. departments of Natural and Cultural Resources and Transportation.