Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation facts for kids

The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation are a state-recognized tribe in North Carolina. They were previously named the Eno Occaneechi Indian Association but changed their name in 1994. They claim descent from the historic Occaneechi, Saponi, and other Eastern Siouan language-speaking Indians who occupied the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia. The tribe maintains an office in Mebane, where it carries out programs to benefit the roughly 1,100 enrolled tribal members.

Historical tribes

Limited documentation exists linking members of the tribe to the historical Occaneechi and Saponi tribes. After warfare in the Southeast in the 18th century, most of the remaining Saponi tribe members went north in 1740 for protection with the Haudenosaunee. After the American Revolution, they relocated with the Iroquois in Canada, as they had been allies of the British.

After the war and migration, the Saponi disappeared from the historical record in the Southeast, in part because of racial discrimination that often included them in records only as free people of color, when the states and federal government had no category in censuses for American Indian. This was especially true in the late 19th and early 20th century, after white Democrats regained control of state legislatures across the South and imposed a binary system of racial segregation.

Remnant Saponi who stayed in North Carolina were mostly acculturated. The community was traditionally located at the old "Little Texas" community of Pleasant Grove Township, where the tribe owns 25 acres (100,000 m²) of land. In the twentieth century, the tribe worked to revive its cultural traditions. It is developing a tribal center facility. This will include a reconstructed 18th-century Occaneechi village, museum, log farm from the 1880s, community meeting space, and classroom areas.

Nonprofit organization

In 1996, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and Vickie Jeffries serves as the organization's principal officer. Its mission is "to bring awareness and recognition of the Occaneechi Indians."

State-recognition

The state of North Carolina formalized its recognition process for Native American tribes and created the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs (NCCIA) in 1971. In 1990, as the Eno Occaneechi Indian Association, the Occaneechi Band petitioned the NC Commission of Indian Affairs for state recognition but were denied based on lack of evidence of its connection to the historical tribes it claims; however, in 2001 the group successfully sued the commission for state recognition. The case was decided when the NCCIA failed to issue a final decision within the time limits set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-44 (1991).

The NCCIA appealed the decision, but the Supreme Court of North Carolina denied review and dissolved a temporary stay in 2001. (see 354 N.C. 365, 556 S.E.2d 575 (2001). This meant that the recommendation of the administrative judge held.

Federal recognition

The Occaneechi Band of Saponi Nation, represented by Lawrence Dunmore III, sent a letter of interior to petition for U.S. federal recognition as a Native American tribe in 1995, and the Eno-Occaneechi Tribe of Indians sent a letter in 1997; however, neither submitted complete petitions to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Activities

The tribe holds an annual powwow on the second weekend in June on its tribal property on Dailey Store Road, ten miles (16 km) north of Mebane.

See also

In Spanish: Banda Occaneechi de la Nación Saponi para niños