Saura
Encyclopedia
The Saura were a tribe of Native Americans
who lived in the Piedmont
area of North Carolina near the Sauratown Mountains
, east of Pilot Mountain
and north of the Yadkin River
. They were believed to have spoken a Siouan language.
There are few historical references to the Saura people. Hernando de Soto
may have passed through Saura towns, although the route of de Soto's expedition is a subject of dispute. References do appear in English records. John Lederer
reported visiting Saura villages along the Yadkin River, Catawba River
, and Dan River
in 1670. In 1728, William Byrd
conducted an expedition to survey the North Carolina and Virginia boundary, and reported finding two Saura villages on the Dan River, known as Lower Saura Town and Upper Saura Town. The towns had been abandoned by the time of Byrd's visit.
Scholars have conflicting theories about the tribe, its history, and its relation to other tribes. The Saura have been described as related to, or possibly a band of, various other tribes, primarily the Siouan Cheraw
, Tutelo
, Saponi
, or Monacan
.
The Saura are said to be of Siouan
linguistic stock. Some sources argued they were Algonquian
. Their name has been spelled variously as Saura, Sara, Sawra, Saro, Sauli, and Sarrah. Some sources connect the Saura with the Mississippian culture
chiefdom
of Joara
, where Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century founded Fort San Juan in present-day western North Carolina
.
The early English records of South Carolina
refer to the Saura, spelled "Saraw", a few times. In 1715, South Carolinian John Barnwell
conducted a census of Indians in the region. The Saraw were grouped with the "northern" or "Piedmont" peoples. This group had relatively fewer ties to South Carolina and were not counted as accurately as were the Creek
, Cherokee
, Yamasee
, and others. Other "northern" Piedmont peoples named in the 1715 census include the Catawba
, Waccamaw
, Santee
Congaree, Wereaw, and others. The Saraw are listed as living in one village with a population of 510, of which 140 were men and 370 were woman and children. South Carolina probably acquired these numbers at least partially through second-hand sources and estimates.
Some Saura assisted South Carolina the Tuscarora War
. In 1712, John Barnwell led a force of 400-500 troops against the Tuscarora
in North Carolina. Almost all the troops were Indians, organized into four companies, based in part on tribal and cultural factors. The 1st and 2nd companies were made up of Indians with strong ties to South Carolina. The 3rd company was of "northern Indians" who lived farther from Charles Town
and whose allegiance was not as strong. They included the Catawba, Waxaws
, Waterees, and Congarees, among others.
The 4th company was of northern Indians who lived even farther away and whose allegiance was still weaker. Among this group were the Saraw, Saxapahaw, Peedee
, Cape Fear
, Hoopengs, and others. This 4th company was noted for high levels of desertion.
Historian Alan Gallay has speculated that the Saura and Saxapahaw people deserted Barnwell's army because their villages were likely to be attacked by the Tuscarora in vengeance for assisting South Carolina in the war. Gallay described the approximate location of the Saura homeland as "about 60 miles upriver from the Peedees", whose home is described as "on the Peedee River about 80 miles west of the coast". This puts the Saura in the general vicinity of the upper Dan River and Yadkin River.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who lived in the Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
area of North Carolina near the Sauratown Mountains
Sauratown Mountains
The Sauratown Mountains, which are sometimes called "the mountains away from the mountains", are an isolated mountain range located within Stokes and Surry counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina...
, east of Pilot Mountain
Pilot Mountain (North Carolina)
Pilot Mountain, a metamorphic quartzite monadnock rising to a peak above sea level, is one of the most distinctive natural features in the state of North Carolina. It is a remnant of the ancient chain of Sauratown Mountains. The Saura were the earliest known inhabitants of the region...
and north of the Yadkin River
Yadkin River
The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. The river becomes the Pee Dee...
. They were believed to have spoken a Siouan language.
There are few historical references to the Saura people. Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (explorer)
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who, while leading the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, was the first European documented to have crossed the Mississippi River....
may have passed through Saura towns, although the route of de Soto's expedition is a subject of dispute. References do appear in English records. John Lederer
John Lederer
John Lederer was a 17th-century German physician and an explorer of the Appalachian Mountains. He and the members of his party became the first Europeans to crest the Blue Ridge Mountains and the first to see the Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains beyond...
reported visiting Saura villages along the Yadkin River, Catawba River
Catawba River
The Catawba River is a tributary of the Wateree River in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. The river is approximately 220 miles long...
, and Dan River
Dan River
The Dan River flows in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. It originates in Patrick County, Virginia, and crosses the state border into Stokes County, North Carolina. It then flows into Rockingham County. From there it goes back into Virginia. It reenters North Carolina near the...
in 1670. In 1728, William Byrd
William Byrd II
Colonel William Byrd II was a planter, slave-owner and author from Charles City County, Virginia. He is considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia.-Biography:...
conducted an expedition to survey the North Carolina and Virginia boundary, and reported finding two Saura villages on the Dan River, known as Lower Saura Town and Upper Saura Town. The towns had been abandoned by the time of Byrd's visit.
Scholars have conflicting theories about the tribe, its history, and its relation to other tribes. The Saura have been described as related to, or possibly a band of, various other tribes, primarily the Siouan Cheraw
Cheraw (tribe)
The Cheraw , were a tribe of Siouan-speaking Amerindians first encountered by Hernando De Soto in 1540. The name they called themselves is lost to history but the Cherokee called them Ani-suwa'ii and the Catawba Sara...
, Tutelo
Tutelo
The Tutelo were Native people living above the Fall Line in present-day Virginia and West Virginia, speaking a Siouan dialect of the Tutelo language thought to be similar to that of their neighbors, the Monacan and Manahoac nations...
, Saponi
Saponi
Saponi is one of the eastern Siouan-language tribes, related to the Tutelo, Occaneechi, Monacan, Manahoac and other eastern Siouan peoples. Its ancestral homeland was in North Carolina and Virginia. The tribe was long believed extinct, as its members migrated north to merge with other tribes...
, or Monacan
Monacan
The Monacan are a group recognized as a Native American tribe by the state of Virginia in the United States. The Monacan Tribe has not been recognized as an Indian tribe by the federal government. They are located primarily in Amherst County, Virginia near Lynchburg, Virginia. As of 2009 there are...
.
The Saura are said to be of Siouan
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
linguistic stock. Some sources argued they were Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
. Their name has been spelled variously as Saura, Sara, Sawra, Saro, Sauli, and Sarrah. Some sources connect the Saura with the Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
chiefdom
Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...
of Joara
Joara
Joara was a large Native American settlement, a regional chiefdom of the Mississippian culture, located in what is now Burke County, North Carolina. Joara is notable as a significant archaeological and historic site. It was a place of encounter in 1540 between the Mississippian people and the...
, where Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century founded Fort San Juan in present-day western North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
The early English records of South Carolina
Province of South Carolina
The South Carolina Colony, or Province of South Carolina, was originally part of the Province of Carolina, which was chartered in 1663. The colony later became the U.S. state of South Carolina....
refer to the Saura, spelled "Saraw", a few times. In 1715, South Carolinian John Barnwell
John Barnwell (colonist)
John Barnwell was a native of Ireland who emigrated to the Province of South Carolina in 1701. He led an army against the Tuscarora in 1711–1712. Later he served the colony as an official in talks with England in forming the government...
conducted a census of Indians in the region. The Saraw were grouped with the "northern" or "Piedmont" peoples. This group had relatively fewer ties to South Carolina and were not counted as accurately as were the Creek
Creek people
The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...
, Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, Yamasee
Yamasee
The Yamasee were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans that lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida.-History:...
, and others. Other "northern" Piedmont peoples named in the 1715 census include the Catawba
Catawba (tribe)
The Catawba are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. They live in the Southeast United States, along the border between North and South Carolina near the city of Rock Hill...
, Waccamaw
Waccamaw
The Waccamaw Indians of South Carolina, distinct from the Waccamaw Siouan Indians of North Carolina, are the first state-recognized tribe of Native Americans in South Carolina...
, Santee
Santee tribe
The Santee Indian Organization, a remnant tribe, was officially recognized by the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, January 27, 2006. Historically it was a small tribe , speaking a Siouan language and centered in the area of the present town of Santee, South Carolina...
Congaree, Wereaw, and others. The Saraw are listed as living in one village with a population of 510, of which 140 were men and 370 were woman and children. South Carolina probably acquired these numbers at least partially through second-hand sources and estimates.
Some Saura assisted South Carolina the Tuscarora War
Tuscarora War
The Tuscarora War was fought in North Carolina during the autumn of 1711 until 11 February 1715 between the British, Dutch, and German settlers and the Tuscarora Native Americans. A treaty was signed in 1715....
. In 1712, John Barnwell led a force of 400-500 troops against the Tuscarora
Tuscarora (tribe)
The Tuscarora are a Native American people of the Iroquoian-language family, with members in New York, Canada, and North Carolina...
in North Carolina. Almost all the troops were Indians, organized into four companies, based in part on tribal and cultural factors. The 1st and 2nd companies were made up of Indians with strong ties to South Carolina. The 3rd company was of "northern Indians" who lived farther from Charles Town
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
and whose allegiance was not as strong. They included the Catawba, Waxaws
Waxhaws
The Waxhaws is a geographical area on the border of North and South Carolina.-Geography:The Waxhaws region is in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina, southwest of the Uwharrie Mountains. The region encompasses an area just south of Charlotte, North Carolina, to Lancaster, South...
, Waterees, and Congarees, among others.
The 4th company was of northern Indians who lived even farther away and whose allegiance was still weaker. Among this group were the Saraw, Saxapahaw, Peedee
Pee Dee (tribe)
The Pee Dee tribe are a nation of Native Americans of the southeast United States, especially the Low Country of present-day South Carolina. Several tribes are recognized by the state, although none has federal recognition. The Pee Dee River and the Pee Dee region of South Carolina were named for...
, Cape Fear
Cape Fear Indians
The Cape Fear Indians were a small tribe of Carolina Algonquian Native Americans who lived on the Cape Fear River in North Carolina ....
, Hoopengs, and others. This 4th company was noted for high levels of desertion.
Historian Alan Gallay has speculated that the Saura and Saxapahaw people deserted Barnwell's army because their villages were likely to be attacked by the Tuscarora in vengeance for assisting South Carolina in the war. Gallay described the approximate location of the Saura homeland as "about 60 miles upriver from the Peedees", whose home is described as "on the Peedee River about 80 miles west of the coast". This puts the Saura in the general vicinity of the upper Dan River and Yadkin River.
See also
- Cheraw (tribe)Cheraw (tribe)The Cheraw , were a tribe of Siouan-speaking Amerindians first encountered by Hernando De Soto in 1540. The name they called themselves is lost to history but the Cherokee called them Ani-suwa'ii and the Catawba Sara...
- Southeastern tribesSoutheastern tribesSoutheastern Woodlands peoples or Southeastern cultures are an ethnographic classification for Indigenous peoples that have traditionally inhabited the Southeastern United States and the northeastern border of Mexico, that share common cultural traits....
- Ani-Stohini/UnamiAni-Stohini/UnamiAni-Stohini/Unami is a small Native American tribe located in seven counties of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and one county of North Carolina...
- List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition