North Carolina Native Tribes
Indigenous People you might recognize
Then & Now
NC Cities & Landmarks
Traditionally Native
100
This is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River, the ninth largest tribe in the United States, and the largest non-reservation tribe in the United States.
Who are the Lumbee Tribe?
100
He is Native Hawaiian on his father’s side. He is deeply involved in protecting his native land and most recently helped to protest the development of Mauna Kea, Hawaii's tallest mountain. He also identifies as Pawnee, from his grandmother’s side.
Who is Jason Momoa?
100
It may be a crop, but this was carefully cultivated by ancient farmers as long as 10,000 years ago. Native Americans then taught European colonists how to grow the crop.
What is corn?
Farmers in northern Guatemala and southern Mexico selectively bred teosinthe, a wild grass, for many generations to enlarge the ear and develop kernels that were soft enough for humans to eat. Once they’d created the corn plant, their invention spread throughout the Western Hemisphere.
100
Rising more than 350 feet (110 m) from the Eno River, this Mountain summit is the highest point in Orange County, NC.
What is the Occoneechee Mountain?
The state natural area now sits on was originally settled by the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, who traveled to the mountain from the west.
100
Native Americans believe that this instrument is a uniting force, bring together people of different tribes, as well as uniting a person's spirit to their body and mind.
What is a drum?
200
Native American Peoples of the North East Piedmont region of North Carolina. Part of their name derived from the two counties of Halifax and Warren, which are the ancestral homelands of the Saponi people.
Who are the Haliwa-Saponi?
200
She is making waves as a champion for Indigenous rights and as a high-end model on the runway.
Who is Quannah Chasinghorse?
200
The Inuit in the Arctic developed the concept of a small, narrow boat, with a sealed cockpit to protect the paddler from sinking in the event that the craft capsized
What are Kayaks?
The classic vessels were fashioned entirely from natural materials, with wood or whalebone frames covered by stitched sealskin or other animal hides. Today, the kayaks in use across the world are sometimes built from modern materials such as plastic and carbon fiber, but as De Gennaro notes, “the design is still essentially the same.”
200
This major river originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into the Piedmont, where it has been impounded through a series of reservoirs for flood control and generation of hydroelectricity.
What is the Catawba River?
The river is named after the Catawba tribe of Native Americans, which lives on its banks. In their language, they call themselves "yeh is-WAH h’reh", meaning "people of the river."
200
This is America's oldest team sport, dates to 1100, when it was played by the Iroquois people. They would use wooden sticks, sometimes with net baskets or pockets attached, and small, deer hide-wrapped balls.
What is Lacrosse?
300
This Tribe is located predominantly in southeast NC in the counties of Sampson and Harnett. They are descend from the aboriginal tribe of the Neusiok Indians.
According to legend, when the Native mothers heard strangers approaching their village, they gathered their children and softly whispered, “Shhh,” to quiet them until the strangers passed. You can hear the same sound today as the wind blows through the whispering pines.
Who are the Coharie Indian Tribe?
300
A native of Shawnee, Oklahoma, and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, he is the current center for the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL. In 2022, he was selected for the Pro Bowl and was part of the team that won Super Bowl LVII. He is a proud member of the Potawatomi Nation.
Who is Creed Humphrey?
300
The Inuit also invented these fashioned from wood, bone, antler or leather to protect their eyes from over-exposure to sunlight reflected from expanses of snow
What are snow goggles?
300
This is North Carolina's only historically American Indian University and North Carolina's only four-year university designated by the U.S. Department of Education as an American Indian and Alaska Native-Serving Institution
What is UNC Pembroke?
300
This is traditionally an event where for First Nation communities to come together to dance, singing, and socialize.
What is a Powwow?
400
“People of the Water.” Today, the tribe is focused on preserving and promoting their rich heritage and Iroquois traditions. Our territories in Hertford, Bertie, Northampton, and Gates counties in North Carolina serve as a vibrant hub of our cultural and social activities, including the annual Powwow, a celebration that draws visitors from far and wide.
Who is the Meherrin tribe?
400
She is a renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022 and is winner of Yale's 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry.
Who is Joy Harjo?
400
Native Americans fashioned these made of animal bladders and hollow bird bones to inject medications
What are syringes?
400
Sequoyah "Whispering Giant"
In which NC city is this located?
The Sequoyah "Whispering Giant" is located at the Museum of Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, NC.
The massive carving is a bust of Sequoyah wearing a pendant around his neck and a head wrap with a large protruding feather. According to the sculptor, the carving is a representative image created using a combination of various Native Americans. It depicts Sequoyah aged over 70 as can be seen from the lines in his face and is unlike typical depictions that show him much younger. There are also three tears on his face, two on the right and one on the left that represent the beginning of the “Trail of Tears”.
400
This is a traditional dish of the indigenous people of North America that is a flat dough bread, fried or deep-fried in oil, shortening, or lard.
What is fry bread?
500
The OBSN community is a lineal descendant of the Saponi and related Indians who occupied the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia in pre-contact times.
Who are the The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation?
500
She became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. She is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican.
Who is Secretary Deb Haaland?
500
Various tribes in Northeastern North America used the wildflower goldthread (Coptis trifolia) as a __________ and a treatment for oral pain.
What is mouthwash?
500
This NC county has the largest Native people population with 41.8% of the county
What is Robeson County?
500
This was home to the Inuit and the Aleut.
What is Alaska?