Ancient Homeland and Origins

9500–2000 B.C. – Archeological evidence shows Indigenous presence in North Carolina as early as 9500 B.C., with settled habitation by 2500 B.C.

Before 1584 – The Machapunga were part of the Algonquian-speaking tribes inhabiting the Outer Banks and coastal North Carolina, including the Pasquotank, Yeopim, Roanoke, Hatteras, Pamlico, and Secotan.

Pre-1705 – The region was not yet Hyde County but ancestral territory to tribes who cultivated corn, beans, squash, knotweed, and sunflowers and lived in well-organized agricultural communities. Hyde County was originally part of Bath County, which was established in 1696 and later dissolved in 1739.

Life in the Homeland – The Machapunga were skilled watermen, fisherfolk, and herbalists. Villages typically had 20–30 homes, each with 4–6 inhabitants. Women played vital roles in governance, healing, and defense. The Machapunga were originally identified as Secotan people who migrated south from the Machipongo River (present-day Virginia). Mattamuskeet Lake (18 miles long, 7 miles wide) was a central homeland, sacred and agriculturally rich.

Colonial Invasion and the Tuscarora War (1701–1715)

1701 – The Machapunga were reduced to a single village and began uniting with other tribes.

1711 – The Tuscarora War begins. Allied with Tuscarora, Neuse, Bear River, and others, the Machapunga help lead attacks that kill over 130 white settlers.

1713 – Mattamuskeet, Catechnee, and Coree warriors raid settlers on the Alligator River, using the Dismal Swamp as cover.

1715 – Treaty signed — Coree, Machapunga, and some Tuscarora are settled near Lake Mattamuskeet.

Formation of the Mattamuskeet Reservation (1715–1761)

Note on Reserved Rights: The 1727 land grant explicitly granted all rights of the land to the Mattamuskeet Indians except for half the value of any gold and silver mines that might be discovered. This clause reveals the colonial government's intent to retain economic control over mineral wealth, even while granting surface land use to the tribe. This caveat would later become relevant in interpretations of sovereignty and resource control in land fraud cases.

1724 – Chiefs John Squires and John Mackey petition the Colonial Council for a formal land survey.

1727 – A 4-mile square grant is approved. The tribe pays two buckskins annually and a quitrent of one shilling per 100 acres.

1731–1761 – Over 29 land transactions take place as settler pressure intensifies.

1755 – Only 8–10 Indigenous persons are recorded on the reservation.

Notable Families: Mackey, Squires, Long Tom, Russell — These surnames appear frequently in deeds and land records.

Long Tom’s Rice Patch: 65-acre homestead sold in 1746 to Casson Brinson.

Loss of Land & Identity (1761–1792)

Note: The deed referenced the original 1727 Land Grant boundaries, showing continuity in how Mattamuskeet land claims were understood, even generations later.

1765 – Court orders regarding an Indigenous woman named Cat Collins signal a dwindling recognized population.

1792 – Final communal land sold by five women and two children of the Mattamuskeet community to Hutchens Selby for £50, although they likely no longer held formal ownership.

1893 – The 1792 deed was not recorded until 101 years later, raising questions about the legitimacy of the sale and providing key evidence in support of a land fraud case.

Signers include:

  • Patience McKey (Mackey)

  • Mary, Jean, Marthey Longtom

  • Children: Tabithy and Timothy McKey, John Longtom

Apprenticeship & Cultural Suppression (1771–1865)

1771–1865 – Many children of Machapunga/Mattamuskeet descent were forced into bonded apprenticeships under the label "Free Persons of Color." This system erased Indigenous identity and served as a continuation of involuntary servitude.

Sample of Hyde County, NC Apprentice Bonds:

  • Eliza Sawyer, age 2 – Farmer – Bound to John Riley Barber

  • Joseph Pledger, age 9 – Trade not listed

  • Lorenzo D. White – Age and trade not listed

  • Ann Mariah Collins – Age unknown – Seamstress

  • James Chance, age 11 – Farmer

  • Sally Ann Covel, age 5 – House Servant

  • Shadrack Mackey, age 18 – Blacksmith – Bound to Henderson Morris

  • Simpson Mackey, age 9 – Farmer – Bound to Mackey (likely relative)

  • John Long Tom, age 7 – Farmer

  • Seth Berry, age 9 – Farmer

  • John Easter, age 6 – House Carpenter – Bound to Benjamin O’Neal

  • Robert Ballance, age 2 – Farmer

  • Nathaniel Beckwith – No details available

  • Erasmus Saunderson – No details available

Many of these children were far too young to perform the trades they were assigned. This practice was used to displace Indigenous culture and autonomy while benefiting white settler families economically.

Cultural Survival through Religion & Storytelling

Despite oppression, spiritual identity remained strong.

Star of Zion Disciple Church was founded mid-1800s with leaders including:

  • Benjamin Mackey

  • James Riley Chance

  • Henry Barber

  • Henry Gibbs

Migration & Urban Survival (Late 1800s)

Descendants moved to:

  • New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia

  • Connecticut, Illinois (Chicago), Michigan (Detroit)

  • Many remained in Hyde County to this day.

Continued cultural practices in:

  • Crabbing, oystering, fishing

  • Agricultural labor in New Bern, Vanceboro

Annihilation of Native Identity (1804–20th Century)

Post-1804 – Machapunga people were no longer legally classified as Native.

Rebranded as: Negro, Mulatto, Bastard, or Free Person of Color

Bastard Bonds were issued to children whose paternity could not be legally proven — often due to rape by white men.

Example: Sallie Mackey listed her mother as Delilah Barber and her father as a “white man” in the Freedman’s Bank Records (1864–1874).

Legacy Lives On

Despite forced erasure, migration, and systemic discrimination, the descendants of the Machapunga Tribe of the Mattamuskeet Lake region have preserved language, culture, and family. Their names, faith, and oral traditions continue to affirm their ancestral connection.

Primary Sources & Scholarship:

  • Garrow, P. H. (1979). The Mattamuskeet Documents: A Study in Social History – Foundational work on land records, treaty petitions, and census data.

  • Speck, F. G. (1916). Remnants of the Machapunga Indians of North Carolina – Ethnographic documentation of language, customs, and surviving tribal families.

Additional References:

  • Aurora Fossil Museum, Aurora, NC

  • Bird, J. (2021, YouTube). Mache'Punga: The Machapunga People

  • Cecelski, D. S. (1991). Hyde County School Boycott

  • Howard, J. (2015). Nooherooka – NCpedia

  • Mook, M. (1944). Algonkian Ethnohistory of the Carolina Sound

  • North Carolina Museum of History

  • Rights, D. L. (1947). The American Indian in North Carolina

  • Ross, T. E. (1999). American Indians in North Carolina

  • The Algonquian Indians of NC Inc. (2022)

  • Ward & Davis (1999). Time Before History

  • Williams, M. (2019). Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge – FWS.gov