The Tuscarora Theory

F. Roy Johnson and Thomas C. Parramore co-authored the book, “The Lost Colony in Fact and Legend”, in it Parramore pointed out that evidence did exist at that time that the colonists were living as late as 1610 in Tuscarora country. A document, including a map (also called the Zuniga map) drawn by Jamestown settler, Francis Nelson, in 1608, points out that “Four men, clothed, that came from Noonock” were still alive and living in the town of Pakeriukinick. By 1609, there were reports in London that there were four men, two boys and one girl living under the rule of Tuscarora Chief Gepanocan, who held them as copper workers.

The Croatoan Indians were believed to have really been Tuscaroras; Croatoan was simply the name of the village, not the tribal name.

The belief is that the friendly Tuscarora found the people of Roanoke starving and destitute. They were stranded in the midst of drought conditions that lasted for three years or longer and believed to have been the worst drought in eight hundred years by modern accounts. The Tuscarora invited them to join the tribe on the mainland. In time, it is believed that these colonists settled in the area of Robeson.

The Person County Theory

A story much like the Tuscarora Theory claims that the Native Americans of Person County, North Carolina are descendants of the Roanoke settlers. When encountered for the first time by European settlers, the settlers were surprised to learn that some of the natives already spoke fluent English and knew about Christianity. Some of the natives had Anglo physical characteristics and ages that matched the ages of known children of Roanoke.

The Chesepian Theory

In 1607 when John Smith and his colonists settled in Virginia, they were tasked with finding the Roanoke colonists or their fate. Native Americans told Smith of people living as the English lived within a distance of fifty miles from Jamestown.

Chief Wahunsunacock, better known as Chief Powhatan, told Captain Smith that he had just recently wiped out the survivors of Roanoke because they were living with the Chesepian Tribe, a group that had refused to join the Powhatan Confederacy. To add validity to the chief’s claim, he is reported to have had in his possession several iron products produced in England. However, there have been no bodies uncovered to support this claim.

Lost at Sea Theory

Another possibility is that the colonist simply lost all faith in the arrival of supplies. Being unable to grow food due to the drought and facing starvation, they decided to use several small ships that had been left for them to use in local exploration or possible relocation to the mainland in an emergency. Some believe the colonists used these ships in an attempt to return to England and were lost at sea.

The Spanish Theory

During the time of the Roanoke Colony’s settlement, England and Spain were at war. The Spaniards were known to have destroyed the French colony of Fort Charles in South Carolina and massacred the residents of Fort Caroline, a French colony in present-day Jacksonville, Florida. However, the Spaniards were still looking for the Roanoke colony ten years after John White discovered it abandoned.

In 1998, East Carolina University established “The Croatoan Project”, for the purpose of conducting an archaeological investigation. The team found a ten-carat gold 16th century English signet ring, gun flints and copper farthings on the island of Croatoan. They were able to trace ownership of the ring back to the Kendall family, one of whom had been a member of the colony. This ring may be the first material proof of a connection between the Native Americans on Croatoan Island and the settlers on Roanoke Island.