Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation

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, Saponi migrated to Shamokin in Pennsylvania for protection with the Haudenosaunee. In 1711 the majority of Saponi migrated with the Cayuga to near Ithaca, New York, while some remained in Pennsylvania until 1778. After the American Revolution, they relocated with the Iroquois in Canada, as they had been allies of the British.

Nonprofit organization

In 1996, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, 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 January 1990, as the Eno Occaneechi Indian Association, the Occaneechi Band petitioned the NCCIA for state recognition but in 1995, the NCCIA's recognition committee denied recognition to the organization on lack of evidence of its connection to the historical tribes it claimed. The committee's denial was based on the "petitioner's failure to meet the required five of eight criteria necessary for such recognition and their failure to establish heritage to an Indian tribe indigenous to North Carolina for at least the last 200 years."

In 1996, Occaneechi Band "filed a petition for contested case hearing with the Office of Administrative Hearings" which precipitated a year and a half of mediation. An administrative law judge recommended the NCCIA committee grant recognition to the Occaneechi Band. The NCCIA recognition committee made its Final Agency Decision against state recognition in June 1999. In August 1999, the Occaneechi Band petitioned the Orange County Superior Court, which ruled in favor of the NCCIA.

In August 2001, Judge Loretta Copeland Biggs ruled in Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation v. North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs that the commission had not rendered its Final Agency Decision within the allotted time frame, so the administrative law judge's recommendation held, and the Occaneechi Band was state recognized.

Federal recognition

The Occaneechi Band of Saponi Nation, represented by Lawrence Dunmore III, sent a letter of intent 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 band purchased 24-acres of farmland, where its Homeland Preservation Project constructed a replica of Occaneechi Town, an 1880s-style farm, a 1930-style farm, a dance ground, and pavilion. They rededicated the land in April 2022. There they host their annual powwow on Dailey Store Road, 10 mi north of Mebane.

Notes

References

References

1. "State Recognized Tribes". National Conference of State Legislatures.
2. Diane Brook Napier and Suzanne Majhanovich, ''Education, Dominance and Identity'', p. 32.
3. "Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Petitioner, V. North Carolina Commission Of Indian Affairs, Respondent.".
4. "Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation".
5. (14 November 2018). "Local Native American tribe embraces lineage while looking to the future". Elon News Network.
6. (27 January 2023). "Former Occaneechi Tribal Leader, Hillsborough Resident John Jeffries Dies". Chapel Hill Media Group.
7. Swanton, ''The Indian Tribes of North America'', 72.
8. Vest, ''An Odyssey among the Iroquois'', 128.
9. Swanton, ''The Indian Tribes of North America'', 72–73.
10. "Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation".
11. "Commission of Indian Affairs".
12. Mark Edwin Miller, ''Claiming Tribal Identity'', page 73.
13. "Occaneechi Band v. Com'n of Indian Affairs, 551 S.E.2d 535 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001)".
14. (12 November 2013). "List of Petitoners By State".
15. "Petitions in Process".
16. Diane Brook Napier and Suzanne Majhanovich, ''Education, Dominance and Identity'', p. 33.