Recent excavations on Roanoke Island, North Carolina have revealed new evidence that may help archaeologists and historians determine the ultimate fate of the now-famous “lost colony” of Roanoke. The island, site of the earliest efforts by the English to colonize North America, vanished without a trace more than four centuries ago.
It seems the Roanoke colonists had direct interactions with Algonquian peoples who lived on the island right beside them, either trading with them or possibly integrating with them once they realized they couldn’t survive on their own. And it is these Algonquian priests who may hold the key.
The evidence in question was unearthed during excavations carried out by the North Carolina-based First Colony Foundation. This coalition of historians and archaeologists is dedicated to finding ruins and artifacts connected with efforts by the famed Sir Walter Raleigh and other English explorers to settle the eastern coast of the Americas during the latter half of the 16th century.
The focus of this research has been Roanoke Island, which can be found just off the northeastern coastline of North Carolina. It is here that that what came to be known as the lost colony of Roanoke was established in 1587, by a group of about 100 English settlers led by Governor John White, who had been appointed to that position by Queen Elizabeth I.
Sir Walter Raleigh himself had attempted to start a colony on the island three years earlier, but his efforts were aborted in the face of resistance from local Native American peoples. But it was the later colony which went down in history for disappearing without trace.
It is believed that the Algonquian nation absorbed…
Chief Marilyn Morrison teaching tribal members the importance of honoring those who have passed at a Circle of Life ceremony held on Roanoke Island in 2022. Photo: Joan Collins 
