Category: Munsee

Archaeologists from The First Colony Foundation have yielded a tantalizing clue about the fate of the Lost Colony, the settlers who disappeared from North Carolina’s Roanoke Island in the late 16th century.

The story of an English settlement known as the “Lost Colony” of early explorers of Roanoke and Sir Walter Raleigh is one of the most fascinating mysteries in American history.

John White led a party of roughly 115 English settlers who arrived on Roanoke Island, which is located slightly off the east coast of modern-day North Carolina, in 1587. The first attempt to colonize the island had failed a few years prior, so the settlers were the second group to try.

Even from their first days, the settler community had a rocky relationship with some of the Indigenous tribes that lived in the area. Eventually, White returned to England to request more help for his burgeoning community. Along with the other settlers, he left his wife, daughter Eleanor Dare and her husband Ananias Dare, and his infant granddaughter Virginia—the first English child born in America—to continue building the colony.

White arrived in England at the same time as the Spanish Armada prepared to invade the nation, which unfortunately caused a delay in his return to the colony. By the time he returned to Roanoke in 1590, his family and the other settlers had vanished. The word “Croatoan” carved into a tree provided the only meaningful hint as to what had happened to them. The word probably referred to Croatoan Island, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south.

There are various explanations for what happened to today the “lost” Roanoke colony settlers. Some believe the colonists attempted to return to England on smaller ships, some argue that the Spanish attacked them, while others contend that the local…

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Browse the obituary of residing in the province of Ontario for funeral details

Obituary of Caroline Joyce Dolson
Peacefully, passed away April 3rd, 2024, at the age of 67 years. Predeceased by her long-time partner Rudy Bakelaar (March 1, 2024). Special mention to Rudy’s sisters Susan, Marlene, Linda, Anita, and Katie. Predeceased by her mother Mary Dolson, brother Aaron Dolson and special sister-in-law Heather Dolson, all of Munsee-Delaware Nation.
Survived by sibling Jim Dolson, and God-son Tim Burch. Sadly, missed by many nieces and special mention of her nephew Aaron Dolson, and to her cat “Giz” and many extended family and friends.
Caroline will be sadly missed by Beverlee R Burch and families. She met a lot of people in her life’s path, too many to mention! All of you held a special place in her heart, “You know who you are!”
Thank you to Allison Burch for all your care during this time. A special thank you to her primary care nurse Anthily Jose, and Palliative Care Physician Dr. Andrew Sripalan and Charlene Kent of Home and Community Care, all staff of the various support services – SW under CCAC, to LHSC, University Campus and specialists, as well as, LHSC Victoria Campus all staff and a special mention to the CCTC at Victoria Hospital, London.
“Leaving people I love so much!
Making my peace with some.
That won’t be easy or pleasant!”
To Bruce Elijah, Kingston Huff, and the Firekeepers …… Chi Miigwetch!
And we are sending her home in a good way, as per her request …. with the Horse Song!
As per Caroline’s request cremation has taken place.
Online condolences are available through www.elliottmadill.com.
Arrangements are entrusted to Elliott-Madill Funeral Home Ltd., Mount Brydges, Ontario, 519-264-1100

1957 2024

elliott-madill funeral homes

Death notice for the town of: Mount-Brydges,…

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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)—A new study* describes a previously unidentified genetic lineage from which the modern-day Blood (Kainai) First Nation/Blackfoot Confederacy descended. Through comparisons of DNA from both Ancestral and modern-day Confederacy members, the work dates this Historic Blackfoot lineage to the late Pleistocene, corroborating established oral and archaeological records. The Blackfoot Confederacy is made of member tribes with ancestral ties to nomadic bison hunters that lived across the Northwestern Plains and Rocky Mountain Front. Oral and archaeological records place them in this region during the end of the last glaciation by at least 10,000 years ago.  Yet, the Blackfoot’s legacy has been contested frequently in land and water rights lawsuits. “The objectives of this study were not only to advance scientific knowledge about Indigenous genomic lineages that can provide insight into the peopling of the Americas but also to provide the Blackfoot with an independent line of evidence for evaluating purported ancestral relationships with other North American groups,” Dorothy First Rider and colleagues write. Here, First Rider et al. analyzed samples from 7 historical Ancestors and 6 living Blackfoot people. They found that ancient and modern DNA had a high proportion of shared alleles, demonstrating genetic continuity over millennia. Further modeling suggests that the Blood/Blackfoot ancient lineage split from other ancestral Indigenous American groups roughly 18,000 years ago. Athabascan and Karitiana then separated from this Historic Blackfoot group 13,000 years ago. Notably, the investigations help answer why Blackfoot language has minimal linguistic overlap with other Algic (or Indigenous North American) languages such as central Algonquian. “Certain elements of Blackfoot are older than proto-Algonquian language and likely were spoken by Indigenous peoples in the aboriginal homelands…

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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

From CoastalReview.org

The 13th Roanoke Island American Indian Festival and Powwow is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Manteo High School Athletic Complex.

The grand entry will take place at 12 p.m. both days. Organizers recommend attendees bring their own chairs and blankets for seating.

The Algonquian Indians of North Carolina Inc., a nonprofit made up of people genealogically descended from the original historic Roanoke-Hatteras, or Croatan, Indians of Dare County, and Mattamuskeet Indians of Hyde County, are presenting the festival and powwow.

The Pea Island Preservation Society Inc. will have a booth at the event to share information about the society and those who worked at the historic Pea Island lifesaving station with American Indian ties.

The society’s goal is to make the story of Keeper Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island lifesavers broadly known.

Etheridge, who was once enslaved on Roanoke Island, became the nation’s first African American keeper in the U.S. Life-Saving Service in January 1880 when he took command of the Pea Island lifesaving station, known as the only all-Black lifesaving station in Life-Saving Service history, according to information provided by board member Joan Collins, an occasional Coastal Review contributor.

Many of the non-European residents on the Outer Banks were a mixture of African, European, and American Indian residents.

This included many members of the historic Pea Island Lifesaving Station, a facility that included men like Etheridge who was enslaved, and others who were the descendants of enslaved people and people with known American Indian ties.

The festival and powwow connect the historic Pea Island…

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Discovering an Algonquian Village’s Connection to the Lost Colony

The story of an English settlement known as the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke and Sir Walter Raleigh’s early explorers remains one of the most fascinating mysteries of American history. 

The search for what happened to the English settlers has recently focused on the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, where researchers uncovered more evidence of a farmstead belonging to the “Algonquian village of Roanoke” (also spelled Roanoac), an Indigenous community that hosted the explorers in 1584. 

Excavations in March 2024 followed discoveries in the summer of 2023, when archaeologists from The First Colony Foundation uncovered what they believe are tantalizing clues. They dug up shards of Algonquian pottery dating back to the 1500s, along with a ring of copper wire they believe could have been an earring once worn by a warrior from an Indigenous tribe. 

“Finding domestic pottery—the type used for cooking—in close proximity to an apparent piece of Native American jewelry strongly confirms we are digging in the midst of a settlement,” said Dr. Eric Klingelhofer, the First Colony Foundation’s Vice President of Research. “And Roanoac is the only known village at that site.” 

“The copper ring indicates contact with the English,” Klingelhofer continued. 

The ring was made of drawn copper, and Klingelhofer believes it was brought to America by English explorers as part of their trade goods. Indigenous peoples did not have the technology to produce such rounded strands, and neither the French nor Spanish explorers ventured as far north as Roanoke Island to trade. 

The copper ring would have made for a valuable trade item. Historians say copper had spiritual significance for Indigenous tribes. 

What does the soil say? 

While artifacts were discovered last summer, the objective of the more recent dig was to find evidence of a farmstead…

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First Colony Foundation’s Elizabethan Gardens multi-year dig project completed; new excavations slated at Fort Raleigh in April

Published 9:17 am Wednesday, March 27, 2024

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Ramona Currie (foreground) and Paul Carson sift soil for artifacts. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

Jeremy Bliven shovels sand deposited centuries ago. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

Ramona Currie finds a small sherd of Algonquian pottery. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

Eric Klingelhofer examines a soil sample brought up using an auger. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

Area print and television media visit the Elizabethan Gardens dig. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

Jeremy Bliven stands in the 16th Century – on the dark soil of the ground level back then, anyway. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

Jay Ward digs through centuries-old sand, while Paul Carson looks on. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

Eric Klingelhofer directs volunteers Jeremy Bliven (foreground) and Jay Ward, as digging begins, while Tama Creef looks on. Courtesy First Colony Foundation

By Jack Currie, special to The Coastland Times

Pottery sherds uncovered during First Colony Foundation’s most recent dig at Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island may have been used during the key First Contact between Sir Walter Raleigh’s explorers and local Native Americans in 1584. And, in the present day, they help establish the size and extent of the Algonquian village of Roanoac that hosted that long-ago encounter.

The goal of the dig was to determine the extent of this part of the native village reached as well as uncovering any additional artifacts that could shed light on this historic period. In the course of the excavation, the team found good deal of…

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The outside of Big Tree Maple, located in Lakewood, and one of their sap tanker trucks. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

LAKEWOOD — Lloyd Munsee, owner of Big Tree Maple in Lakewood, has seen many different changes in the maple production business since he first began producing maple products.

Big Tree Maple began as a back porch business in 1993, and Munsee has expanded every year. He currently runs the business with his son, David, and the business consists of three separate parts. Big Tree Maple makes and sells maple syrup, is a part of the equipment dealership Lapierre, which Munsee said is a family name in Quebec, and the tanker trucks used to haul sap is also used to fill swimming pools in the summer.

Munsee said making maple syrup is a lot of work, isn’t easy, and is expensive, but added that there have been many changes in the business over the last few decades.

“There have been a lot of changes as there is with all agriculture,” Munsee said. “A few decades ago the majority of sap was collected and gathered in galvanized buckets. There was a process to collect from each one of those buckets and bring it to the truck or whatever they were transporting in.”

These days, Munsee said the maple industry has moved away from buckets and the majority of producers these days use plastic tubes and sometimes also vacuums, which now increase the volume of sap producers are able to collect from trees. This has also enabled producers to make a lot more syrup and grow their businesses.

Big Tree Maple’s reverse osmosis machine, a machine that allows producers to take most of the water out of the sap and produce more syrup. P-J photo by…

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