Author Description

FOR the first time in its more than three hundred and fifty years of history, North Carolina has a book telling the story of all the Indian tribes of the state. Abounding in interesting descriptions and striking illustrations, THE AMERICAN INDIAN IN NORTH CAROLINA tells this story. The author narrates judiciously the experiences of the early explorers and carefully edits the classic accounts of the adventures of John Lawson, John Lederer, William Byrd, and other famous pioneers. Tribal movements are traced, and tribes and important sites are identified. The information is authentic and at the same time appealing to the general reader. More than being a history, the book is an interpretation of the North Carolina Indian and a description of his manner of living, customs, and beliefs. It leads to an intimate acquaintance with the first inhabitants of the Carolina country. Since the better known Indian tribes of eastern America found a meeting ground in Carolina, the story is important for students who investigate aboriginal subjects in all states east of the Mississippi. Among the many illustrations are the original John White pictures, the earliest representations of the American Indian in the United States, herewith reproduced in a series for the first time in North Carolina. Here is the first illustrated survey of Indian antiquities of the state.