Did the Lost Colony of Roanoke really join the Croatoan Indians?
Nobody knows for sure, but many Indians believe so. As you probably know from your schoolbooks, the Roanoke colony disappeared during a difficult winter, leaving behind the word Croatoan carved into a tree. When other Englishmen found it there, they recognized “Croatoan” as the homeland of some friendly Indians. Since there was no distress symbol carved on the tree, they assumed the Roanoke colony went to the Croatans for help. After that, English historians never mention them again. However, English historians did mention a group of North Carolina Indians who spoke English fluently, practiced Christianity, and called themselves the Croatan Indians. There were also twenty or thirty English surnames in the Croatan tribe that existed in the original Roanoke colony. This could be a coincidence, but many Indians have passed down the story of the Croatoans adopting the Roanoake survivors. What language do the Lumbees speak? Lumbee Indians all speak English and have spoken English for a very
