The Shakori were an

Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern cultures, or Southeast Indians are an ethnographic classification for Native Americans who have traditionally inhabited the area now part of the Southeastern United States and the no ...

. They were thought to be a

Siouan Siouan ( ), also known as Siouan–Catawban ( ), is a language family of North America located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who ...

people, closely allied with other nearby tribes such as the Eno and the Sissipahaw. As their name is also recorded as Shaccoree, they may be the same as the Sugaree, as both are

Catawba people The Catawba, also known as Issa, Essa or Iswä but most commonly ''Iswa'' ( Catawba: ), are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. Their current lands are in South Carolina, on the Catawba Ri ...

. Yardley in 1654 wrote about a

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

guide's accounts of the ''Cacores'' people from ''Haynoke'' who, although smaller in stature and number, were able to evade the

. Their villages were located around what is now

Hillsborough, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States, and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hi ...

along the banks of the Eno and Shocco rivers.

Culture

Although little is known about the Shakori, at the time of contact, they were not noted as being noticeably different from the surrounding tribes. They made their

wigwams A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...

and other structures out of interwoven saplings and sticks; these were covered in mud as opposed to the bark typically used by other nearby tribes. They were described as being similar to traditional dwellings of the

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. In the center of the village, men often played a slinging stone game, probably similar to the

chunkey Chunkey (also known as chunky, chenco, tchung-kee or the hoop and stick game) is a game of Native Americans in the United States, Native American origin. It was played by rolling disc-shaped stones across the ground and throwing spears at them i ...

played by tribes further south and west.

Language

The Shakori were associated with other Siouan tribes of the Piedmont, such as the Sissipahaw and Eno, and they all are believed to have spoken the same

Siouan language Siouan ( ), also known as Siouan–Catawban ( ), is a language family of North America located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who ...

. Scholars debate whether the Shakori, Eno, and Sissipahaw were different tribes or bands of the same tribe. This distinction became moot as the tribes merged with one another as their numbers decreased. Although they merged into remnants of other tribes and the larger Catawba, their Siouan dialect survived as late as 1743 among the Eno. They resisted Catawba assimilation the longest. There is only one attested word of the language, being , a sport which the Shoccoree and Eno played.

History

Although their origins are uncertain, the Shakori were among the Siouan-speaking tribes found in the Piedmont area of numerous southern states. They are believed to have joined against the English colonists in the

Yamasee War The Yamasee War (also spelled Yamassee or Yemassee) was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715 to 1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee, who were supported by a number of allied Native Americans in ...

. It is likely that by this time they were already confederated or merged with remnants of other tribes, such as the

Saponi The Saponi are a Native American tribe historically based in the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia.Raymond D. DeMaillie, "Tutelo and Neighboring Groups," pages 286–87. They spoke a Siouan language, related to the languages of the Tutel ...

. On February 27, 1714, the Virginia colony reached an agreement. The remnants of the Saponi, Tottero, Occaneechi, Keyauwee, Enoke (or Eno), and Shakori formally coalesced, becoming "The Saponi Nation". Descendants with partial Shakori ancestry are likely among the Catawba and other regional groups, but the Shakori are extinct as a tribe.

Notes

Extinct Native American peoples Siouan peoples Native American tribes in North Carolina Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands {{NorthCarolina-stub