Editing Tuscarora people (section)

=== 18th century ===
In early 18th-century North Carolina, European colonists reported two primary branches of the Tuscarora: A northern group led by Chief Tom Blunt, and a southern group led by Chief Hancock. Varying accounts around 1708–1710 estimated the number of Tuscarora [[warrior]]s as from 1200 to 2000. Historians estimate their total population may have been three to four times that number.<ref name="F.W. Hodge, Tuscarora"/>

Chief Blunt occupied the area around what is present-day [[Bertie County, North Carolina]], on the [[Roanoke River]]. Chief Hancock lived closer to present-day [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]], occupying the area south of the [[Pamlico River]]. Chief Blunt became close friends with the colonial Blount family of the Bertie region and lived peacefully.

By contrast, Chief Hancock had to deal with more numerous colonists encroaching on his community. They raided his villages and kidnapped people to sell into [[Slavery among Native Americans in the United States|slavery]]. The colonists transported some Tuscarora to [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] to sell into slavery. Both groups of Tuscarora suffered substantial population losses after exposure to [[Eurasia]]n [[infectious diseases]] [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] to Europeans. Both also suffered territorial encroachment. By 1711, Chief Hancock believed he had to attack the settlers to fight back. Chief Tom Blunt did not join him in the war.

The southern Tuscarora collaborated with the [[Pamlico]], Cothechney, [[Coree]], Mattamuskeet, and [[Machapunga|Matchepungoe]] nations to attack the settlers in a wide range of locations within a short time. Their principal targets were against the planters on the Roanoke, Neuse, and Trent Rivers, as well as the city of [[Bath, North Carolina|Bath]]. They attacked on September 22, 1711, beginning the [[Tuscarora War]]. The allied Indian tribes killed hundreds of settlers, including several key political figures among the colonists.

Governor [[Edward Hyde (1667–1712)|Edward Hyde]] called out the North Carolina [[militia]] and secured the assistance of [[South Carolina]], which provided 600 militia and 360 allied Native Americans commanded by [[John Barnwell (colonist)|Col. John Barnwell]]. In 1712, this force attacked the southern Tuscarora and other nations in [[Craven County, North Carolina|Craven County]] at Fort Narhontes, on the banks of the Neuse River. The Tuscarora were "defeated with great slaughter; more than 300 were killed, and 100 made prisoners."{{Citation needed|reason=Oct 2009|date=October 2009}}

The governor offered Chief Blunt leadership of the entire Tuscarora Nation if he would assist in defeating Chief Hancock. Blunt succeeded in capturing Hancock, who was tried and executed by North Carolina officials. In 1713, the southern Tuscarora were defeated at their [[Fort Neoheroka]] (formerly spelled Neherooka), with 900 killed or captured in the battle.

[[File:Fort Neoheroka Historical Marker.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Fort Neoheroka Historical Marker]]

After the defeat in the battle of 1713, about 1,500 Tuscarora fled north to New York to join the Iroquois Confederacy, while as many as 1500 additional Tuscarora sought refuge in the colony of Virginia. Although some accepted tributary status in Virginia, most of the surviving Tuscarora are believed to have returned to North Carolina.<ref name="Bruce Trigger 1978, pp. 287-288">Bruce Trigger, ed., ''Handbook of American Indians''; Volume 15, 1978, pp. 287–288</ref> In 1715, about 70 warriors of the southern Tuscarora went to South Carolina to assist colonists against the [[Yamasee]]. Those 70 warriors later asked permission to have their wives and children join them, and settled near [[Port Royal, South Carolina]].

Under the leadership of Tom Blunt, the Tuscarora who remained in North Carolina signed a treaty with the colony in June 1718. It granted them a {{convert|56,000|acre|adj=on}} tract of land on the Roanoke River in what is now Bertie County. This was the area occupied by Chief Blunt and his people. The colonies of Virginia and North Carolina both recognized Tom Blunt, who had taken the last name Blount, as "[[Chief Tom Blount#Later life|King Tom Blount]]" of the Tuscarora. Both colonies agreed to consider as friendly only those Tuscarora who accepted Blount's leadership.<ref name="Bruce Trigger 1978, p. 287">Bruce Trigger, ed., ''Handbook of American Indians''; Volume 15, 1978, p. 287</ref> The remaining southern Tuscarora were forced to remove from their villages on the Pamlico River and relocate to the villages of Ooneroy and Resootskeh in Bertie County. In 1722, the Bertie County Reservation, which would officially become known as Indian Woods, was chartered by the colony.

As colonial settlement surrounded Indian Woods, the Tuscarora suffered discrimination and other acts; they were overcharged or denied use of ferries, restricted in hunting, and cheated in trade; their timber was illegally logged, and their lands were continuously encroached upon by herders and squatters.<ref name="Bruce Trigger 1978, p. 287"/> Over the next several decades, the colonial government continually reduced the Tuscarora tract, forcing cessions of land to the encroaching settlers. They sold off portions of the land in deals often designed to take advantage of the Tuscarora.

Many Tuscarora were not satisfied with the leadership of Tom Blount, and decided to leave the reservation. In 1722, about 300 fighting men, along with their wives, children, and the elderly, resided at Indian Woods. By 1731, the population fell to 200 warriors, and by 1755, only 100 warriors remained, with a total population at Indian Woods of 301. When [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] [[missionaries]] visited the reservation in 1752, they had noted "many had gone north to live on the [[Susquehanna River|Susquehanna]]" and that "others are scattered as the wind scatters smoke."<ref name="Bruce Trigger 1978, pp. 287-288"/> This refers to the Tuscarora migrating to central-western New York to live with the Oneida and other Iroquois nations.

In 1763 and 1766, additional Tuscarora migrated north to settle with other Iroquoian peoples in northern and western Pennsylvania and in New York. By 1767, only 104 persons were residing on the reservation in Bertie County. In 1804, the last band to leave North Carolina went to New York. By then, only "10 to 20 old families" remained at Indian Woods.