Native American Presence

Native American Presence. Along the Dan River. , By 1728, most of the Native American population, which had been in this area for perhaps 8,000 years, had departed. Several of the larger tribes included the Moratoc, Sapony, Saura, and Tuscarora. The approach of European settlers drove them west over the Appalachians. Most spoke dialects of the Siouan language. They lived in circular huts lined with tree bark. These wigwams were often surrounded by a palisade or log stockade. Their diet consisted of common food items and included turkey, bear, beaver, raccoon, cougar, fox, squirrel, and rabbit. The Indians supplemented their meat diet with wild fruit, corn, squash, beans, and numerous nuts, including acorns. Second only to deer, fish was the most plentiful meat among the tribes of this area. Most local archaeological sites reveal large numbers of fish bones., The ingenious method that allowed these Native Americans to catch large numbers of fish can still be seen through their handiwork up and down the Dan River. They built weirs, large numbers of rocks piled upstream into the river from both banks in a V" configuration. These formations sometimes met near the middle of the Stream. The Indians fashioned a long woven grapevine net weighted with stones at proper distances to drag the bottom of the river. They entered the river upstream, stretching the net from bank to bank. Shouting and splashing the water, they swam toward the weir, dragging the grapevine arrangement to prevent the escape of the fish. This activity forced the fish into traps woven of cane and hickory which had been placed earlier in the pools behind the weir., Historical text provided by F Lawrence McFall, Jr. , Photos provided by William Hathaway. . A project of the City of Danville. , Layout and design by Kim Demont (formerly Vaden and Associates). , Plaque production sponsored by The Danville Riverview Rotary Club.