What Really Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke?
(Clark, What happened to the lost colony at Roanoke?)
Lumbee Indians
Many people and much evidence point to the theory of the Lumbee Indians being direct descendants of the Lost Colony.
According to Butler (2013),
What is well known is that the descendants of the Croatoan tribe, the modern day Lumbee, began to appear some 50 years after the disappearance of the colony. Observers described these people as having European features and speaking English. The Lumbee have remained in North Carolina, even populating the same region as their Croatoan ancestors. They were accepted by both the United States and the state of North Carolinaas an officially mixed tribe. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the U.S. government not recognizing them as an Indian nation. However, the state of North Carolina does recognize the Lumbee as the true descendants of Croatoan. It would not be that much of leap to conclude that the people of Croatoan were true to their word and accepted the embattled colonists into their nation. Though the disappearance of the Roanoke colony is still considered a mystery, it has been accepted that the colonists came to live among the people of Croatoan. (para. 2)
More Evidence
There is still a lot of debate about the connection of the Lost Colony and the Lumbee Tribe. The non-believers argue that there is no pure proof, other than word of mouth, that was passed down through generations and speculation. The believers however feel that even though it is circumstantial, they have all the evidence they need. Many of the Lumbee Tribe had the same surnames of the Lost Colony. Both share names such as Dial, Hyatt and Taylor, among others. The fact that these Native American descendants also have light eyes, European features, speak English and follow Protestant religious traditions is even more evidence to support the theory (Clark 2008).
(Coty, 2010)
DNA Testing
Many believe the only way to truly prove the Lumbee theory is to do DNA testing on Native Americans who bear the surnames of the missing Roanoke colonists. This may be hard to do since there are no historical genetic samples to compare to current DNA. There have never been any traces of the tribe, remains, or genealogical records of their descendants. There are many organizations that are currently conducting research to try and link DNA. This process could take many years and may or may not ever be able to provide the evidence needed to link the connection.
Y-DNA Testing – Only tests your direct paternal line. That means, your father’s father’s father’s father’s father, and so on. (Can be taken only by sons.) This does not look at any of your other ancestors (grandparents) who are NOT in the direct paternal line. Only paternal grandfathers going straight back.
MT-DNA Testing – Only tests your direct maternal line. Similar to the Y-DNA test, but only tests your mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s line, and so on. (Can be taken by sons or daughters.) This does not look at any of your other ancestors (grandparents) who are NOT in the direct maternal line. Only maternal grandmothers going straight back.
Autosomal Testing – Tests both mother’s and father’s side. Looks for specific markers to try to indicate estimated percentages of various ethnicities (Whitford).