Chowanoke

The Chowanoke were an Algonquian-speaking people whose settlements lay along the Chowan River in northeastern Carolina. At the time of English contact in the 1580s, they were among the influential peoples of the Albemarle Sound region. Their towns extended along the river and its tributaries, amid woodland and wetlands. English accounts recorded numerous villages and a substantial body of warriors.

The Chowanoke made peace with the English in 1663, but renewed conflict ended in defeat in 1677. They were compelled to cede much of their territory and move to a reservation near Bennett Creek. During the Tuscarora War of 1711–1713 they fought alongside the English. Encroachment and population loss continued, and some survivors later shared land with the Tuscarora on Bennett and Catherine creeks.