Croatan

The Croatan were an Algonquian-speaking people of the Carolina coast, associated with the sounds and barrier islands around Hatteras and Roanoke. Their villages lay among shallow waters, marshes and inlets. The island called Croatoan by the English was home to Manteo, a leader who became an intermediary between his people and the newcomers during England's early attempts to settle the coast.

Manteo travelled to England after the first Roanoke expedition in 1584 and returned with the colonists. Relations between the English and other neighbouring peoples deteriorated, but Manteo remained their ally. In 1590 John White returned to Roanoke to find the settlement abandoned; the word “CROATOAN” had been carved on a post. Bad weather prevented him from reaching the island to investigate.