Pamlico

The Pamlico people lived along the river that bears their name, near the broad sound sheltered from the Atlantic by the Outer Banks. They spoke a Carolina Algonquian language and travelled by dugout canoe. Their food included maize and fish; coastal communities also gathered shellfish and dried their catch for later use. In 1696 a smallpox epidemic devastated the Pamlico and neighbouring peoples. By 1710 the Pamlico were living in a single small village.