USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Monacan nation was first recorded by Jamestown settlers in colonial Virginia. Their native language is a Siouan language which is extinct. The people are related to other Siouan-speaking tribes of the inland in this region, such as the Tutelo, Saponi and Occaneechi.

Detailed explanation-2: -Today, Siouan languages are primarily spoken in the American Great Plains and in the southern part of Canada. Only the Dakota, Lakota, Stoney, and Crow tribes retain a significant number of speakers. Compiled by Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2021.

Detailed explanation-3: -Virginia’s Siouan-speakers, meanwhile, largely lived west of the fall line and included the Monacans, the Mannahoacs, and the Saponis.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Saponi is a Native American tribe historically based in the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia. They spoke a Siouan language, related to the languages of the Tutelo, Biloxi, and Ofo. They were part of the Monacan confederacies.

Detailed explanation-5: -The language of the Manahoac is not known, although John Smith stated that they spoke a language different from that of the Monacan. Anthropologist James Mooney in 1894 suggested that the Manahoac spoke a Siouan language, based on his speculation that the town called Monasickapanough was related to Saponi.