USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Croatoan Indians were a tribal group of Carolina Algonquians who probably inhabited both present-day Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands at the time of the arrival of the English explorers and colonists sent by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1580s.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Croatan, like other Carolina Algonquians, suffered from epidemics of infectious disease such as smallpox in 1598. These greatly reduced the tribe’s numbers and left them subject to colonial pressure. They are believed to have become extinct as a tribe by the early seventeenth century.

Detailed explanation-3: -Ethnologists and anthropologists believe that the word “Croatoan” may have been a combination of two Algonquian words meaning “talk town” or “council town."

Detailed explanation-4: -Manteo and Wanchese were two Native American men who sailed back to England with Raleigh’s first expedition. They taught the English how to speak the Native language. Two modern towns on Roanoke Island are named for them.

Detailed explanation-5: -With little forensic evidence, legends and theories have arisen about the role of the Croatan in this saga – with some accounts viewing them as “friendly” natives who came to the struggling settlers’ aid and integrated them into their ways.