FDI - Saponi

The Saponi were a sedentary hunter/farmer tribe. The eastern Siouans fissioned from the greater Siouan culture about 1,000 B. C. and crossed the Appalachians displacing the previous inhabitants. The Saponi had a large settlement on the banks of the Rivanna, in Albermarle County, directly north of the University of Virginia, a one half mile up the river from the bridge of the southern railway. The tribe, along with its close relatives the Tutelo, was essentially destroyed by the same Iroquois that most of the survivors later joined.

Aboriginal Locations: Subdivisions (Villages)

VA 1 (1)

Year	*History*
1650	Probably separated from the Monacan
1670	Visited by Lederer on Otter Creek, soon moved with Tutelo to two Roanoke River islands escaping from Iroquois; smallpox followed
1701	Had moved further south fleeing Iroquois, found by Lawson on Yadkin River; soon removed to Virginia
1702	May have been joined by some Monacan [?]
1711	Had relocated to Berie County, North Carolina by Tuscarora War; soon joined Tutelo in Brunswich County
1722	By Treaty of Albany, Iroquois agreed to stop hostilities against Virginia tribes
1740	Tutelo and most of Saponi moved north to Pennsylvania, one band remained in North Carolina
1744	Northern Saponi and Tutelo join Cayuga Iroquois
1802	Some southern Saponi joined Tuscarora

Year	Total VA Pop.	Source
1700	250	NAHDB calculation
1701	250	Lawson
1800	0	NAHDB calculation
1900	0	NAHDB calculation
2000	0	NAHDB calculation

*Ethnie:*	SAPONI
*Language:*	Tutelo
*Family:*	Southeastern Siouan
*Stock:*	Siouan Proper
*Phylum:*	Siouan
*Macro-Culture:*	Eastern Woodlands
Speakers	None