Colomba Ginesta
Humanities Core 1
Teacher: Ms. Parker
The Lost Colony of Roanoke
The Roanoke colony was founded in 1585 in Virginia with orders to colonize
in America for the first time. It disappeared somewhere around 1587. This story is
still a mystery to many people and there are plenty of myths towards it. The most well
known myth is that the Roanoke villagers are the Pembroke natives’ ancestors. The
natives spoke “Anglo-Saxon” which is what English was sometimes referred to at the
time. The natives bore the ancestors’ last names, and the Pembroke people have
European facial features. This evidence makes it highly likely that the Pembroke
natives are the descendants of the Roanoke villagers.
English is important because firstly, it is a global language used all around the
world. Secondly, it is a mixture of many other languages. According to MacMillan,
“the Pembroke’s spoke pure Anglo-Saxon.”(Hause 52). When the ancestors created
the tribe, the Roanoke colonists must have been able to communicate with them. They
knew how to read and write in Anglo- Saxon. Being able to read and write is very
important, because if their writing was never lost, then the books written by them
would be a very valuable historical record that links the Pembroke natives directly to
the Roanoke villagers.
These links are further supported by the common last names. As the lost
colonists repopulated the tribe the names survived. This shows how both culture
merged together. Native’s surnames and English surnames were very different. In
addition, many of the Pembroke North Carolina natives had English surnames. The
male surnames were passed on. This explains why only a portion of the Pembroke
natives shared the same last names.
The natives from the Pembroke tribe had “fair eyes, light hair and an Anglo
bone structure” reported MacMillan (Hause 52). The natives had the physical features
of a European. Europeans must have assimilated with the Pembroke tribe and help to
repopulate in order for a native boy to get European features. Another report was sent
ten years after the colonist of Roanoke were reported missing. George Percy of James
town said, “ I saw a young Indian boy of about ten whose hair was a perfect yellow
and with the reasonable white skin.” (Kuppeman 55). This to all of them was a
miracle. The colonists must have been the ancestors of the Pembroke natives.
The Roanoke villagers are the Pembroke natives’ ancestors because the
natives know how to speak Anglo-Saxon (English), they bore their last names and
furthermore, they had European facial features. This evidence indicated that there is a
high probability that the Pembroke native’s ancestors are from “Roanoke in Virginia”.
Works Cited
1586, By. "The Roanoke Voyages L Roanoke Island." The Lost Colony - National
Outdoor Theatre. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.
<http://thelostcolony.org/education/Students/History/TheRoanokeVoyages.ht
m>.
"The Lost Roanake (Roanoke) Colony." Welcome to SparTech Software. Web. 18
Oct. 2010.
<http://www.spartechsoftware.com/dimensions/vanished/lostcolony.htm>.
"Native Peoples Magazine." The Lost Colony Center for Science and Research. Web.
19 Oct. 2010. <http://www.lost-colony.com/magazineNP.html>.
586, By. "THE LOST COLONY: Roanoke Island, NC ~ Packet by Eric Hause:
Articles about the Outer Banks NC and the Mainland." CoastalGuide.com: ICWNET® Coastal Communities: North & South Carolina. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.coastalguide.com/packet/lostcolony-croatan.shtml>.
"Roanoke: The Lost Colony." Mibba Articles. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
<http://articles.mibba.com/History/3018/Roanoke-The-Lost-Colony>.
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke, the Abandoned Colony. Totowa, NJ: Rowman
& Allanheld, 1984. Print.