Saura

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For people surnamed Saura, click here.

For the Hindu denomination see Saura (Hinduism)

The Saura were a tribe of Native Americans who lived in the Piedmont area of North Carolina near the Sauratown Mountains, east of Pilot Mountain and north of the Yadkin River.

There are few first-hand written accounts of the Saura people. Hernando de Soto may have passed through Saura towns, although the route of de Soto's expedition is a subject of dispute. John Lederer reported visiting Saura villages along the Yadkin River, Catawba River, and Dan River, in 1670. In 1728, William Byrd conducted an expedition to survey the North Carolina and Virginia boundary, and reported finding two Saura villages on the Dan River, known as Lower Saura Town and Upper Saura Town. The towns were deserted when Byrd visited them.

Little is known about the Saura, and there are conflicting theories about the tribe, its history, and its relation to other tribes. The Saura have been described as related to, or part of, various other tribes, including the Cheraw, Tutelo, Saponi, and Monacan.

The Saura are said to be of Siouan or Siouan-Catawban linguistic stock, although some sources say they were Algonquian. Their name has been spelled variously as Saura, Sara, Sawra, Saro, Sauli, and Sarrah. Some sources connect the Saura with the settlement of Joara.

The early records of South Carolina refer to the Saura, spelled "Saraw", a few times. In 1715, South Carolinian John Barnwell conducted a census of Indians in the region. The Saraw were grouped with the "northern" or "Piedmont" peoples. This group had relatively fewer ties to South Carolina and were not counted as accurately as were the Creek, Cherokee, Yamasee, and others. Other "northern" Piedmont peoples named in the 1715 census include the Catawba, Waccamaw, Santee Congaree, Wereaw, and others. The Saraw are listed as living in one village with a population of 510, of which 140 were men and 370 were woman and children. South Carolina probably acquired these numbers at least partially through second-hand sources and estimates.

Some Saura assisted South Carolina during the Tuscarora War. In 1712, John Barnwell led a force of 400-500 troops against the Tuscarora in North Carolina. Almost all the troops were Indians organized into four companies based in part on tribal and cultural factors. The 1st and 2nd companies were made up of Indians with strong ties to South Carolina. The 3rd company was of "northern Indians" who lived farther from Charles Town and whose allegiance was not as strong. They included the Catawba, Waxaws, Waterees, and Congarees, among others. The 4th company was of northern Indians who lived even farther away and whose allegiance was still weaker. Among this group were the Saraw, Saxapahaw, Peedee, Cape Fear, Hoopengs, and others. This 4th company was noted for high levels of desertion. Historian Alan Gallay speculates that the Saura and Saxapahaw people deserted Barnwell's army because their villages were likely to be attacked by the Tuscarora in vengeance for assisting South Carolina in the war.

Gallay also describes the approximate location of the Saura homeland as "about 60 miles upriver from the Peedees", whose home is described as "on the Peedee River about 80 miles west of the coast". This puts the Saura in the general vicinity of the upper Dan River and Yadkin River.

[edit] References

Gallay, Alan. The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670-1717. Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002. ISBN 0-300-10193-7