Coree tribe, or Coranine Tribe, Coranine Indians. Meaning unknown.
Coree Connections. As the final stage of the Coree existence was passed with an Algonquian tribe, some have thought that the affiliations of this people were also Algonquian. On the other hand Lawson (1860) that notes that their language and that of a tribe to the north were mutually intelligible and there is a reason for thinking that this northern tribe belonged to the Iroquois Confederacy. At least the Coree were closely associated in many ways with the Iroquoian Tuscarora.
Coree Location. On the peninsula south of Neuse River in Carteret an Craven Counties.
Coree Villages
- Coranine, probably on the coast in Carteret County.
- Narhantes, among the Tuscarora, 30 miles from Newbern.
- Raruta, probably on the coast of Carteret County, south of Neuse River.
Coree History. When the Coree and the Whites first met is unknown, but they appear in the records of the Raleigh colony under the name Cwarennoc. They were greatly reduced before 1696 in a war with another people. They took part with the Tuscarora in their war against the colonists, and in 1715 the remnant of them and what was left of the Machapunga were assigned a reservation on Mattamuskeet Lake in Hyde County, where they occupied one village, probably until they became extinct. A few of them appear to have remained with the Tuscarora.
Coree Population. The population of this tribe and the Neusiok was estimated by Mooney (1928) at 1,000 in 1600. In 1707 Lawson says they had 25 fighting men and were living in 2 villages. No later enumeration is known.
Connection in which they have become noted. Although some distance from the Coree country, Core Creek Station in Craven County, N. C., may perpetuate the name of the Coree.