Machapunga

Machapunga Indians

Machapunga Tribe: Said to mean “bad dust,” or “much dirt,” in the native Algonquian language. Machapunga Connections. The Machapunga belonged to the Algonquian linguistic stock. Machapunga Location. In the present Hyde County and probably also in Washington, Tyrrell and Dare Counties, and part of Beaufort. Machapunga Villages. The only village named is Mattamuskeet (probably on Mattamuskeet Lake in Hyde County). However, we should probably add Secotan on the north bank of Pamlico River in Beaufort County, and perhaps the town of the Bear River Indians. Machapunga History. The Machapunga seem to have embraced the larger part of the descendants of … Read more

Machapunga Tribe

Machapunga Indians (‘bad dust’; from matchi ‘bad’, pungo ‘dust’ (Heckewelder), or perhaps ‘much dust,’ from massa ‘great’, in allusion to the sandy soil of the district). An Algonquian tribe formerly living in Hyde county, north east North Carolina. In 1701 they numbered only about 30 warriors, or perhaps 100 souls, and lived in a single village called Mattamuskeet. They took part in the Tuscarora War of 1711-12 and at its conclusion the remnant, together with the Coree, were settled on a tract on Mattamuskeet lake, where the two tribes occupied one village.