Description
The name, Machapunga, is said to mean "bad dust," or "much dirt," in the native Algonquian language. The Machapunga lived in what is now Hyde County, North Carolina. Their lands may have extended into present-day Beaufort, North Carolina, as well as Washington, Tyrrell, and Dare counties. The Machapunga lived in the Pungo River area. In 1761, a small number were still living in North Carolina, evidently at the same place, and the Rev. Alexander Stewart reported that he had baptized seven Indian and mixed-blood children belonging to the "Attamuskeet, Hatteras, and Roanoke." On a second visit two years later he baptized twenty-one more. They were reduced to a single village by 1701, took part with other Indian tribes of the region in the Tuscarora War, and at its close were settled on Mattamuskeet Lake with the Coree.
Language
The Machapunga were a small Algonquian language–speaking Native American tribe from coastal northeastern North Carolina.
Culture
They made their own nets, the tools of construction being similar to those used by both the white people and the Indians of the Atlantic coast. Hunting deer, bear, wild turkey, and other wild game is still carried on in the immense swamps of eastern North Carolina, while besides nomadic pursuits, some agriculture is followed. As to native arts, everything is gone; basketry being the last art to survive. Until recently, native baskets were made of hickory and oak splints, in the manner prevailing among all the Iroquoian and Algonkian bands of the east. Unfortunately, all actual traces of native culture have been lost among these descendants.