Photo courtesy of OBSN Inc. (permission granted)
The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation—OBSN for short—is a small Indian community located primarily in the old settlement of Little Texas, Pleasant Grove Township, Alamance County, North Carolina. The tribe that originated from the historic Saponi now carries out programs that benefit the 701 members enrolled in the tribe.
Until the middle part of the 20th century, the community was largely occupied in agricultural pursuits, sometimes supplemented by day wage labor jobs or jobs in nearby factories. In recent decades the numbers of people engaged full or part time in agriculture has declined significantly, and most working adults in the community now work in offices, or as skilled workers and craftsmen, or in the few remaining factories in the area.
In August 2002, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation embarked on an ambitious project; to begin buying back a portion of its ancestral lands in the “Little Texas” Community of NE Alamance County, North Carolina. This was called the Occaneechi Homeland Preservation Project. For the first time in over 250 years, the Occaneechi own land again as a Tribe, to be used for economic development for the tribal community, as well as for tribal administrative offices. On this small tract of rural land, the Occaneechi have begun a legacy for their children. These plans began to take shape in February 2004, when the tribe purchased 25 acres of rolling farmland on Daily Store Rd. on the headwaters of Stagg Creek. The tribe has worked with the Landscape Architecture Department at North Carolina A & T University and the Rural Initiative Project, Inc. of Winston-Salem to create a master plan for the site, which will include:
- A permanent ceremonial ground (completed Spring 2005)
- Tribal Orchards with heirloom apples, chestnuts paw-paws and muscadine grapes (ongoing)
- Reconstructed 1701 Occaneechi Village and 1880’s era farm (in construction)
- Educational nature trails (in planning)
- Tribal museum (in planning)
- Administrative office space, community meeting area, classroom space (in planning)
This complex will serve as an educational tool, not just for the Tribal members, but for the public as a whole. Each Fall since 2005, the Occaneechi tribe has hosted over 600 area elementary and middle school students on the tribal center property, teaching them about traditional dance, lifeways, outdoor cooking, storytelling, flint-knapping, hunting and fishing, and Southeastern regalia. As the complex develops, this type of cultural/educational activity will be done on a regular basis, employing Tribal members as guides and cultural interpreters.
Anyone interested in the lifestyle of the Siouan Tribes of the North Carolina and Virginia Piedmont will find the planned complex an invaluable resource, and the tribe is networking with the Alamance County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau as it continues to develop the project. As a tourist attraction, it will, in conjunction with the Tribe’s Pow-wows, festivals, and historical programs, draw thousands of visitors into the Alamance county area, while helping preserve the quiet rural way of life in the community.
The facility will also increase the Tribe’s self-sufficiency by bringing income into the tribal community, and providing employment for tribal members, employment that is much needed with the decline of the tobacco and textile industries in the region. It will make the tribe more independent by giving it a place of its own to hold tribal meetings, classes, and ceremonies without having to use the facilities of others. The Tribal Council will meet here, as will the Occaneechi Youth Council. Adult Literacy Classes for Tribal members, Neighborhood Watch, and other programs that would benefit both Tribal members as well as the community at large would be held here. The Tribe’s Emergency Food Cupboard would benefit from expanded space.
