Chapter 6 Conservation Goals and Priorities
Table 6.6-1. NC Federal and State Recognized Tribes (NCCIA 2025) .
Tribal Center (City or Ancestral Location)
Tribe
Counties
Meherrin
Ahoskie
Bertie, Gates, Hertford, Northampton
Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation
Mebane
Alamance, Orange
Sappony
Virgilina, VA (High Plains)
Person, Halifax (VA)
Waccamaw-Siouan
Bolton
Bladen, Columbus
6.6.2.1 Coharie Tribe Headquartered in Clinton (NC), the Coharie Indian Tribe descends from the aboriginal Neusiok Indian Tribe on the Coharie River in Harnett and Sampson counties. The community consists of four settlements: Holly Grove, New Bethel, Shiloh, and Antioch. The Coharie have over 3,000 members with about 20 percent residing outside the tribal communities. Early records indicate the tribe sought refuge from hostilities from both English colonists and Native peoples, moving to this area between 1729 and 1746 from the northern and northeastern part of the state. Since then, they have lived continuously around the Little Coharie River (NCCIA 2025, Coharie Tribe 2025) . The Great Coharie River is a significant source of subsistence and traditions for the Coharie people. The Great Coharie River Initiative began in 2015 as an effort by volunteer members from several tribes and non-tribal affiliated local residents to remove fallen trees, Beaver dams, storm debris, and trash to restore and maintain free flow of a 13 mile stretch of the river (NCCIA 2025, Coharie Tribe 2025) . The Coharie Tribe website is https://coharietribe.org. 6.6.2.2 Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally recognized Tribe in North Carolina. As noted in the EBCI Wildlife Action Plan (EBCI 2022) , “Cherokee aboriginal territory historically encompassed hundreds of thousands of square miles across eight southeastern U.S. states. Lands stretched from southern Appalachian mountaintops to productive Tennessee River valleys providing for a rich agricultural and subsistence lifestyle. The wide range of elevations, diverse landforms, mild temperatures, and abundant rainfall found on aboriginal Cherokee lands provided for diverse and productive aquatic and terrestrial habitats (Vick 2011) . The Cherokee people possess a long history of natural resource stewardship dating back thousands of years. Traditional management actions such as the use of fire to improve habitat, wildlife-friendly agricultural practices, and traditional hunting and fishing methods were implemented to improve natural resource conditions and sustain resources. The fish, wildlife,
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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