Wingina

Wingina (died 1 June 1586; Dasamonquepeuc [in present North Carolina]) — later called Pemisapan — was the first North American Indian leader to be confronted by English settlers in the New World. He was wereoance (principal chief, king) of the Secotan (Roanoke) Indians in present day North Carolina during Sir Walter Raleigh's two expeditions (1585, 1586) and was murdered by the English.1

Biography

Prior to the first English settlement on Roanoke Island, Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe explored the area (April 27, 1584) on behalf of Raleigh, who had received an English charter to establish a colony a month earlier. During their expedition, Barlowe took detailed notes relating to conflicts and rivalries between different groups of Native Americans. In one account, Wingina explained his own tribal history, in relation to a neighboring tribe at the mouth of the Neuse River, the Neusiok, referred to as the "Neiosioke" by Barlowe. According to Wingina, the Secotans endured years of warfare with the Neiosioke, and "some years earlier," he met with the Neiosioke king, in an effort to ensure a "permanent coexistence." The two leaders arranged a feast between the two groups. An unspecified number of Secotan men and 30 women attended a feast in the town of Neiosioke. The Neiosioke ambushed the Secotans at the feast, and by the time fighting ended, the Neiosioke had "slewn them every one, reserving the women and children only."