Weapemeoc Indians

The Weapemeoc Indians, also known as the Yeopim Indians, were a branch of Algonquian-speaking peoples living in sprawling villages along the northern rim of the Albemarle Sound when the Roanoke Island colonists arrived in the 1580s. The subtribes of the Weapemeoc included the Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Poteskeet. They were partly agricultural and raised several varieties of beans (pulse), melons, and gourds, as well as corn, squash, and other vegetables. They were also food-gatherers, hunting turkeys and deer. During the summer months, fish, shellfish, raspberries, strawberries, walnuts, hickory nuts, and acorns supplemented their diet. Severe outbreaks of epidemic diseases during the seventeenth century seem to have devastated the Weapemeocs, who are believed to have had 700 to 800 warriors in 1586, roughly the same in 1600, and only 200 by 1700. One of the Weapemeoc settlements to survive was within modern-day Perquimans County, the name of which was reportedly derived from the name of the Indians who lived there.