Lost Colony

            If you are able to read this letter, then you are obviously from the group succeeding the infamous “Lost Colony of Roanoke”. In today’s world, there are numerous theories as to what may have happened to the “lost” settlers; they may have died of starvation, but historians have noted that in the late 1500’s, Roanoke Island had an abundance of wild game, edible plants, and shellfish and other seafood. It seems unlikely that the colonists could have starved, although they may have suffered from malnutrition.

            Spain felt seriously threatened by reports of English colonization in the late 1500s. Was the Spanish Armada sent to attack and capture them? Research in the archives in Seville, Spain, indicates that the Spanish searched for the settlement in 1588, but they believed it was on the Chesapeake Bay and so did not find it. They were still searching in 1600, indicating that they never knew about the Roanoke Island colony.

            The Lost Colony DNA Project is an ongoing effort underway by the Lost Colony of Roanoke DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA of Houston, TX. The project will use DNA testing to prove or disprove that some Lost Colony survivors assimilated with the local Native American tribes either through adoption or enslavement. The project will attempt to locate and test as many potential descendants as possible. Testing is also planned for some of the recovered remains.

The principal hypothesis is that they dispersed and were absorbed by either the local Croatan or Hatteras Native Americans, or another Algonquian people; it has yet to be established if they did assimilate with one or other of the native populations. As to my theory of what happened to the “Lost Colony”, I believe the colonists actually moved to the Croatoan Island and assimilated into the Native American tribe. It was found that several Native American tribes spoke English, had an Anglo bone structure, light hair, gray or fair eyes, and had the last names of those of the lost colonists.

Whatever may have happened to the colonists of the Lost Colony, it would be beneficial to every living person today to conclude whether or not Virginia Dare was actually Pocahontas, and give rest to the myth, as it defames the classic motion picture Pocahontas, its sequel Pocahontas 2, and the critically acclaimed Pocahontas: The Musical.