Manteo ( 1564 – 1590) was a
Croatan
The Croatan were a small Native Americans in the United States, Native American ethnic group living in the coastal areas of what is now North Carolina. They might have been a branch of the larger Roanoke (tribe), Roanoke people or allied with t ...
Native American, and was a member of the local tribe that befriended the
English explorers who landed at
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English colonizat ...
in 1584. Though many stories claim he was a chief, it is understood that his mother was actually the principal leader of the tribe. This leadership would not have automatically passed down to her children as many English at the time may have assumed.
In 1585 the English returned to
Roanoke, arriving too late in the year to plant crops and harvest food, and Manteo helped the colonists make it through the harsh winter. He traveled to
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
on two occasions, in 1584 and 1585. After staying there, he was among those who sailed for the New World in 1587 along with Governor
John White and his colonists, who founded the failed settlement later known as "
The Lost Colony". On Sunday, August 13, 1587, Manteo was christened on Roanoke Island, making him the first Native American to be baptized into the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
.
Early life
Very little is known of Manteo's early life. He was born into the Croatan tribe, a small
Native American group living in the coastal areas of what is now
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
. They may have been a branch of the larger
Roanoke people or allied with them.
["Indian Towns and Buildings of Eastern North Carolina"](_blank)
''Fort Raleigh National Historic Site'', National Park Service, 2008, accessed 24 Apr 2010 The Croatan lived in current
Dare County
Dare County is the easternmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 36,915. Its county seat is Manteo, North Carolina, Manteo.
Dare County is i ...
, an area encompassing the
Alligator River,
Croatan Sound, Roanoke Island, and parts of the
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separatin ...
, including
Hatteras Island
Hatteras Island (historically Croatoan Island, sometimes referred to as Hatorask) is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, it runs parallel to the coast, forming a bend at Ca ...
. Manteo first entered the historical record through his encounter with English explorers in 1584, when
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellio ...
dispatched the first of a number of expeditions to Roanoke Island to explore and eventually settle the New World.
Travel to England

Early English encounters with the natives were friendly, and Manteo became one of the first Native Americans to travel to England. Despite the difficulties in communication, the explorers persuaded "two of the savages, being lustie men, whose names were
Wanchese and Manteo" to accompany them on the return voyage to London,
in order for the English people to report both the conditions of the New World that they had explored and what the usefulness of the territory might be to the English.
[Mancall, Peter C. ''Hakluyt's Promise: An Elizabethan's Obsession for an English America''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.]
Once safely brought to England in September 1584,
[Milton, Giles, ''Big Chief Elizabeth - How England's Adventurers Gambled and Won the New World'', Hodder & Stoughton, London (2000)] Manteo and Wanchese soon caused a sensation at court. Raleigh's priority, however, was not publicity but rather intelligence about his new land of Virginia, and he restricted access to the exotic newcomers. He assigned the scientist
Thomas Harriot
Thomas Harriot (; – 2 July 1621), also spelled Harriott, Hariot or Heriot, was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer and translator to whom the theory of refraction is attributed. Thomas Harriot was also recognized for his con ...
the job of deciphering and learning the
Carolina Algonquian language
Carolina Algonquian (also known as Pamlico, Croatoan) was an Algonquian language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup formerly spoken in North Carolina, United States.
Classification
Carolina Algonquian forms a part of the same language group a ...
,
using a
phonetic alphabet of his own invention in order to effect the translation.
Both Wanchese and Manteo were hosted at Raleigh's London residence,
Durham House. Unlike Manteo, Wanchese evinced little interest in learning English and did not befriend his hosts, remaining suspicious of English motives in the New World. He soon considered himself as a captive of the English rather than as their guest.
By Christmas of 1584, Harriot learned to converse in Carolina Algonquian with the two Croatans. Accounts suggest that Manteo was far more co-operative than Wanchese.
Harriot and Manteo spent many days in one another's company; Harriot interrogated Manteo closely about life in the New World and learned much that was to the advantage of the English settlers.
In addition, he recorded the sense of awe with which the Native Americans viewed European technology:
Many things they sawe with us...as mathematical instruments, sea compasses... ndspring clocks that seemed to goe of themselves – and many other things we had – were so strange unto them, and so farre exceeded their capacities to comprehend the reason and meanes how they should be made and done, that they thought they were rather the works of gods than men.
Manteo and Wanchese returned to the New World in April 1585, sailing with Sir
Richard Grenville's expedition in the ''Tiger.'' They reached the warm waters of the Caribbean in just 21 days.
The expedition was led by Sir
Ralph Lane, and was accompanied by Harriot who, having mastered Carolina Algonquian, would act as translator between the local tribes and the English settlers.
Records indicate that Manteo and Wanchese traveled again to England later in the same decade. Following the voyage, Manteo, Wanchese, and the English returned to Roanoke.
It is speculated that Sir Walter Raleigh chose to have Manteo accompany him on his journey to England in order to better acquaint him with certain elements of English culture; specifically, so that he would be able to improve his skills in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
and so that he might gain a deeper understanding of the Anglican Christian faith.
[Vaughan, Alden T. "Sir Walter Raleigh's Indian Interpreters, 1584-1618," ''The William and Mary Quarterly'' 59.2 (2002)]
Lost Colony
In 1587, Manteo returned to Roanoke along with Governor
John White's ill-fated expedition to plant
a permanent English colony in the New World. Manteo was involved in several nighttime attacks which took place in 1587.
The Native Americans had informed the English that some of their men were killed. To seek revenge, the English attempted to plot an attack on the Roanoke, who they believed had killed the English men. But, the English killed several Croatan people by mistake.
[ Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. ''Indians and English: Facing Off in Early America''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000.] As a mediator between the English and the Native Americans, and due to his loyalty to the English people, Manteo was caught in the middle. He had mixed feelings about the attacks and understood the points of views of both sides.
Relations with the Roanoke colonists

Manteo served as a guide and translator to the English. Manteo and the English people were able to learn about each other's language and culture. Manteo at times was also a mediating figure between the English and the Native Americans. Because of his status among the English people and his peaceful communication with them, some of the Croatan considered Manteo to be disloyal to them and a traitor at times of conflict.
Wanchese and other Native Americans such as Towaye
shared relationships with Manteo and the English colonists, although Wanchese had a more negative relationship with the English colonists.
Religion

Manteo is recognized as being the first Native American who became an
Anglican Christian.
Manteo was possibly converted to Anglican Christianity by Raleigh. Some historians believe that Raleigh promoted this as a political maneuver to further Manteo's role in working with the English. Upon conversion, Manteo retained his given name.
Manteo may have assisted in helping the English convert other Native Americans to Christianity as well.
In 2008, the 125th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina approved the commemoration of the Baptism of Manteo, along with that of
Virginia Dare
Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587; date of death unknown) was the first English people, English child born in an Americas, American English overseas possessions, English colony.
What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery ...
, to be kept on August 17 of each year.
Death and legacy
Following the abandonment of the settlement, Manteo was lost to history. The details related to Manteo's death are unknown. He may have left with colonists during the abandonment of the Roanoke site.
The town of
Manteo, North Carolina, is named after him.
[Manteo & Roanoke Island On the Croatan & Roanoke Sounds]
. Outer Banks of North Carolina. 8 April 2008.
References
External links
Retrieved April 2011
Retrieved April 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manteo (Native American leader)
16th-century Native American people
16th-century monarchs in North America
Native American people from North Carolina
Native American leaders
Roanoke Island
Converts to Anglicanism
European colonization of North America
1560s births