Ghost Fields: Interview with John Blackfeather Jeffries--Elder of the Occaneechi Tribe of the Saponi Nation.

By John Bradley

Ghost Fields is a short study of the life and love of a most remarkable man of Indian heritage growing up in the historic NC town of Hillsborough in the late 20th century. Ghost Fields is a coming-of-age story of John Blackfeather Jeffries, a member of the Occaneechi Tribe, a people in relative obscurity in the counties bordering the Virginia-No

• Language: English
• Publisher: AnewPress
• Release date: Jan 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781970109740

John Bradley

John Harris Bradley is an American author of historical fiction residing in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his extended family. With residence and extensive travel in Iberia and South America and long-time study of Native American heritage in North Carolina, Bradley puts this to use in a two-part series beginning in Belmonte, Portugal in 1565 and ending in the destruction of the Spanish Fort of San Juan in the Catawba Indian village of Joara in 1568. This was Spain's first and only attempt to colonize the Mid-Atlantic area of North America during the 16th century. Joara, Tale of the New World was published in 2021. Another work by John Bradley, Ghost Fields, was published in 2022.

Book preview

GHOST

FIELDS

Interview with

John Blackfeather Jeffries

Elder of the Occaneechi Tribe

of the Saponi Nation

JOHN BRADLEY

ISBN 978-1-9701-0971-9

eISBN 978-1-9701-0974-0

Copyright © 2021 by John Bradley

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in any form, or by any mechanical or electronic means including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, in whole or in part in any form, and in any case not without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Published November 2021

CONTENTS

Introduction

The Decade 1947-1957

The 1960s

The 1990s

Journey into the Past

The Occaneechi Band Today

References

INTRODUCTION

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I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For years I had heard about a man called Blackfeather, who lived in the nearby town of Hillsborough. He was an Occaneechi chief who lived in the town. He hoped I would meet him someday.

A year ago, a mutual friend told me that Blackfeather was looking for someone to record his personal history. She had offered to contact me on behalf of the chief to see if I was interested. Indeed I was. I committed to reaching out to him, but then procrastinated to the point of feeling guilty.

On September 11, 2020, I drove to Hillsborough to register for early voting in the upcoming presidential election. I circled the village green surrounding the historical Orange County Courthouse, where I saw a group of people gathered around a row of metal folding chairs with large, colorful hand-drawn posters. My curiosity was piqued. I proceeded to the new courthouse, registered to vote, then returned to the old courthouse green to satisfy my interest. Once there, I spotted a van with the logo of the Occaneechi Band and the name of John Blackfeather Jeffries.

Lucky day, I thought. I parked and walked over to the group. I found Blackfeather alone, introduced myself, and reminded him of the commitment I had made through our mutual friend to help him with some writing. We made an appointment for the future, then talked for another half-hour. Blackfeather had come to the old Courthouse lawn, as a Marine Corps veteran, to commemorate those who had lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Soldiers had given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan for the principles