You Are Not Lost · You Are Not Alone
If something in you has always known — if you have carried a name, a story, a silence you could never quite explain — you may have found your people.
Gainesville, Georgia · Piedmont Territory · Five Hundred Strong
Our people were scattered by design. Displacement, reclassification, racial terror, the flooding of land — each one was intended to sever us from each other and from the knowledge of who we are.
They did not succeed. Five hundred of us gather every June. And every year, more find their way back.
This page is for the ones still finding their way.
Many of our descendants grew up knowing something was not fully explained. A grandmother who would not speak of her background. A family Bible with names that didn't match the story they were told. A pull toward the land, toward the woods, toward something older than memory could account for.
If any of the following are true for you, we want to hear from you.
01
You carry one of our family surnames — Griffin, Mitchell, Allen, Evans, Tabor, Bowman, Haithcock, Newman, Cato, or others listed on our Our People page
02
Your family was in Forsyth County or Hall County, Georgia before or around 1912, or in Brunswick County, Virginia
03
Your family records show a racial classification that changed across generations — from Indian to colored, free person of color, or other reclassified status
04
You have family stories of Indigenous ancestry that were never fully explained or were actively discouraged from being discussed
05
Your family has a connection to Beulah Rucker Oliver, the Rucker Industrial School, or the Oscarville community in Forsyth County
06
You have always felt a connection to the Piedmont landscape — Virginia, the Carolinas, north Georgia — that runs deeper than you can explain
Our Names Have Survived Everything
These are the surnames that connect our community across three centuries of displacement. They appear in the 1714 Fort Christanna founding records. They appear in the Saponi Catawba Nation's genealogical records. They appear in Gainesville, Hall County, Georgia today. If your family carries one of these names, you may be one of us.
Griffin · Mitchell · Allen · Evans · Tabor · Bowman · Haithcock
Newman · Cato · Richardson · Chavis · Lynch · Harris · Jeffries
Simmons · Scott · Gibson · Harding · Bunch · Lucas · Cumbo
Annual Gathering
Every June, five hundred of our people gather to affirm what was never in question among ourselves. It is not a ceremony for outsiders. It is a homecoming — for the people who kept the names, kept the stories, and kept showing up for each other across every displacement this land has handed us.
If you believe you are one of our people, we welcome you to reach out before the gathering so we can welcome you properly when you arrive.
Reach Out
We read every message. If you carry one of our names, know one of our stories, or simply feel the pull of something you cannot yet name — write to us. You do not need to have everything figured out. You just need to reach out.
Direct Contact
Principal Chief
Cheraw Monacan Tribal Government
Gainesville, Georgia
Hall County · Piedmont Territory
Tribal Enrollment
Enrollment & Genealogy
For descendant inquiries, surname research, and enrollment questions — use the form above or contact us directly
Annual Gathering
June · Every Year
Gainesville, Georgia
Contact us for this year's date and details
Related Institution
Beulah Rucker Museum
2101 Athens Highway
Gainesville, Georgia
You did not find this website by accident. People find their way home when they are ready to — and something in you was ready.
We have been here the whole time. Five hundred of us, gathering every June, holding the names and the stories and the land in our memory until the rest of you found your way back.
We are glad you are here.
You were never lost.
You were always one of ours.
Welcome home.