The Saponi are a tribe of American Indians that traditionally lived on lands along the border of the Virginia and North Carolina colonies in the Piedmont region. In response to European encroachment, some Saponi people went north into New York along with the Tuscarora to join the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois League in the 1730s and 1740s. Others moved south, with some joining the Catawba while others remained in the North Carolina Piedmont. A 1755 report estimated that there were about 28 Saponi people residing in Granville County, and a later 1761 report estimated that they had about 20 warriors. 

In the time after the French and Indian War, British colonists and later Americans continued to encroach on Saponi land, reducing the size of the Saponi tribe's holdings. By the early 19th century, the U.S. government no longer classified the Saponi people as American Indians with their own unique culture, instead classifying them as free people of color. Still, the Saponi people maintained their tight-knit community and culture in the face of discrimination.

Today, there are three separate groups of Saponi people recognized by the State of North Carolina: the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, and the Sappony.

For more information and links to resources, please see our editorial statement on American Indian terminology.