The Bay River Indians were an American Indian tribe that resided near the present-day city of Bayboro in Pamlico County, North Carolina. Although their settlement was along the Bay River, colonists sometimes called them Bear River Indians, possibly due to variations in regional accents. The Bay River Indians were Algonquian, similar to the Chowanoke or Roanoke and some scholars have suggested that they were a subset of the Mattamuskeet American Indians to their north. According to colonist and surveyor John Lawson, the Bay River Indians occupied only one town, called Raudauquaquank. Colonists in Bath County often complained of Bay River Indians threatening or attacking them, and during the Tuscarora War, the Bay River Indians allied with the lower Tuscarora villages in opposing the colonists.

Through the course of the Tuscarora War, the Bay River Indians suffered many losses. Not only did colonists and their Indian allies kill many of the nation's warriors, but they also enslaved many Bay River women and children. After the war, the Bay River Indians no longer had a cohesive identity. Bay River survivors may have assimilated into a nearby tribe or eventually dwindled into obscurity, leaving no further written records behind.

Today no state or federally recognized tribe claims descent from the Bay River Indians.

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