The Roanoke (/ˈroʊəˌnoʊk/), also spelled Roanoac, were a Carolina Algonquian-speaking people whose territory comprised present-day Dare County, Roanoke Island, and part of the mainland at the time of English exploration and colonization.

[1] The last tribal chief of the Roanoke was believed to be Wanchese, who traveled to England with colonists in 1584.

The less numerous Croatan people may have been a branch of the Roanoke or a separate tribe allied with them.

[1] The Roanoke may have had their capital on the western shore of Croatan Sound, at Dasamonguepeuk.

This was one of the significant towns noted by the English colonists in the 16th century.