The Saponi are a Native American tribe historically based in the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia.

American anthropologist John Reed Swanton wrote that Saponi was "a corruption of Monasiccapano or Monasukapanough.

"[7] Ethnographer James Mooney suggested the word might come from the Siouan term sapa meaning "black.

"[8] German explorer John Lederer suggested their name came from Sepy, a female immortal in their religion.

[10] The other source is William Byrd II's History of the Dividing Line betwixt Virginia and North Carolina (1728), in which he recorded the names of some local creeks.

In 1870, philologist Horatio Hale recorded an elder Nikonha's information about the Tutelo language in Brantford, Ontario.

[2] At the time of European contact up to the early 18th century, the Saponi lived in present-day Virginia and North Carolina.

[13] British explorer John Lawson wrote that the Saponi were governed by a headman, an elders' council,[13] and, when necessary, a war chief.

[14] Historically, Saponi people hunted deer, bear, beaver, squirrel, turkey, and other fowl.

[13] They farmed maize, beans, and squash and harvested wild plants including various nuts, berries, and stone fruits.

[15] English explorer Edward Bland wrote in 1650 about the "Occononacheans and Nessoneicks" living on Roanoke River.

[16] Lederer wrote about the Saponi: "The nation is governed by an absolute Monarch; the People of a high stature, warlike and rich.

[1] Nearly decimated, the Saponi relocated to three islands at the confluence of the Dan and Staunton rivers in Clarksville with their allies, the Occaneechi, Tutelo, and Nahyssans.

[15] Although in 1718 the House of Burgesses voted to abandon the fort and school, the Siouan tribes continued to stay in that area for some time.

One record from 1728 indicated that Colonel William Byrd II made a survey of the border between Virginia and North Carolina, guided by Ned Bearskin, a Saponi hunter.

They also settled as Pony Hollow, just southwest of Newfield, New York,[2] which connected to other Nahyssan and Haudenosaunee communities nearby.

[2] Shortly after the American Revolutionary War, Samuel Kirkland noted a community of them living near Fort Niagara who was later believed to have joined the Mohawk, whereas others continued into Canada alongside the Cayuga.

[35] Director of the Haliwa-Saponi Historic Legacy Project, Dr. Marty Richardson wrote, "A large group of Meadows Indians migrated to Ohio after 1835 and took advantage of fewer race-based restrictions.