Legend and Significance
After the 1865 killing of William and Allen Lowry (Henry's brother and father), two local white ministers wrote a letter to the Freedmens Bureau describing the Lowry family's racial status (c. 1867). The ministers wrote, "We would premise, in the first place, that the Lowrys are free from the taint of negro blood. They are said to be descendants from the Tuscarora Indians. They have always claimed to be Indian & disdained the idea that they are in any way connected with the African race." An 1875 statement signed by nine witnesses said that Lowerie's grandfather was of Tuscarora descent, as were several of the women in the area. Another account said of Pop Oxendine (a member of the gang) that "like the rest......he had the Tuscarora Indian blood in him". Lowrie has become a notable figure in more recent North Carolina Indian history.
Starting in 1976, Lowrie's legend has been presented each summer in an outdoor drama called Strike at the Wind!. Set during the Civil War and Reconstruction years, the play portrays Lowrie as an Indian culture hero who flouts the white power structure by fighting for his people and defending the county's downtrodden citizens.
Read more about this topic: Henry Berry Lowrie
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