There is a local Native American legend that tells of a single white doe that roams Roanoke Island where Sir Walter Raleigh’s “Roanoke Colony” had attempted to settle, only to vanish. Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World, was member of this “lost colony.”
As legend has it, Virginia, raised by the Croatoan Indians, was claimed by an old and powerful medicine man who, because he could not have her, cast a spell turning her into a white doe. Shot in the heart at the same moment by two special arrows — a pearl-tipped arrow meant to save, and a silver-tipped arrow meant to kill — the white doe returned briefly to her beautiful human form only to die a short time later.
Virginia Dare’s body disappeared at the same time a white doe was seen bounding off into the forest. Even today some claim to have caught glimpses of a fleeting white form late in the evening. Does the spirit of the white doe still roam the woodlands of Roanoke Island?
The elements of this famous Outer Banks legend have been captured in brilliant detail by local artist Britton Ricketts in a new art design available in our “Hop Shop” on t-shirts, stickers, and limited-edition autographed prints. T-shirts are available in three colors: Moss, Plum Raisin, and Black. Stop by soon or purchase at lostcolonytavern.com!
