Spatializing Yesą (Eatern Siouan—Tutelo, Saponi, Monacan, Occaneechi) history in the Ohio River Valley from 2000 BCE to 1865 CE through enthohistorical and language evidence

Yesą́ is the endonym for the eastern Siouan peoples otherwise called the Tutelo, Saponi, Occaneechi, Monacan, Eno, Cheraw, and others, who live contem- porarily in tribal nations and communities throughout North Carolina, Virginia, Mary- land, and Ohio and in diasporic hubs or urban communities elsewhere. We examine the migration history of Yesą́ peoples and their language(s), particularly focusing on their presence in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley region, both before and after the European incursions, through ethnohistorical and linguistic lenses. We begin with an overall examination of historic Siouan migrations as we currently understand them. Then we examine old maps, documents, photos, and such language evidence as toponyms and word borrowings to piece together the broader history of the Yesą́ people and their trade and migration routes. We examine some differences between the Yesą́ and their Ohio Valley sister groups, Biloxis and Ofos. While the Yesą́ stayed primarily to the north along the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers and throughout the Pied- mont regions of Virginia and North Carolina, Biloxis and Ofos stayed mainly to the south, participating in the Mississippian Culture (aka Mississippian Ideological In- teraction Sphere [MIIS] and Southeastern Ceremonial Complex [SCC]) until the time of European arrival.