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ParaReality is a paranormal television show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where ghosts, poltergeists, UFOs and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. ParaReality seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join long-time paranormal researcher Sandman and his roster of special guests, experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Watch the show to learn about the great mysteries of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
ParaReality is an Internet stream television show that airs every first and third Tuesday of each month at 8 PM CST. The show is a half-hour long, commercial free talk show that talks to guests from all over the world as they explore paranormal/pagan/spiritual/inspirational topics and issues including subjects related to ghosts, spirits, hauntings, apparitions, electronic voice phenomena, near death experiences, miracles, the unexplained, Wicca, the esoteric, the occult, magick, dreams, UFO sightings, medicine, alternative healing, psychic abilities, and more.
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Next show - Feb. 8, 2012: The Lost Colony of Roanoke: Did They Survive?
In August 1587, a group of 112 English colonists, including two pregnant women, arrived at Roanoke Island, a spit of land located in what is now known as the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to found the second European colony on the east coast of the Americas (a previous colony in the same area failed). The new colony’s governor, John White, soon headed back to England to procure additional supplies for the settlers. He intended to return as soon as possible, but delayed in England by the country’s war with Spain, it took him three years to again land on the Carolina shores.
On Aug. 18, 1590, White finally arrived at Roanoke. What he found – or rather, what he didn’t find – has since evolved into one of the biggest mysteries in American history, a source of endless research, investigation and speculation that still flourishes today. When White got to Roanoke, all the English settlers were gone and the colony abandoned. The only clues White found were two etchings, including the now famous one on a post near the entry reading “CROATOAN.” In the ensuing decades, numerous exploration parties attempted to locate the missing settlers, but to no avail. They had vanished.
Or did they? There are some people who believe descendants of the colonists now reside in Robeson County, North Carolina. There, the Lumbee people, a tribe with 40,000-plus members, have lived for centuries. Many Lumbee are confident that their ancestors migrated from the Outer Banks to the swampy marshland that is now Robeson Country. One primary advocate of this theory was Adolph Dial, a Lumbee historian whose 1975 book, The Only Land I Know, co-written with David Eliades, details the history of his people, including one assertion Dial was sure of. “While proof of Lumbee descent from the Lost Colony, in the form of birth records and other documents, is most unlikely to be found,” he wrote, “the circumstantial evidence, when joined with logic, unquestionably supports the Lumbee tradition that there was a real and lasting connection with the Raleigh Settlement.”
Proponents of the Lost Colony-Lumbee connection point to how Anglicized the tribe became. The Lumbee people have long spoken English and followed Protestant religious traditions. Nor did they undergo the forced migrations that other Native American tribes suffered through, because of their mixed-race status and because the tribe enacted early agreements with various governmental bodies to avoid displacement and the grossest forms of injustice. Today, the Lumbee people are one of the most prosperous and educated tribes in the United States, thanks largely to UNC-Pembroke, a university originally founded in 1887 as a school for the Lumbee.
It’s at UNCP’s Native American Resource Center that much of the academic research into the history of the Lumbee people has taken place. One of the foremost scholars on Lumbee tradition is Knick, the center’s director. He says there is plenty of evidence that could suggest that the Lost Colony and the Lumbee are connected. Many modern Lumbee surnames match up with surnames found among the Roanoke settlers, he says, and contemporary Lumbee oral history is filled with tales that assert a similar connection.
The biggest negative effect of their assimilation has been the federal government’s refusal to recognize the Lumbee as an official Native American tribe, a position that precludes the Lumbee from receiving most governmental assistance. “The tribe is involved in a tough political fight,” said longtime Lumbee leader Bruce Barton. Frankly, we haven’t been much involved in the public debate about the Lost Colony angle.” Barton says he personally has “mixed feelings” about the Lost Colony speculation, adding that “there are people who have tried to use it against us.” In the end, Barton likes to view the possible connection to the Lost Colony as, fittingly enough, a great mystery. “I don’t know if we do descend from the colonists or not,” he says, “but it’s worth speculating.”
My guest for this show will be Kim Strickland, a Lumbee Indian. She will be discussing with me the mysterious history of this Native American tribe. She'll also be telling us about the internal split within the Lumbees that this "Lost Colony" theory has caused.
Kim Strickland holds a degree in Music and is currently a musician residing in the Nashville, TN area. Her family history goes back deep within the Lumbee Nation and some of the family has even been involved in Lumbee politics, holding key positions on the Tribal Council.
On Aug. 18, 1590, White finally arrived at Roanoke. What he found – or rather, what he didn’t find – has since evolved into one of the biggest mysteries in American history, a source of endless research, investigation and speculation that still flourishes today. When White got to Roanoke, all the English settlers were gone and the colony abandoned. The only clues White found were two etchings, including the now famous one on a post near the entry reading “CROATOAN.” In the ensuing decades, numerous exploration parties attempted to locate the missing settlers, but to no avail. They had vanished.
Or did they? There are some people who believe descendants of the colonists now reside in Robeson County, North Carolina. There, the Lumbee people, a tribe with 40,000-plus members, have lived for centuries. Many Lumbee are confident that their ancestors migrated from the Outer Banks to the swampy marshland that is now Robeson Country. One primary advocate of this theory was Adolph Dial, a Lumbee historian whose 1975 book, The Only Land I Know, co-written with David Eliades, details the history of his people, including one assertion Dial was sure of. “While proof of Lumbee descent from the Lost Colony, in the form of birth records and other documents, is most unlikely to be found,” he wrote, “the circumstantial evidence, when joined with logic, unquestionably supports the Lumbee tradition that there was a real and lasting connection with the Raleigh Settlement.”
Proponents of the Lost Colony-Lumbee connection point to how Anglicized the tribe became. The Lumbee people have long spoken English and followed Protestant religious traditions. Nor did they undergo the forced migrations that other Native American tribes suffered through, because of their mixed-race status and because the tribe enacted early agreements with various governmental bodies to avoid displacement and the grossest forms of injustice. Today, the Lumbee people are one of the most prosperous and educated tribes in the United States, thanks largely to UNC-Pembroke, a university originally founded in 1887 as a school for the Lumbee.
It’s at UNCP’s Native American Resource Center that much of the academic research into the history of the Lumbee people has taken place. One of the foremost scholars on Lumbee tradition is Knick, the center’s director. He says there is plenty of evidence that could suggest that the Lost Colony and the Lumbee are connected. Many modern Lumbee surnames match up with surnames found among the Roanoke settlers, he says, and contemporary Lumbee oral history is filled with tales that assert a similar connection.
The biggest negative effect of their assimilation has been the federal government’s refusal to recognize the Lumbee as an official Native American tribe, a position that precludes the Lumbee from receiving most governmental assistance. “The tribe is involved in a tough political fight,” said longtime Lumbee leader Bruce Barton. Frankly, we haven’t been much involved in the public debate about the Lost Colony angle.” Barton says he personally has “mixed feelings” about the Lost Colony speculation, adding that “there are people who have tried to use it against us.” In the end, Barton likes to view the possible connection to the Lost Colony as, fittingly enough, a great mystery. “I don’t know if we do descend from the colonists or not,” he says, “but it’s worth speculating.”
My guest for this show will be Kim Strickland, a Lumbee Indian. She will be discussing with me the mysterious history of this Native American tribe. She'll also be telling us about the internal split within the Lumbees that this "Lost Colony" theory has caused.
Kim Strickland holds a degree in Music and is currently a musician residing in the Nashville, TN area. Her family history goes back deep within the Lumbee Nation and some of the family has even been involved in Lumbee politics, holding key positions on the Tribal Council.
