A nearly millennium-old canoe belonging to a Native American tribe was found in a lake in North Carolina.

The 930-year-old vessel was first discovered by a group of teenage boys back in 2021. At the time, the authorities marked the location and prepared to safely remove the canoe from the lake.

Now, the historical piece was finally retrieved from the water by the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology in collaboration with the local Waccamaw Siouan Tribe.

In footage shared by the department, divers and volunteers could be seen pulling the 28-foot canoe out of murky water before the vessel was taken to Greenville to be cleaned, preserved, and studied.

“We’re looking forward to examining it, running some tests on it, really finding out and going back to our elders and getting the history of it, to where we can teach the truth to our people and know that we’ve got concrete evidence to stand on,” Waccamaw Siouan Chief Michael Jacobs said.

The chief also revealed that the canoe serves as solid proof of his people’s history and origins.

“That canoe at 28 feet long would have carried many a brave. We feel like in our heart, it’s a history that we’re still exploring and understanding because this is the first time we’ve had access,” he added.

“For years and years we’ve always been questioned about our history and where we come from and who we are. Now, we have physical history to back it up.”

Speaking of the amazing discovery was also Eli Hill, one of the teenagers who discovered the canoe under the surface of the lake.

“We were throwing mussels at each other and I stepped on it and I thought it was a log,” he told WECT.

“I tried to pick it open and never came up. So, we kept digging at it and it just kept going. And then the next day, we came back and we started digging some more and it just kept going.”

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