"Croatoan" was a word carved into a tree in big letters at Roanoke, where an entire settlement disappeared overnight. No one knows what actually happened there in 1597. Some say that the people were forced out. Some say they all fled because of invadeing tribes or lack of food.
The word was carved into a tree in the middle of the settlement. Others say that it was a clue left for John White to discover so he knew where to find them. It is also believed that Croatoan is not a location or word of the tribe but a Demon of death, disease and plague.

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Croatoan is a disease that drives people into homicidal madness and leads to cannibalism.... also, it was carved into a post on the stockade that protected the encampment and it was the whole word. However, this Croatoan 'disease' is believed to not be real as the only cases ever reported were in 2004-2005, and the VERY few people who had it died. According to reports, it was a mutated strand of the measles. Croatoan Island was also a name of an island that was close by to Roanoke,which was also home to the Croatoan Indians.

In 1590, Governor White returned to Roanoke Island. There he found that all of the buildings were in disrepair or had been carefully dismantled. There was no sign of fighting. No sign that the colonists were abruptly carried away by natural or unnatural forces. There was no cross. Only 8 simple letters, C-R-O-A-T-O-A-N, that shall forever be a mystery to all who hear it. These letters were found carved into the post of a fort, and C-R-O carved into a nearby tree. White took the letters to mean that the settlers had moved to Croatoan Island some 50 miles away. But, he was unable to search Croatoan Island because a hurricane hit the outer banks of North Carolina and blew his fleet to sea. After the storm abated, the fleet was low on provisions and decided to return to England. He made a second attempt months later, but that vessel was also turned back due to bad weather. No trace of the settlers was ever found. In 1597, the English government officially declared the colony of Roanoke lost.
In July of 1587, colonist George Howe is found dead. Howe was attacked by members of the neighboring Roanoke nation, whom Governor Lane had harassed in 1585. When describing the bloody scene, Governor John White commented that the Indians had “beat his head to pieces,” shot him with sixteen arrows, and assaulted him with clubs. This attack came as no real surprise to the governor, who was aware that the tactics of his predecessor might have generated a sense of injustice among neighboring Indian nations. Knowing of the peaceful nature of Coatoan people, the governor quickly dispatched representatives. The Croatoan (also referred to as Pamlico) were an Algonquian people who populated the islands on the outer banks of North Carolina—just south of Roanoke. “Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America. Late 1500s.” The embassy succeeds in renewing “the old love that was between” the tribe and the colonists. White accompanied the Roanoke delegation and promised the Indians that the colonists had no intention of taking over Croatoan territory and did not represent a threat to their existence. Simply put, the governor wanted to let the people of Croatoan know that the colonists wished “to live with them as brethren and friends.”
Governor White left Roanoke in August of 1587, for England, in search of supplies and a possible relief effort should evacuation become a necessity. Before leaving his post, the governor instructed the colonists to leave him a sign should they feel the need to remove themselves from the region under any circumstance. He instructed them to place a cross on a tree as an indicator that they were in distress and their evacuation was necessary for their survival. This would give the governor some intimation as to the colony’s status and assist him in locating them. It would be the last message he would give, and the last time he would see the colonists.