On April 12, members of the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe assisted researchers in removing a 28-foot canoe from Lake Waccamaw that is thought to be at least 1,000 years old. According to local stories, the canoe was discovered in the lake in the summer of 2021 while three teens were swimming there.

One of the eight American Indian tribes recognized by the state of North Carolina is the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe. Due to their ancestry in the area of Lake Waccamaw, they refer to themselves as "People of the Falling Star". According to their oral history, the lake was formed long ago when a meteor collided with the planet and neighboring waterways rushed into the crater, giving it a distinctive blue-green color that was different from other lakes in the region.

At the excavation, Jacobs remarked, "We've always been asked about our history, where we come from, and who we are for years and years." We now have physical evidence to support it.

One of the teens who discovered the canoe while swimming, Eli Hill, claimed that at first he mistakenly believed it to be a log but was unable to pull it up.

The North Carolina Office of State Archaeology was called by Hill's family, and a crew was dispatched to investigate the canoe and transfer it under a dock until it could be securely excavated.

Numerous members of the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe, as well as locals and other news media, reportedly saw the canoe excavation. The boat was put in a chamber right away, toweled off, and then wrapped in plastic to stop further degradation. The boat will undergo chemical treatment in a lab so that it may be stored for further inspection.

On April 22, the Queen Anne's Revenge Conservation Laboratory in Greenville, North Carolina, will host an open house where the canoe will be on exhibit.