Final answer:
The incident referred to is the mistaken attack led by John White on his Croatoan allies, who were mistaken for the Secotan enemies due to cultural and linguistic similarities. This event unfolded during a fraught period in the Roanoke Colony's history, with tensions running high between the English settlers and the Indigenous tribes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to an incident involving John White, an English settler and leader of the Roanoke Colony, and his interactions with the Native American tribes such as the Secotan and the Croatoan. The narrative provided explains that White, in seeking to retaliate for the murder of a colonist named Howe by the Secotan, mistakenly attacked his Croatoan allies who had occupied a Secotan village for foraging purposes after the Secotan vacated the site. John White's misunderstanding stemmed from the fact that both tribes were Algonquian-speaking peoples and had similar dress, leading to the tragic conclusion where some Croatoan were injured and killed during the night-time assault.