While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Catawba. Significance unknown though the name was probably
native to the tribe. Also called:
Ani'ta'guă, Cherokee name.
Iswa or Issa, signifying "river," and specifically the Catawba River;
originally probably an independent band which united early with the
Catawba proper.
Oyadagahrcenes, Tadirighrones, Iroquois names.
Usherys, from iswahere, "river down here"; see Issa.
Connections. The Catawba
belonged to the Siouan linguistic family, but
Catawba was the most aberrant of all known Siouan languages, though closer
to Woccon than any other of which a vocabulary has been recorded.
Location. In York and Lancaster Counties mainly but extending into the neighboring parts of the State and also into North Carolina and Tennessee.
Subdivisions. Two distinct tribes are given by Lawson (1860) and placed on early maps,
the Catawba and Iswa, the latter deriving their name from the native word
meaning "river," which was specifically applied to Catawba River.
Villages. In early days this tribe had many villages but few names have come down to
us. In 1728 there were six villages, all on Catawba River, the most
northerly of which
was known as Nauvasa. In 1781 they had two called in English Newton and
Turkey Head, on opposite sides of Catawba River.
History. The Catawba appear first in history under the name Ysa, Issa (Iswa)
in Vandera's narratives of Pardo's expedition into the interior, made in
1566-67. Lederer (1912) visited them in 1670 and calls them Ushery. In
1711-13 they assisted the Whites in their wars with the Tuscarora, and
though they participated in the Yamasee uprising in 1715 peace was quickly
made and the Catawba remained faithful friends of the colonists ever
after. Meanwhile they declined steadily in numbers from diseases
introduced by the Whites, the use of liquor, and constant warfare with the
Iroquois, Shawnee, Delaware, and other tribes. In 1738 they were decimated
by smallpox and in 1759 the same disease destroyed nearly half of them.
Through the mediation of the Whites, peace was made at Albany in 1759
between them and the Iroquois, but other tribes continued their attacks,
and in 1763 a party of Shawnee killed the noted Catawba King Haigler. The
year before they had left their town in North Carolina and moved into
South Carolina, where a tract of land 15 miles square had been reserved
for them. From that time on they sank into relative insignificance. They
sided with the colonists during the revolution and on the approach of the
British troops withdrew temporarily into Virginia, returning after the
battle of Guilford Court House. In 1826 nearly the whole of their
reservation was leased to Whites, and in 1840 they sold all of it to the
State of South Carolina, which agreed to obtain new territory for them in
North Carolina. The latter State refused to part with any land for that
purpose, however, and most of the Catawba who had gone north of the State
line were forced to return. Ultimately a reservation of 800 acres was set
aside for them in South Carolina and the main body has lived there ever
since. A few continued in North Carolina and others went to the Cherokee,
but most of these soon came back and the last of those who remained died
in 1889. A few Catawba intermarried with the Cherokee in later times,
however, and still live there, and a few others went to the Choctaw
Nation, in what is now Oklahoma, and settled near Scullyville. These also
are reported to be extinct. Some families established themselves in other
parts of Oklahoma, in Arkansas, and by the Sanford, Colo., where they have
gradually been absorbed by the Indian and White population. About 1884
several Catawba were converted by Mormon missionaries and went to Salt
Lake City, and in time most of those in South Carolina became members of
the Mormon Church, although a few are Baptists. Besides the two divisions
of Catawba proper, the present tribe is supposed to include remnants of
about 20 smaller tribes, principally Siouan.
Population. Mooney
(1928) estimates the number of Catawba in 1600, including the Iswa, at
5,000. About 1682 the tribe was supposed to contain 1,500 warriors or
about 4,600 souls; in 172; 400 warriors or about 1,400 souls; and in 1743,
after incorporating several small tribes, as having less than that number
of warriors. In 1752 we have an estimate of about 300 warriors, or about
1,000 people; in 1755, 240 warriors; in 1757, about 300 warriors and 700
souls; and in 1759, 250 warriors. Although there is an estimate
accrediting them with 300 warriors in 1761, King Haigler declared that
they had been reduced by that year, after the smallpox epidemic of 1760,
to 60 fighting men. In 1763 fewer than 50 men were reported, and in 1766
"not more than 60." In 1775 there was estimated a total population of 400;
in 1780, 490; in 1784, 250; in 1822, 450; in 1826, 110. In 1881 Gatschet
found 85 on the reservation and 35 on adjoining farms, a total of 120. The
census of 1910 returned 124, and in 1912 there were about 100, of whom 60
were attached to the reservation. The census of 1930 gave 166, all but 7
in South Carolina.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The Catawba, whether originally or by union with the
Iswa, early became recognized as the most powerful of all the Siouan
peoples of Carolina. They are also the tribe which preserved its identity
longest and from which the greatest amount of linguistic information has
been obtained. The name itself was given to a variety of grape, and has
become applied, either adopted from the tribe directly or taken from that
of the grape, to places in Catawba County, N. C.; Roanoke County, Va.;
Marion County, W. Va.; Bracken County, Ky.; Clark County, Ohio; Caldwell
County, Mo.; Steuben County, N. Y.; Blaine County, Okla.; York County, S.
C.; and Price County, Wis. It is also borne by an island in Ohio, and by
the Catawba River of the Carolinas, a branch of the
Wateree.
Cherokee.
The extreme northwestern portion of the State was occupied by Cherokee
Indians. (See Tennessee.)
Chiaha. A part of this tribe
lived in South Carolina at times. (See Georgia.)
Chickasaw. The Chickasaw territory proper was in northern
Mississippi, at a considerable distance from the State under discussion,
but about 1753 a body of Chickasaw Indians settled on the South Carolina
side of Savannah River, to be near the English trading posts and to keep
in contact with the English, who were their allies. Before 1757 most of
them moved over to the immediate neighborhood of Augusta and remained
there until the period of the American Revolution. In that war they sided
against the colonists and their lands were confiscated in 1783. (See
Mississippi.)
Connection. No words of
this language have been preserved but the form of the name and general
associations of the tribe leave little doubt that it was a Siouan dialect,
related most closely to Catawba.
Location. On Congaree
River, centering in the neighborhood of the present State Capital,
Columbia.
Villages. The only village
mentioned bore the same name as the tribe and was sometimes placed on the
Congaree opposite Columbia, sometimes on the north side of the river.
History. The
Congaree are mentioned in documents of the seventeenth century as one of
the small tribes of the Piedmont region. In 1701 Lawson (1860) found them
settled on the northeast bank of Santee River below the mouth of the
Wateree. They took part against the Whites in the Yamasee War of 1715, and
in 1716 over half of them were captured and sent as slaves to the West
Indies. The remnant appear to have retreated to the Catawba, for Adair
(1930) mentions their dialect as one of those spoken in the Catawba
Nation.
Population. The Congaree
are estimated by Mooney (1928) at 800 in 1600. A census taken in 1715
gives 22 men and a total population of about 40.
Connection in which they have
become noted. Congaree River and a railroad station in Richland
County, S. C., preserve the name; Columbia, the State capital, was
originally known as the Congarees.
Creeks.
In the time of De Soto, Cofitachequi, which seems to, have been either
Kasihta or Coweta, and a few other Creek towns including perhaps Hilibi
and part of the Chiaha Indians were in the territory of the present State
of South Carolina near Savannah River. The Coosa of Coosawhatchie, Edisto,
and Ashley Rivers may have been Creek in origin, and in later times Creeks
constantly resorted to the provincial settlements in this area. (See
Alabama.)
Cusabo. Meaning perhaps "Coosawhatchie
River (people)."
Connections. There is little doubt that
the Cusabo belonged to the Muskhogean linguistic family. Their closest
connections appear to have been with the Indians of the Georgia coast, the
Guale.
Location.—In the southernmost part of
South Carolina between Charleston Harbor and Savannah River and including
most of the valleys of the Ashley, Edisto, Ashepoo, Combahee, Salkehatchie,
and Coosawhatchie Rivers.
Subdivisions. These people should be divided first into
the Cusabo proper, who occupied all the coast, and the Coosa, who were
inland upon the rivers above mentioned. The Cusabo proper seem to have
consisted of a northern group of tribes or sub-trives, including the
Etiwaw (on Wando River), Wando (on Cooper River), Kiawa (on the lower
vourse of Ashley River), and perhaps the Stone (about Stono Entrance); and
a southern group including the Edisto (on Edisto Island), Ashepoo (on
lower Ashepoo River), a Combahee (on lower combahee River), Wimbee
(between the latter and the lower Coosawhatchie River), Escamacu (between
St. Helena Sound and Broad River), and perhaps a few others.
Sometimes early writers erroneously include the Siouan Sewee and Santee as
Cusabo.
Villages
Ahoya or Hoya, on or near Broad River.
Ahoyabi, near the preceding.
Aluste, near Beaufort, possibly a form of Edisto.
Awendaw, near Awendaw Creek; it may have been Sewee (q. v.).
Bohicket, near Rockville.
Cambe, near Beaufort.
Chatuache, 6-10 leagues north of Beaufort.
Mayon, probably on Broad River.
Talapo, probably near Beaufort. Touppa, probably on Broad River.
Yanahume, probably on the south side of Broad River.
History. While their
country was most likely skirted by earlier navigators, the first certain
appearance of the Cusabo in history is in connection with a slave-hunting
expedition sent out by Vasques de Ayllon. This reached the mainland in
1521, probably a little north of the Cusabo territory and introduced the
blessings of White
civilization to the unsuspecting natives by carrying away about 70 of
them. One of these Indians was finally taken to Spain and furnished the
historian Peter Martyr with considerable information regarding his country
and the names of a number of tribes, some whom were certainly Cusabo. In
1525 Ayllon sent a second expedition to the region and in 1526 led a
colony thither. Dissatisfied with his first landing place, probably near
the landfall of the expedition of 1521, he moved the colony "40 or
45 leagues" perhaps to the neighborhood of Savannah River. But it did not
prosper, Ayllon died, trouble broke out among the survivors, and finally
they returned to Haiti in the middle of the following winter. In 1540 De
Soto passed near this country, but apparently he did not enter it, and the
next European contact was brought about by the settlement of Ribault's
first colony at Port Royal in 1562. The small number of people left by
Ribault managed to maintain themselves for some time with the assistance
of friendly natives, but, receiving no relief from France, they became
discouraged, and built a small vessel in which a few of them eventually
reached home. In 1564 a Spanish vessel visited this coast for the purpose
of rooting out the French settlement. Later the same year a second
Huguenot colony was established on St. Johns River, Florida, and
communication was maintained with the Cusabo Indians. In 1565 this colony
was destroyed by the Spaniards who visited Port Royal in quest of certain
French refugees, and the year following Fort San Felipe was built at the
same place. From this time until 1587 a post was maintained here, although
with some intermissions due to Indian risings. In 1568–70 a vain attempt
was made to missionize the Indians. In 1576 a formidable Indian uprising
compelled the abandonment of the fort, but it was soon reoccupied and an
Indian town was destroyed in 1579 by way of reprisal. Next year, however,
there was a second uprising, making still another abandonment necessary.
The fort was reoccupied in 1582 but abandoned permanently 5 years later;
and after that time there was no regular post in the country but
communication was kept up between the Cusabo and St. Augustine and
occasional visits seem to have been made by the Franciscan Friars. Between
1633 and 1655 we have notice of ' new mission, in Cusabo territory, called
Chatuache, but When the English settled South Carolina in 1670 there
appears to have been no regular mission there and certainly no Spanish
pest. Charleston was founded on Cusabo soil, and from the date of its
establishment onward relations were close between the English and Cusabo:
In 1671 there was a short war between the colonists and, the Coosa Indians
and in 1674 there was further trouble with this people and with the Stono.
In 1675 the Coosa Indians surrendered to the English a large tract of land
which constituted Ashley Barony, and in 1682 what appears to 'have been a
still more sweeping land cession was signed by several of tie Cusabo
chiefs. In 1693 there was another short war, this time between the Whites
and the Stono. A body of Cusabo accompanied Colonel Barnwell in his
expedition against the Tuscarora in 1711-12, and this fact may have
quickened the consciences of the colonists somewhat, because in 1712 the
Island of Palawana, "near the' Island of St. Helena," was granted to them.
It appears that most of their plantations were already upon it but it had
inadvertently been granted to a white proprietor. The Cusabo here
mentioned were those of the southern group; there is reason to think that
the Kiawa and Coosa were not included. Early in 1720 "King Gilbert and ye
Coosaboys" took part in Col. John Barnwell's punitive expedition against
St. Augustine (Barnwell, 1908). In 1743 the Kiawa were given a grant of
land south of the Combahee River, probably to be near the other coast
Indians. Part of the Coosa may have retired to the Catawba, since Adair
(1930) mentions "Coosah'" as one of the dialects spoken in the "Catawba
Nation," but others have probably gone to Florida, because, in "A List of
New Indian Missions in the Vicinity of St. Augustine," dated December 1,
1726, there is mention of a mission of San Antonio "of the Cosapuya nation
and other Indians" containing 43 recently converted Christians and 12
pagans. Two years later we are informed that "the towns of the Casapullas
Indians were depopulated," though whether this has reference to the ones
in Florida or to those in their old country is not clear.
Population. Mooney (1928) estimates the number
of southern Cusabo, exclusive of the Edisto, at 1,200 in 1600, the Edisto
at 1,000, the Etiwaw at 600, and the Coosa at 600. He classifies the Stono
with the Westo, thereby falling into a common error. The colonial census
of 1715 gives the number of southern Cusabo as 295, including 95 men, in 5
villages, while the Etiwaw (probably including the other northern Cusabo)
had 1 village, 80 men, and a total population of 240. There were thus 535
Cusabo over all. The Coosa are nowhere mentioned by name and were probably
included with one or the other of these. The 55 Indians at the Florida
mission above mentioned, consisting of individuals of "the Cosapuya nation
and other Indians," included 24 men, 13 women, and 18 children.
Connection in which they have become noted. The
first part of the name Coosa is identical in origin with the first part of
the of the name of Coosawhatchie River, S. C., and a post village. The
people themselves are noted in history as the first in eastern North
America north of Florida among whom European settlements were begun. They
had an earlier and longer contact with the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Eno. This tribe moved into
the northern part of the state after 1716 and perhaps united ultimately
with the Catawba. At some prehistoric period they may lived on Enoree
River. (See North Carolina.)
Keyauwee. They settled on
the Pee Dee after 1716 and probably united with the Catawba. (See
North Carolina.)
Natchez.
A band of Indians of this tribe lived for several years at a place called
Four Hole Springs in South Carolina but left in 1744 fearing the vengeance
of the Catawba because of seven of that tribe whom they had killed. (See
Mississippi.)
Pedee. Meaning unknown, but
Speck (1935) suggests from Catawba pi'ri, "something good," or pi'here,
"smart," "expert," "capable."
Connections. No words of
the language have survived but there is every reason to suppose that it
was a dialect of the Siouan linguistic family.
Location. On Great Pee Dee
River, particularly its middle course.
Village. No village names
are known apart from the tribal name, which was sometimes applied to
specific settlements.
History. The Pedee are
first mentioned by the colonists of South Carolina. In 1716 a place in or
near their country called Sankey (perhaps Socatee) was suggested as the
site for a trading post but the proposition to establish one there was
given up owing to the weakness of the Pedee tribe, who were thought to be
unable to protect it. In 1744, the Pedee, along with Natchez Indians,
killed some Catawba and were in consequence driven from their lands into
the White settlements. Soon afterward most of them joined the Catawba, but
some. remained near tile' Whites, where they are mentioned as late as
1755. In 1808 the Pedee and Cape Fear tribes were represented by one
half-breed woman.
Population. Mooney, 1928,
estimates the number of Pedee as 600 in 1600. The census of 1715 does not
give them separate mention, and they were probably included among the 610
Waccamaw or the 106 Winyaw.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The Great and Little Pee Dee Rivers and a station in
Marion County, S. C., also a post village in Anson County, N. C.,
perpetuate the name of the Pedee.
Connections. These are
uncertain but circumstantial evidence indicates strongly that the Saluda
were a band of Shawnee, and therefore of the Algonquian stock.
Location. On Saluda River.
History. Almost all that
we know regarding the Saluda is contained in a note on George Hunter's map
of the Cherokee country drawn in 1730 indicating "Saluda town where a
nation settled 35 years ago, removed 18 years to Conestogo, in
Pensilvania." As bands of Shawnee were moving into just that region from
time to time during the period indicated, there is reason to think that
this was one of them, all the more that a "Savana" creek appears on the
same map flowing into Congaree River just below the Saluda settlement.
Population. Unknown.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The name Saluda is preserved by Saluda River and
settlements in Saluda County, Polk County, N. C.; and Middlesex County,
Va.
Santee. Named according to
Speck (1935), from iswan'ti, "the river," or "the river is
there." Also called:
Seretee, by Lawson (1860).
Connections. No words of
the Santee language have come down to us, but there is little doubt that
they belonged to the
Siouan linguistic family.
Location. On the middle
course of Santee River.
Villages. The only name
preserved is Hickerau, on a branch of Santee River.
History. The Santee were
first encountered by the Spaniards during the seventeenth century, and in
the narrative of his second expedition Captain Eçija
places them on Santee River. In 1700 they were visited by John Lawson, who
found their plantations extending for many miles along the river, and
learned that they were at war with the coast people (Lawson, 1860). They
furnished Barnwell (1908) with a contingent for his Tuscarora campaign in
1711-12, but are said to have taken part against the Whites in the Yamasee
War of 1715. In 1716 they were attacked by the Etiwaw and Cusabo, acting
in the interest of the colonists, and the greater part of them were
carried away captive and sent to the West Indies. The remainder were
probably incorporated with the Catawba.
Population. The number of
Santee was estimated by Mooney (1928) at 1,000 in 1600. In 1715 an Indian
census gave them 43 warriors and a total population of 80 to 85 in 2
villages.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The name Santee has been given permanency chiefly by its
application to the Santee River, S. C., but it has also been applied to a
village in Orangeburg County, S. C.
Sewee. Significance: perhaps,
as Gatschet suggested, from sawe', "island."
Connections. No words of
their language have survived, but the Sewee are regarded as
Siouan on strong
circumstantial grounds, in spite of the fact that they are sometimes
classed with the Cusabo.
Location. On the lower
course of Santee River and the coast westward to the divide of the of
Ashley River about the present Monks Corner, Berkeley County.
Villages. Lawson, writing
about 1700, mentions a deserted village in Sewee Bay called Avendaughbough
which may have belonged to them (Lawson, 1860). The name seems to be still
preserved in the form Awensdaw.
History. Possibly Xoxi
(pronounced Shoshi or Shohi), one of the provinces mentioned by Francisco
of Chicora, an Indian carried from this region by the Spaniards in 1521,
is a synonym of Sewee. The name is mentioned by Captain Eçija
in 1609. They may have been the Indians first met by the English
expedition which founded the colony of South Carolina in 1670, when they
were in Sewee Bay. They assisted the English against the Spaniards, and
supplied them with corn. Lawson (1860) states that they were formerly a
large tribe, but in his time, 1700, were wasted by smallpox and indulgence
in alcoholic liquors. Moreover, a large proportion of the able-bodied men
had been lost at sea in an attempt to open closer trade relations with
England. Just before the Yamasee War, they were still living in their old
country in a single village, but it is probable that the war put an end to
them as a distinct tribe. The remnant may have united with the Catawba.
Population. Mooney (1928)
gives an estimate of 800 Sewee for the year 1600. In 1715 there were but
57.
Connection in which they have
become noted. At an earlier period this name was applied to the body
of water now called Bulls Bay. There is a post hamlet with this
designation in Meigs County, Tenn., but the name is probably of
independent origin.
Shakori. This tribe is
thought to have moved south with the Eno after 1716 and to have united
ultimately with the Catawba. At some prehistoric period they perhaps lived
on or near Enoree River, and there is reason to think that they or a
branch gave their name to the Province of Chicora. (See
North Carolina.)
Shawnee.
In 1680, or shortly before, a band of Shawnee, probably from the
Cumberland, settled on Savannah River, and the year following they
performed a great service to the new colony of South Carolina by driving
off the Westo Indians, whom I consider to have been Yuchi. These Shawnee
appear to have been of the band afterward known as Hathawekela. They
remained long enough in the neighborhood of Augusta to give their name to
Savannah River, but by 1707 some of them had begun to move into
Pennsylvania, and this movement continued at intervals until 1731, when
all Teem to have been out of the State. The Saluda (q. v.) were perhaps
one of these bands. In 1715, as a result of the Yamasee War, a body moved
from the Savannah to the Chattahoochee, and thence to the Tallapoosa. (See
Tennessee.)
Sissipahaw. Possibly they
were the Sauxpa mentioned by the Spanish officer Vandera, in 1569, and if
so they may have been in South Carolina, a proposition considerably
strengthened if Chicora is to be identified with the Shakori, since
Barnwell (1908) equates these tribes. (See
North Carolina.)
Sugeree.
Speck (1935) suggests Catawba yensr grihere, "people stingy,"
or "spoiled," or "of the river whose-water-cannot-be drunk." Also called:
Suturees, a synonym of 1715.
Connections.—No words of their
language have been preserved, but there is every reason to suppose that
they belonged to the Siouan linguistic family and were closely related to
the Catawba, and perhaps still more closely to the Shakori.
Location. On and near
Sugar Creek in York County, S. C, and Mecklenburg County, N. C.
Villages. There were said
to be many but their names have not been preserved.
History. The Sugeree are
hardly mentioned by anyone before Lawson in 1701. They probably suffered
in consequence of the Yamasee War and finally united with the Catawba.
Population. No separate
enumeration or estimate of the to Sugeree have appears ever to have been
made, and Mooney included them in the population of 5,000 allowed the
Catawba.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The name Sugeree has
been preserved in Sugar Creek, an affluent of Catawba River in North and
South Carolina.
Connections. Nothing of
their tongue has been preserved but evidence points to a connection
with the Waccamaw with the Siouan linguistic family, and presumably with
the Catawba dialectic group. The Woccon may have been a late subdivision,
as Dr. Rights has suggested. (See
North Carolina.)
Location. On Waccamaw
River and the lower course of the Pee Dee. (See
North Carolina.)
Villages. The Waccamaw
were reported to have had six villages in 1715, but none of the names is
preserved. perhaps be recorded
History. The name of the
Waccamaw may perhaps be recorded in the form Guacaya, given by Francisco
of Chicora as that of a "province" in this region early in the sixteenth
century. In 1715 Cheraw attempted to incite them to attack the English,
and they joined the hostile party but made peace the same year. In 1716 a
trading post was established in their country at a place called Uauenee (Uaunee,
Euaunee), or the Great Bluff, the name perhaps a synonym of Winyaw,
although we know of no Winyaw there. There was a short war between them
and the colonists in 1720 in which they lost 60 men, women, and children
killed or captured. In 1755 the Cherokee and Natchez are reported to have
killed some Pedee and Waccamaw in the White settlements. Ultimately they
may have united with the Catawba, though more probably with the so-called
Croatan Indians of North Carolina. There is, however, a body of mixed
bloods in their old country to whom the name is applied.
Population. The Waccamaw
are estimated by Mooney (1928) at 900 in 1600 along with the Winyaw and
some smaller tribes. The census of 1715 gives 210 men and 610 souls, and
in 1720 they are said to have had 100 warriors. (See
Cape Fear Indians
under North Carolina.)
Connection in which they have
become noted. Waccamaw River in North and South Carolina and Waccamaw
Lake in North Carolina, which empties into the river, perpetuate their
name.
Wateree. Gatschet suggests a
connection with Catawba, wateran, "to float on the water." Also
called:
Chickanee, name for a division of Wateree and meaning "little."
Guatari, Spanish spelling of their name.
Connections. The Wateree
are placed in the Siouan linguistic stock on circumstantial evidence.
Location. The location
associated most closely with the Wateree historically was on Wateree
River, below the present Camden. (See
North Carolina.)
History. The Wateree are
first mentioned in the report of an expedition from Santa Elena (Beaufort)
by Juan Pardo in 1566-67. They lived well inland toward the Cherokee
frontier. Pardo made a small fort and left a corporal there and 17
soldiers, but the Indians soon wiped it out. In 1670 Lederer (1912) places
them very much farther north, perhaps on the upper Yadkin, but soon
afterward they are found on Wateree River where Lawson met them. In
1711-12 they furnished a contingent to Barnwell in his expedition against
the Tuscarora. In a map dated 1715 their village is placed on the west
bank of Wateree River, possibly in Fairfield County, but on the Moll map
of 1730 it is laid down on the east bank. The Yamasee War reduced their
power considerably, and toward the middle of the eighteenth century they
went to live with the Catawba, with whom the survivors lust ultimately
have fused. They appear as a separate tribe, however, as late as 1744,
when they sold the neck of land between Congaree and Wateree Rivers to a
white trader.
Population. The number of
Wateree is estimated by Mooney (1928) at 1,000 in 1600. There is no later
enumeration.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The Wateree were one of the most powerful tribes of
central South Carolina as far back as the time of the Spanish settlements
at St. Helena. Their name is preserved in Wateree River, S. C., and in a
post village in Richland County in the same State.
Waxhaw. Meaning unknown. Also called:
Flatheads, a name given to this tribe and others of the
Catawba connection owing to their custom of deforming the head.
Connection. Nothing of
their language has been preserved, but circumstantial evidence points to a
close relationship between the Waxhaw and the Catawba and hence to
membership in the Siouan linguistic stock. Their closest contacts appear
to have been with the Sugeree.
Location. In Lancaster
County, S. C., and Union and Mecklenburg Counties, N. C.
Villages. Lawson
mentions two villages in 1701 but the names are not given.
History. The Waxhaw were
possibly the Gueza of Vandera, who lived in western South Carolina in
1566-67. Lederer (1912) writing about 1670, speaks of the Waxhaw under the
name Wisacky and says that they were subject to and might be considered a
part of the Catawba. They were probably identical with the Weesock, whose
children were said by Gabriel Arthur (1918) to be brought up in Tamahita
(Yuchi) families "as ye Ianesaryes are mongst ye Turkes." Lawson (1860)
visited them in 1701. At the end of the Yamasee War, they refused to make
peace with the English and were set upon by the Catawba and the greater
part of them killed. The rest fled to the Cheraw, but a band numbering 25
accompanied the Yamasee to Florida in 1715 and are noted as still there in
1720.
Population. The Waxhaw are
included by Mooney (1928) in the 5,000 estimated population of the
Catawba. No separate estimate of their numbers is given anywhere.
Connection in which they have
become noted. The Waxhaw were distinguished in early times on account
of their custom of deforming the heads of their children, Their name is
preserved in Waxhaw Creek and in the name of a post town, both in Union
County, N. C.; by a hamlet in Lancaster County, S. C., and a place in
Bolivar County, Miss.
Connections. The Winyaw
are placed in the Siouan linguistic family on circumstantial evidence.
Their closest connections were with the Pedee and Waccamaw.
Location. On Winyaw Bay,
Black River, and the lower course of the Pee Dee.
History. Unless this tribe is
represented by the Yenyohol of Francisco of Chicora (1521), the Winyaw
were first mentioned by the colonists of South Carolina after 1670. In
1683 it was charged that colonists had raided them for slaves on an
insufficiently supported charge of murder by some of their people This
unfriendly act did not prevent some of them from joining Barnwell's army
in the first Tuscarora War. Along with other Indians they, indeed,
withdrew later from the expedition, but they claimed that it was for lack
of equipment. In 1715 the Cheraw tried to induce them and the Waccamaw to
side against the colonists in the Yamasee War. A year later a trading post
was established in the territory of the Waccamaw not far from their own
lands. (See Waccamaw.)
About the same time some of them settled among the Santee, but they appear
to have returned to their own country a few years later. Some assisted the
Whites in their war with the Waccamaw in 1720. They soon disappear from
history and probably united with the Waccamaw.
Population. Mooney (1928)
includes the Winyaw in his estimate of 900 for the "Waccamaw, Winyaw,
Hook, &c." as of the year 1600. The census of 1715 gives them one village
of 36 men and a total population of 106.
Connection in which they have
become noted. Winyaw Bay, S. C., preserves the name. It was from this
tribe or one in the immediate neighborhood that Francisco of Chicora was
carried away by the first Ayllon expedition and from which one of the
earliest ethnological descriptions of a North American tribe was recorded
The name by which the Spaniards knew the province, however, Chicora,
was probably derived from the Shakori, Sugeree, or a branch of one of
them.
Yamasee. The Yamasee Indians lived originally near the southern margin of
the State and perhaps at times within its borders, but they are rather to
be connected with the aboriginal history of Georgia. In 1687, having
become offended with the Spaniards, they settled on the north side of
Savannah River on a tract after-ward known as the Indian land and remained
there in alliance with the colonists until 1715, when they rebelled and
fled to St. Augustine. (See Georgia.)
Yuchi. The Yuchi probably did
not enter South Carolina until after the year 1661. The Westo, whom I
consider to have been a part of them, were driven away by the Shawnee in
1681, but there was a band of Yuchi higher up the Savannah River which did
not move until 1716, and later another body settled between Silver Bluff
and Ebenezer Creek. Hawkins says that they had villages at Ponpon and
Saltkechers, but that is all the evidence we have of settlements so far
east, and these probably belonged to the Yamassee. In 1729 the Yuchi began
to move west to join the Creeks and by 1751 completed the evacuation. (See
Georgia.)
