Siouan Tribes of the East Collections

The Woccon, Sissipahaw, Cape Fear, and Warren-Nuncock Indians

Of the North Carolina tribes bearing the foregoing names almost nothing is known, and of the last two even the proper names have not been recorded. The Woccon were Siouan; the Saxapahaw and Cape Fear Indians presumably were Siouan, as indicated from their associations and alliances with known Siouan tribes, while the Warren-nuncock were probably some people better known under another name, though they cannot be identified. The region between the Yadkin and the Neuse, extending down to the coast, was probably occupied by still other tribes whose very names are forgotten. They were virtually exterminated by smallpox and other … Read more

The Waxhaw and Sugeree Indians

The two small tribes bearing the above designations are hardly known except in connection with the Catawba Indians, with whom they were afterward incorporated. They may be treated together. The tribes lived, respectively, about Waxhaw and Sugar (i. e., Sugeree) creeks, two small streams flowing into Catawba River from the northeast, within, what is now Lancaster County, South Carolina, and Union and Mecklenburg counties, North Carolina. As previously mentioned (The Eno, Shoccoree, and Adshusheer indians) the Waxhaw practiced the custom of flattening the head, a custom probably followed also by the Catawba and other neighboring tribes, whence they were called … Read more

The Southern Atlantic Stocks

When the French and English established their first permanent settlement in America they found the whole country in possession of numerous aboriginal tribes, some large and powerful, others restricted to a single village and its environs. The variety of languages and dialects at first appeared to be well-nigh infinite; but on further acquaintance it was discovered that these were easily reducible to a few primary stocks. Excluding the Eskimo along the northern coast, the first great group comprised the tribes of the Algonquian stock, whose territory on a linguistic map appears like a large triangle, extending on the north from … Read more

The Sewee, Santee, Wateree, and Congaree Indians

The Santee and its branches, the Wateree and the Congaree, were held by the Sewee, Santee, Wateree, and Congaree tribes, whose territory extended to the neighborhood of the Waxhaw and Catawba. Nothing is known of their linguistic affinities, but their alliances and final incorporation were with the Catawba. Sewee Indians The Sewee occupied the coast and the lower part of the river below the Santee, extending westward to the divide of Ashley river about the present Monks Corner, in Berkeley county, South Carolina, where they adjoined the Etiwaw . Their name is preserved in Sewee Bay. Lawson, who met them … Read more

The Sara Indians

While we know nothing positively as to the linguistic affinity of the Sara, all the evidence goes to show that, like most of the tribes of the central region of Virginia and Carolina, they were of Siouan stock. Their name is probably from the Catawba word sara, signifying a place of “tall grass or weeds” (Gatschet). While the Siouan tribes treated in the foregoing consolidated, after their decline, and joined the Iroquois in the north, most of the remaining people of that stock, including the Sara, migrated southward and merged with the Catawba tribe in South Carolina. The history of … Read more

The Saponi and Tutelo Indians

The Tutelo and Saponi tribes must be considered together. Their history under either name begins in 1670. As already stated, Monahassanugh and Nahyssan are other forms of Yesan, the name given to themselves by the last surviving Tutelo, and which seems to have been the generic term used by all the tribes of this connection to designate them as a people. The name Saponi (Monasickapanough?) was generally limited to a particular tribe or aggregation of tribal remnants, while the Iroquois name Tutelo, Totero, or Todirich-roone, in its various forms, although commonly used by the English to designate a particular tribe, … Read more

The Pedee, Waccamaw, And Winyaw; The Hooks and Backhooks Indians

These small tribes lived on the lower Pedee and its tributaries in South Carolina and the contiguous border of North Carolina. Nothing is known of their language and very little can now be learned of their former daily life or their religious system of belief, as they were never prominent in history. For the “Hooks” and “Backhooks” there is only the authority of Lawson, who mentions them as enemies of the Santee, living in the earliest part of the eighteenth century about the mouth of Winyaw River, i. e., Winyah bay, South Carolina . The names have a suspicious appearance, … Read more

The Paskagula, Moctobi, and Chozetta Indians

The Paskagula (Pascagoula) and Moctobi tribes are mentioned by Iberville in 1699 as living on Pascagoula river near the coast of Mississippi, associated with the Biloxi, each of the three tribes, although but few in numbers, having its own village. As the French settlement on Biloxi bay was made in that year, this date probably marks the beginning of their displacement and removal westward. We know nothing of their language, but from their intimate connection then and afterward with the Biloxi, it is very possible that they were cognate. The name of the Moctobi seems to have disappeared from the earth, … Read more

The Occaneechi Indians

The history of the Occaneechi is so closely interwoven with that of the Saponi and Tutelo that little remains to be said of them as a distinct tribe. Their history begins with Lederer’s journey in 1670. After leaving the Saponi, who lived then, as has been stated, on a tributary of the Staunton, he went, as he says, about 50 miles south by west of the Saponi village and thus arrived next at the “Akenatzy” village (Latin pronunciation), situated on an island in another branch of Roanoke river. His estimate of the distance is too great, as usual, and the … Read more

The Monacan Confederacy

The history of the Monacan tribes of Virginia belongs to two distinct periods, the colonization period and the colonial period. By the former we may understand the time of exploration and settlement from the first landing of the English in Virginia to the expeditions of Lederer and Batts, in 1670 and 1671, which supplied the first definite information in regard to the country along the base of the mountains. Under the colonial period we may include everything else, as after the Revolution the small remnant incorporated with the Iroquois in Canada virtually disappeared from history. Up to 1670 the Monacan … Read more

The Manahoac Confederacy

The Manahoac confederacy of Virginia consisted of perhaps a dozen tribes, of which the names of eight have been preserved. With the exception of the Stegarake, all that is known of these tribes was recorded by Smith, whose own acquaintance with them seems to have been limited to an encounter with a large hunting party in 1608. Smith, however, was a man who knew how to improve an opportunity; and having had the good fortune to make one of them a prisoner he managed to get from him a very fair idea of the tribes and territories of the confederacy, … Read more

The Keyauwee Indians

The name of the Keyauwee has no connection with that of Kecowee town of the Cherokee on Keowee River, in western South Carolina, nor apparently with that of Kiawah Island, south of Charleston. Of their language nothing remains, but the evidence of alliance and history goes to show that they were Siouan. They were never prominent as a separate tribe. In 1701 Lawson found them in a palisaded village about 5 miles beyond “Heighwaree” (Uharie) river, and near another stream which was probably Deep river. The village was about 30 miles northeast of the Yadkin, and must have been about … Read more

The Eno, Shoccoree, and Adshusheer Indians

The Eno, Shoccoree, and Adshusheer tribes, often grouped together in historical references, were Indigenous groups whose origins and affiliations remain uncertain. Despite likely differences in language and culture, their alliances with Siouan-speaking tribes have led to their categorization as part of this group. Little is known about these tribes due to their disappearance as distinct entities by 1720, when they were absorbed by larger groups like the Catawba or Saponi. Early records describe them as small in stature but varied in character, with differing reports on their bravery and way of life. They occupied territories in what is now North Carolina, leaving traces in local place names like Eno River and Shocco Creek. Over time, these tribes integrated into other communities, with remnants surviving among the Catawba by the mid-18th century.

The Catawba Indians

The origin and meaning of Catawba are unknown. It is said that Lynche creek hi South Carolina, east of the Catawba territory, was anciently known as Kadapau; and from the fact that Lawson applies the name Kadapau to a small band met by him southeast of the main body of the tribe, which he calls Esaw, it is possible that it was originally applied to this people by some tribe living in eastern South Carolina, from whom the first colonists obtained it. The Cherokee, having no b in their language, changed the word to Atakwa, or Anitakwa in the plural. The … Read more

The Biloxi Indians

Inspection of the various names which have been applied to this tribe suggests that they are all derivatives from Taneks, the name by which the Biloxi call themselves. The interchangeability of the letters l, n, and r in different dialects is a well-known linguistic fact, while the substitution of a labial for a dental or a compound labial-dental is of frequent occurrence in the Siouan languages. As examples, Dorsey mentions mda or bla and mdu or blu, pronominal particles in Dakota, which become hata or hate in Oto, and to or to in Whinebago. Mde or bde, the Dakota word … Read more

Siouan Tribes of the East

Iroquoian Peoples resulted in the separation of the Siouan and Algonquian Tribes

The Siouan Tribes of the East was Mooney’s most speculative work. He began the shorter monograph even before he finished writing his study of the Ghost Dance. An indication of his maturing scholarship was his increasing ability to carry on separate lines of research simultaneously. The study had its roots in the work he accomplished thus far on the Indian synonymy, and in the extensive review of the literature of early exploration most recently incorporated in his article on the Potamic tribes. His inspiration came from the linguistic work done in the early 1880’s by Albert Gatschet, his friend and colleague at the bureau.

Siouan Migrations and Iroquois Conquests

Horatio Hale, to whom belongs the credit of first discovering a Siouan language on the Atlantic coast, noted the evidences that the Tutelo language was older in its forms than the cognate dialects of the west, and predicted that if this should prove true it would argue against the supposition, which at first seemed natural, that the eastern Siouan tribes were merely offshoots front a western parent stock. Investigation might result in showing that the western Siouan, like the western Algonquian tribes, had their original home in the east. The inference that the region west of the Mississippi was the … Read more

Other South Carolina Tribes

Santee and Congaree rivers probably formed the approximate southern limit of the Siouan tribes of the east. There is no reason for assigning to this stock any tribes farther southward along the Atlantic coast. As the history of all these Indians is closely interwoven, however, a few notes on the remaining tribes of South Carolina between Santee and Savannah rivers may properly be introduced. Cherokee Indians The Cherokee tribe, of Iroquoian stock, occupied the territory of what are now the seven upper counties along the Savannah, extending down to the mouth of Broad river. Being a well-known tribe, with an … Read more

Local Names

Local Names From Siouan Tribal Names in Virginia and Carolinas Catawba A river of North Carolina and South Carolina, known as the Wateree in its lower course, joining with the Congaree to form the Santee. A creek in Botetourt county, Virginia. A county of North Carolina. A town of Catawba county, North Carolina A town of Roanoke county, Virginia. A town of Marion county, West Virginia. Catawba Junction; a town in York county, South Carolina. Catawba Springs; a town in Lincoln county, North Carolina. Little Catawba or South Catawba; a tributary of the Catawba from the west, in North Carolina. … Read more

Collateral Tribes of the Siouan

Before treating of these better known names, several other tribal names or synonyms, for each of which there is but a single authority, may be mentioned. They were all probably of the same Manahoac or Monacan connection, but it is impossible to identify them positively with any of the tribes mentioned by Smith or with any of those prominent in the later colonial records. This is not necessary, however, as Smith himself, in speaking of the two Virginia confederacies just referred to, distinctly states that each had other tribes besides those which he names, while as for the interior of … Read more