South Carolina Indian Tribes
Significance unknown though the
name was probably native to the tribe. See
Catawba Location
The extreme northwestern portion
of the State was occupied by Cherokee Indians. (See
Tennessee.)
A part of this tribe lived in South Carolina at times. (See
Georgia.)
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.)
Meaning unknown.
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.
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.)
Meaning perhaps "Coosawhatchie River
(people)." See
Cusabo
Location
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.)
They
settled on the Pee Dee after 1716 and probably united
with the Catawba. (See
North Carolina.)
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.)
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.
Meaning unknown.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.)
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.)
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.
Meaning unknown.
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.
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.
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.
Meaning unknown.
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.)
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.)
Additional Resources
Notes About the Book:
Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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