Waccamaw. One
of the small tribes formerly dwelling on the Lower Pedee and its branches
in South Carolina and the adjacent border of North Carolina. Nothing is
known of their language, and very little else concerning them, as they
were never prominent in history. Their associations indicate that they
were Siouan. Their habitat was along Waccamaw river, which enters the
Pedee from the north almost at its mouth. They were mentioned first in
1715 as living near the Winyaw, both tribes receiving ammunition from the
Cheraw, who attempted to gain them as allies
of the Yamasee and other tribes against the English. At this time they
were living in 6 villages with a population of 610 (Rivers, Hist. S. Car.,
94, 1874). In 1755 the Cherokee
and Notchee were reported to have killed some Pedee and Waccamaw in the
white settlements (Gregg, Hist. of Old Cheraws, 15, 1867). Like the Pedee,
Cheraw, and other tribes of that region (Mooney, Siouan Tribes of the
East, 76, 1894), the remnant was probably finally incorporated with the
Catawba.
