CATAWBA INDIANS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

THESE INDIANS USED THE SIOUAN LANGUAGE. THEIR NAME MEANS RIVER PEOPLE. THEY RECEIVED STATE RECOGNITION IN 1993. THEY LIVE ALONG THE BANKS OF THE CATAWBA RIVER IN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA.. TODAY THEY HAVE A 650 ACRE RESERVATION NEAR ROCK HILL. IN 1600'S THERE WERE 5000, AND IN THE 90'S THERE WERE 14,000. BY 1566 THEY MET THE ANGLOS. BY 1650 THEY UNITED WITH THE ISWA. THE CATAWBA ABSORBED SMALLER TRIBES DURING THE 1700'S, WHO WERE AFFECTED BY DISEASES AND WAR.

IN 1711 THEY FOUGHT WITH THE BRITISH AGAINST TUSCARORA. BY 1715 THEY JOINED OTHER TRIBES AND FOUGHT AGAINST THE COLONISTS IN YEMASSEE WAR. BY 1763 THEY HAD A 15 SQUARE MILE RESERVATION ESTABLISHED FOR CATAWBAS. IN 1800 THEY PURCHASED 600 PLUS MILES FROM THE STATE IN 1850. BY 1973 THEY FORMED A NONPROFIT CORPORATION. IN 1993 THEY WERE PAID 50 MILLION NOT TO RECLAIM THEIR 144,000 ACRES.

THEY LIVED IN ROUND BARK COVERED DWELLINGS WITH A FIRE RING IN THE CENTER. EXTENDED FAMILIES LIVED IN A SINGLE DWELLING. VILLAGES WERE SURROUNDED BY WOODEN PALISADES. THEY HAD A SWEAT LODGE OR SAUNA, AND A PLAZA FOR DANCES AND GAMES. THEY FARMED CORN, BEANS, AND SQUASH, FISHED AND HUNTED. THEY MADE THEIR CLOTHING OUT OF BUCKSKIN AND IN WINTER USED ANIMAL SKIN FOR LEGGINGS. THEY WORSHIPPED A DEITY WHO THEY KNEW AS "HE WHO NEVER DIES".

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