Where did the Catawba tribe live in South Carolina?
The Catawba Indians have lived on their ancestral lands along the banks of the Catawba River dating back at least 6000 years. Before contact with the Europeans it is believed that the Nation inhabited most of the Piedmont area of South Carolina, North Carolina and parts of Virginia.
Where is Catawba Indians located?
South Carolina
Today the Catawba are a federally recognized tribe with approximately 2800 people living on a reservation in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Smaller groups live in parts of Oklahoma and Colorado. The Catawba are one of several Siouan language Native American tribes to occupy the Carolinas.
When did the Catawba tribe live in South Carolina?
History – Catawba Indians The British began to colonize the area that is now South Carolina in the 1670s. The Catawba allied themselves with the new settlers for protection against their traditional enemies – the Cherokee, Iroquois, and Shawnee.
What were the 3 largest tribes in South Carolina?
To compensate, some of the smaller tribal nations joined together, or let themselves be absorbed into larger nations. By the time of the American Revolution, most Amerindians in South Carolina had organized into four major nations: the Cherokee, Creek, Cusabo, and Catawba.
Where did the name Catawba come from?
It may be derived from the Choctaw katapa, meaning “separated” or “divided.” Other scholars have traced it to a Catawba word meaning “people on the edge (or bank) of a river,” or “people of the fork.” The Catawba called themselves “Nieye” (people), or “Ye iswa’here” (people of the river).
What disease killed most of the Catawba tribe?
Despite the continual influx of refugees, diseases and warfare had taken a terrible toll on the Catawba, and their population in 1728 was believed to have been only around 1,400. A smallpox epidemic in 1738 appears to have killed nearly one-half of the nation’s population.
What type of government did the Catawba tribe have?
At some point in the early colonial period the six or seven villages that came to compose the core of the Catawba Nation developed a tribal government along the same lines as the town political organization: a chief ( eractasswa ), apparently always drawn from a specific kin group, was selected by a council made up of …
What language do the Catawba speak?
Siouan language
Historically, the Indians who came to be called “Catawba” occupied the Catawba River Valley above and below the present-day North Carolina-South Carolina border. They are descended from a large group of independent peoples in the Catawba Valley who spoke a Siouan language.