Mondo's NAT # 103

Native American Tribes series.

Catawba

Their name is probably derived from the Choctaw word meaning divided or separated, but, the tribe calls themselves, yeh is-WAH h'reh, meaning "people of the river." One of the most important of the eastern Siouan tribes, they first came into contact with Europeans in 1540 when Hernando de Soto came through South Carolina. During this time, they were noted to be both farmers and good hunters, and the women, proficient at at making baskets and pottery. They also practiced the custom of head-flattening to a limited extent, as did several of the neighboring tribes.

Trade with the Europeans became important in the late 17th century with Virginia and Carolina settlers. However, these many immigrants also brought disease, and in 1759, smallpox swept through the Catawba villages for a fourth time in a century, reducing the tribe's population to less than 1,000 by 1760. These strong people survived; however, and many warriors went on to serve in the American Revolution.

By the 1760's, a reservation had been established for them within the present-day York and Lancaster Counties of South Carolina. However, by 1826, their numbers had been reduced to only about 110 people and nearly the whole of their reservation was leased to white settlers. In 1841, another treaty with the South Carolina government, stipulated that the tribe sell their remaining 144,000 acres of land in return for promised payments buy land elsewhere, as well as additional annual payments. However, the plan was unsuccessful as other tribes, who had moved west did not want the Catawba because they would have to share land, government money, and services. In the end, the Catawba had no home and by 1847, the South Carolina Governor declared: "They are, in effect, dissolved."

More than a century later, the tribe began another battle to regain federal recognition in 1973. Though it would take two decades, they finally succeeded, receiving federal recognition in November, 1993. Today, the Catawba Indian Nation is the only federally recognized Indian tribe in the state of South Carolina. The tribe's reservation is located in York County, nearby the Charlotte, North Carolina area.