Comments on "The Catawba Nation", by Charles M. Hudson

Comments on “The Catawba Nation” by Charles M. Hudson

These notes on Hudson's book are still in a state of flux. They are in the same order as Hudson placed them. Unfortunately, he didn't always place them in the correct chronological order, so this blog entry also isn't always in the correct chronological order. Eventually I'll get that all worked out. I just have a little time on weekends and after work to work on this. It'll take time.

Hudson skips back and forth in time some. If one seeks to discover how the Eastern Siouan fortunes or misfortunes change over time, this adds to the difficulty. I have tried to place events in such a manner that this we can determine changes over time. However, on the positive side, Hudson does mention the northern bands of the Catawba far more than Blumer did. We can see a little better what was going on with the Virginia Siouans. He mentions the Monacans and the Monatons. I am left to wonder if these are two spellings for the same people, just as I suspect the names of other bands are really different names for the same people. Whereas Blumer tells straight history, Hudson tells a little of how the people lived, and tells short stories mentioning several of these bands. Such stories are invaluable. However with singular unsubstantiated stories, one can never be certain the author knew what he was viewing. These stories are of great interest, but we must be careful in drawing any conclusions from them.

Lederer visited the Eastern Siouans (Catawba and Associated Bands) about 1670 and Lawson did the same about 1701.

Quoting Hudson; Our fullest early description of the Catawba comes to us from from the hands of John Lawson who visited them in January 1701 while on a journey from Charleston, South Carolina to the mouth of the Tar River in North Carolina. Having made contact with the Sewee, Santee, Congaree, and Wateree Nations while traveling on foot up the eastern banks of the Santee-Wateree-Catawba River system, he came upon the Catawba Nation situated a few miles from the present day 'Old Reservation'. (1)

First, we must make an effort to understand the people he is talking about. Hudson refers to the 'nations' of the Wateree, Congaree, Sewee, Santee, and Catawba. These are all part of ONE nation, one People, and NOT separate nations. It appears that some of the English only had a vague notion of this concept, where the Indians were concerned. What happens to each of these groups only makes sense once we realize they are all part of one greater nation.

Hudson adds; “The Waxhaw, Esaw, and Sugaree Nations were situated near the Catawba Nation, and all four appear to have been closely related.”

Apparently, Lawson tells little about the Catawba proper, but he does give a description of these other bands. Of these, Hudson tells us; Upon arriving among the Waxsaws, Lawson was entertained in a cabin that impressed him as being unusually large and well built. The Indians of these four nations lived in villages scattered through an area at about ten miles across. Each of these villages had a 'theatre' or 'stage-house' that was larger in size and different in construction from the bark-covered houses in which they lived. In these public buildings, ambassadors from other nations were received, political affairs were deliberated, and rituals were performed. Each village apparently had a government council of elders with a residing king and war captain, the relationships among these being governed by a personal code of etiquette.. At the same time as Lawson's visit, an ambassador from the Saponi Nation, located 150 miles to the north (2).

He speaks of dances performed for him, saying at the end of the dance the young men took their “sexual license” with as many as wanted, taking a woman for a “bed-fellow.”.

James Mooney was first to refer to the Catawba as “Eastern Siouan”. Hudson disagrees with some of Mooney's conclusions. In making his case, he makes a very important observation. While quoting Sapir, he says, “ . . . as Sapir was careful to point out, inferential evidence must be subjected to vigorous scrutiny and methodological rigor, otherwise it can lead to a to a badly distorted reconstruction, particularly in the hands of someone with a “theory”.(Sapir 1951:394). This is so very important, especially with respect to the origins of the Melungeons, as we shall see before the end of this book. One of the main reasons I am writing this is to explain why so many ideas about the Melungeons are in error. It is my hope that seeing the true origins of the Melungeons will will help develop some pride in their American Indian heritage, and that they shall learn to reject the many theories about their origins that are pure and utter nonsense.

In the late 19^th and early 20^th century studies were made of the Tutelo, Woccan, and Catawba languages, three of the tribes between the Cherokee and Creek tribes in the west and the Atlantic Ocean. All three proved to be of Siouan origin (3)

Mooney wrote “Siouan Tribes of the East”. In 1896. He concluded 26 of the tribes found in the Carolinas and Virginia were Eastern Siouan; Monocan, Saponi, Occoneechi, Sara/Cheraw, Keeauwee, Eno, Waxsaw, Sugaree, Pedee, Santee, Sewee, Wateree, Congaree, Mahoc, Nuntaneuck, Meipontsky, Shoccori, Adshusheer, Sissipahaw, Cape Fear, Warrennncock, Waccamaw, Winyaw, Hooks and Backhooks, Nahyssan, and Mohetan. Notice how many of them end in the “ee”, “i”, or “y” sound. Some end in the “aw” sound. A couple end in the “oc” or “euck” sounds. A few end in the “an” sound. If we delete the final “r”, “Adshusheer” becomes “Adshushee”, that final “ee” sound of many other bands. This is a remarkable uniformity for so many bands. Hudson saw a flaw in Mooney's classification, as no words or vocabulary exists for most of these bands. He saw no proof they were Eastern Siouan ancestry. But we shall see many of them moved in with the Catawba from time to time, I strongly suspect Mooney was right, but have to agree with Hudson that absolute proof of it is lacking (4).

Some evidence provided by Mooney, that Hudson downplays, however, include William Byrd's statement that the the Monacan and Manahoac languages were similar to Tutelo and Saponi. Of these languages, only the Tutelo is known, as Tutelo survivors moved in with the Six Nations, and thus their language survived longer than many of the others.

The map below shows most of these eastern Siouan bands. They do show the Coosa and Cusabo way too close to the Catawba and Associated Bands than I usspect they actually were. Anything named “Coosa” is of Creek/Muscogeean origin, which I suspect the origin of the Cusabo as well. Recall how Blumer stated there was a vast region between the Catawba speaking peoples and the Muscogean speaking peoples. I do not know how they come up with the date 1650 for this map, but it is a time frame about which we know very little. If you look at the Siouan bands as part of a great nation, we see them abandoning the northern regions of their territory between 1650 and 1700. I suspect most of Virginia was abandoned, and small parts of it retaken after the abandonment of Fort Christanna, resulting in the Monacan peoples in Amherst County, and the Melungeons on the Virginia/Tennessee border.

Below is a map dated about 1650. Between 1650 and 1700 some major catastrophe must have befallen the northern Siouan bands. The Manahoak, Saponi, Monacan, Tutelo and others flee the Western portions of Virginia to take refuge granted by Governor Spotswood of Virginia at Fort Christanna. There are several possible candidates for this catastrophe. One being the Iroquois, their ancient enemy, killed them in warfare. A second being the slave traders of South Carolina enslaved them and sold them in the Caribbean. They used local non-Siouan tribes on slave raiding treks to the interior. Of course this would give other Indian traders a chance to use the Eastern Siouans on a revenge raid against those who had raided their villages, thus helping to depopulate the entire region of Indians, making colonization easier for the English. A third reason would be of course, the small pox epidemics. Small Pox was known to travel through entire nations, wiping out half of the population at once. But it is clear the Northern bands were cut down first, leaving only remnants. It was in the next decade or two after their decimation that many of the southern bands came to the same end. The end of many Southern bands was a result of the Tuscarora and Yamassee wars. The following three maps will bear that out. Notice the changes in these maps, one a snapshot of about 1650, the second about 1700, and the third about 1720. Centuries of traditions, the evolution of languages and dialects, and of cultures, were forgotten and abandoned, erased from the earth forever. It is amazing that such a disaster could happen. Click on the map and it should expand.

Hudson spends pages explaining why/why not the “hill tribes” were/were not Eastern Siouan. He eventually concludes they lived at the location when they first came into contact with Europeans, for a very, very long time. He speaks of four Spanish expeditions – Panfilo de Narvaez, Hernando de Soto, Tristan de Luna, and Juan Pardo. These expeditions occurred between 1521 when a raid for slaves was made on the Chicora coast and 1569 when the Spanish established a settlement at Santa Elena and hoped to use the Indian farmers labors as a permanent food supply. The Spanish raided the area for slaves only rarely. Hudson mentions the slave raids might have caused the coastal people to migrate. There is a Shakori Band of these hill tribes a little inland that could correspond to the Chicori mentioned by the Spanish. Mention is made by Lawson of great flocks of pigeons between the lands of the Esaw and Sapona Indians (5). Esaw is also called Yesah, or Iswa. If you make the “Y” sound a “W” sound instead, you have “Wesaw”, which might correspond to “Waxsaw”. The Esaw and Waxsaw might be the same people.

The map above portrays the Catawba and Assiciated Bands closer to the time of Lawson, about 1700. Here is an interesting note on Indian slavery. Hudson tackles this topic a little more than Blumer. He states; “While warfare or raiding was definitely important in the Southeast, early colonial references to continual Indian wars were often rationalizations for enslaving the Indians. . . . we shall see presently that in early colonial times most of this Indian warfare was stimulated by Charleston traders as a means of acquiring slaves.” (6)

Hudson makes comments about the hill tribes of the Piedmont as being more backwards than their Cherokee or Creek neighbors. But what we know of the Creek and Cherokee runs forward from 1750 to the present, whereas all our knowledge about the Eastern Siouan 'hill tribes' flows from 1670 only up to 1750 by which time many of these hill tribes becomes extinct, or their numbers have been assimilated into the local populations. We could say the same about the colonists, that is, the colonists before 1750 were more primitive than those who came afterwards.

Hudson talks quite a bit about Lawson's observations of 1701. He states, “As Lawson journeys up the Catawba River, he successfully passed through the territories of the Waxsaw's, Esaw's, Sugaree's, and Catawba's . . . Unlike the hill tribes, all these groups were populous. In every village, beginning with the Waxsaw, Lawson saw a “townhouse” . . . Lawson said the last town house he saw was at Saponi, situated northeast of the Catawbas, on the Upper Pedee River . . . at Saponi, Lawson first mentions seeing protective palisades that were common in the Northern Piedmont. At the time of Lawson's visit, the Saponi were considering confederation with two other hill tribes, the Tutelo and the Keyauwee. The three, being small . . .thought they should strengthen themselves . . . and become formidable . . . (7). Some of the Catawba tribes are said to have practiced skull deformation. Hudson says; “. . .the Catawba were sometimes called “Flat Heads, but this usage was generally limited to the Iroquois, who referred to the entire Catawba Confederacy by this designation.” (8)

Interestingly, Hudson says the Indians living on the Catawba River were called “Esaws” until about 1710. After that time to the present, they were called “Catawbas”. He offers no reason for this change. Now the Esaw were also called Iswa, and Yesah. (9). The Esaw town is always, on maps, near the Waxhaw village. Both towns dissapear about the same time. They both end in the "saw" sound. 

Little is known about the history and culture of the Piedmont Indians. Only the Virginia traders knew them at all, and they left us very little information about them. Hudson says that according to Lawson, the Eastern Siouans were middle men in trade with other Indians. Hudson says, “Lawson, for example, met a man named John Stewart, a Virginia trader residing with the Catawba King, who had traded there for many years.”

Quite a bit is suspected about these traders relationships with the Piedmont Catawba. For instance, Hudson says; When discussing Lawson who seemed to be paraphrasing Stewart; “They set apart the youngest and prettiest faces for trading girls. These are remarkable for their hair, having a particular tensure by which they are known and distinguished from those engaged to husbands. They are mercenary, and whoever makes use of them, first hires them, e greatest share of the gain going to the King's purse, who is the chief bawd, exorcizing his prerogative over all the stews of the nation, and his own cabin very often being the chiefest brothel-house.” Not knowing the meanings of several of these words Hudson uses, one can make pretty good guesses from the path his words wonder through. A court of law probably wouldn't accept the above as it is so-and-so saying so-and-so said something. It should carry the weight of any “gossip, meaning it may or may not be true.

I have seen others write of the influence of the South Carolina traders. Hudson however, speaks of the Virginia traders., saying in the late 17^th century the Virginia traders influenced the Catawba and Piedmont Catawba. After the Oechonocanough massacre in 1644, a serious of forts were built in Virginia. These forts became jumping off points for expeditions into the interior of Virginia and nearby regions by the commanders of these forts.

Per Hudson, Abraham Wood was perhaps the most successful of of these explorers. He commanded Fort Henry at the falls of the Appomattox River. It was located near present day Petersburg, Virginia. Her Hudson, the Occaneechi Trading Path first went to Occoneechi Island on the Roanoke River, which ran straight to the Catawba, and from there to the Lower Cherokee towns. He also says “It was called the Catawba Trading Path.” If this trail was known by both names, this tells us something about the relationship between the Occoneechi an the Catawba. Also ending with the “ee” or “i” sound is a characteristic shared by most of the bands of the Catawba.. Hudson speaks of a second route from Fort Henry to the Kanawha River, then south to the Cherokee. Hudson speaks of a report by one Edward Bland, a trader who in 1650 made a trip to the falls of the Roanoke River, mentioned that Abraham Wood was with him. Upon haring a musket go off, Wood's Appamattuck guide reportedly said that it was “Wainoake spies”. If you remove the beginning and end of that word, you have “Ainoa”, or “Eno”. It appears these “Appamattock” Indians apparently, were NOT affiliated with the Catawba. It is the Algonquin tribes that have words that end in the consonant sound. All Cherokee words end ini the vowel sound, and it appears that so do many of the Eastern Siouan words (11).

In 1670, when John Lederer pased through a Monacan village, they were greeted by a volley of muskets, it was described as a sign of greeting. In 1671 Batts and Fallam mentioned fire arms were discovered in the Saponi village on the Staunton River. The same expedition mentions the Tutelo village near present day Salem, Virginia, gave a few shots of powder to a Mohetan Indian, stating his people were then living on the Kanawha River. Since both the colonies of South Carolina and Virginia forbade the sale of firearms to the Indians at this time, the presence of all these weapons is a puzzle. Indians at the coast had much easier access to muskets, thus making Indians in the interior an easier victim in the slave trade.

No one has successfully explained the origin of these firearms. One comment made by Abraham Wood. However. Might explain their origin. Woods mentions the Tomahittan Indians of the southern Appalachians visited him. And stated that they had about 60 guns “which were not of English manufacture.” I suspect these Tomahittans were actually Indians from Florida, although many acquaint them with the Cherokee, and they might be right. I just want to dot all my eyes, and cross all my t's. Wood sent Gabriel Arthur to live with them as a preliminary to trade. Apparently they forced Arthur to travel with them on raids, and he reported reported them on a raid to a Spanish town. They spotted a Spaniard and killed him, taking his weapons. This might account for some of the weapons the Indians of the interior possessed, but I suspect some South Carolina and perhaps Virginia traders also traded illegally in weapons (12), however evidence is wanting. Hudson gives a possible explanation for the Virginia Traders not writing about their exploits. He says, “. . . the Virginia traders left little or no account of their dealings with the Indians. Their failure in this was intentional . . . they wanted to to conceal their illegal in arms and ammunition.”

Hudson mentions the Tuscarora wanted to be the middle men, trade wise. He speaks of their trade with the Shoccores and Achonechy (Occoneechi). An Occoneechi Indian named “Indian John, also known a “Hasecoll, enroute to trade with the Tomahittans, is mentioned. It is presumed that he killed Needham, with the murder occurred because the Occoneechi wanted to maintain a monopoly on trade with the tribes in the interior. The Tomahittans fled. Arthur returned to the Sara village, and hired four Saura Indians to take their place. They would accompany him only as far as Eno Town, for fear of the Occoneechi's. It stated Wood went to visit the Tomahittan's and they returned to Fort Henry, but went by an indirect route through Tutelo Town and then to Monacan Town. From there to Fort Henry, skirting north of the Occoneechi's. As a result of these events, Per Hudson, Wood says of the Occaneechi; “. . .they are but a handful of people, beside what vagabonds repaire to them, it beeing a receptacle for rogues.”(13).

Later, we hear of Bacon's Rebellion. No account of the history of these Piedmont Catawba can be complete without some mention of Bacon's Rebellion. Hudson discusses this event, but only briefly. He says, “In 1676 the Occoneechi successfully withstood an attack by 200 Virginians, but in doing so they reportedly lost 50 men.” Hudson reports that sometime between 1676 and1701 them moved to a location near Hillsboro, North Carolina, where they are located as mentioned by Lawson in that year. A decade later, they, along with the Tutelo, Saponi and others, move to Fort Christanna (14).

After the Tuscarora and Yamassee Wars, here is a map of the locations of the various Catawban bands about 1720. You will notice several bands no longer exist, or have incorporated with other bands. This is an indication that they are banding together for strength, as their numbers have drastically fallen. I strongly suspect this is due to the Small Pox, and constant warfare driven by the slave trade. Notice the Saponi have moved to the northeast and the Cheraw have moved to the southeast. Vast areas of North Carolina are vacant of Indians, where the Tuscarora and several bands associated with the Catawba had been. The Esaw, Waxsaw and Eno have vanished simultaneously. We have the Saponi (really a unity of several bands that have moved together for protection) in the north at Fort Christanna. They represent all the bands previously in Virginia. It is thought warfare with the Six Nations vanquished them, but I suspect many were taken in slave raiding ventures by South Carolina traders using Indian allies of non-Siouan origins to capture them. Their absence clears the way for European settlement of central and Western Virginia. In or near the coasts of South Carolina we have the Cape Fear Indians to the north and the Settlement Indians nearer Charleston, their original band names having been lost to time. Only the Waccamaw are mentioned by name. Inland a ways are the Pedees, Cheraw, and Keyauwees. Still further inland we have the Catawba and Wateree. The Catawba are a grouping of several bands as well. There are great areas now uninhabited whereas previously there were several bands of Indians associated with the Catawba. The Tuscarora and Yamassee Wars have left a great deal of both Carolinas and Virginia uninhabited, now free and open to European colonization.

Hudson contrasts the South Carolina traders with the Virginia traders. “Unlike the Virginia traders, the Charleston traders conducted a lively business in Indian slaves. This becomes so prevalent that in contemporary documents the statement that the Indians had gone to war is virtually synonymous with saying they had gone to capture slaves. . . . Sometimes the traders would force their own Indian slaves to go out and capture ther Indians for slaves as a mans of purchasing their own freedom.” Often the traders would sell rum (illegally) to the Indians, and get them into a debt that they could not repay. The traders would then say they would forgive the debt if the Indians would go to war against a neighboring tribe to gain slaves of them. (15). Such slave raiding took place on a great scale. In 1715 trader Thomas Nairne boasted that the Yamassee Indians had raided the Florida Keys for slaves as Indians further north in Florida had for all intents and purposes, vanished, due to all the slave raids. The Indians finally grew tired of the South Carolina traders, and this resulted in the Yamassee War of 1715-1716. Hudson says this war was an end to the Santee, Sewee, Pedee, Congaree, Cusabo and Waxhaw. The survivors fled to either the remaining Spanish Indians near Spanish towns or the Catawba. After this war, the Catawba and Associated Bands never again acted on their own behalf in the political realm of their being an independent Indian Nation. All their future actions were were determined by their being a satellite of the South Carolina Colony. By the 1730s, the South Carolinians were far more worried about a Negro slave insurrection than an Indian revolt. Another account mentions that until about 1717, the colony exported more slaves than it imported. In short, there were few Indians left to enslave.

In 1735, John Thompson is called a trader with the Cheraw Indians on the East bank of the Pedee River. Hudson names 3 other 'later' traders with the Cheraw – Samuel Armstrong, Christopher Gadsden, and John Crawford. Hudson says Samuel Wyley was the most important trader to the Wateree about 1751. He later became an unofficial agent for the Catawba. Other interesting traders throughout the 1730's and 1740's were George Haig, and it is possible King Haigler was named for him. Thomas Brown set up his trading business at the Congarees about 1730. He had a son named Thomas Brown who was half-Catawba. In 1748 Haig and Thomas Brown Jr were captured by the Iroquois. Haig was killed and the young Brown was freed after being ransomed. A small pox epidemic in 1738 devastated the Catawba. Robert Steil also became a trader at the Congarees (16).

Please notice that Hudson has not mentioned the Northern Piedmont Catawba tribes in quite some time. They were all rounded up by Virginia's Governor Spotswood, and sent to Fort Christanna. Their numbers had been shrinking, and they needed to band together to help them survive.

In the 1740s the government still considered the Catawba a Nation, as opposed to the Settlement Indians. Per Hudson, these settlement Indians were for the most part, composed of Indian Nations that were quickly on the road to extinction, passing first by the way of assimilation. He says; “The settlement Indians consisted of Cheraws (Sara), Uchee's (Yuchi), Pedees, Notchees (Natchez), Cape Fear and others. Governor James Glenn stated in 1746 the Catawba had about 300 warriors. In 1743 Adair estimates the Catawba had abut 400 fighting men. Adair also says the Catawba Nation consists of over 20 dialects, and he lists a few of them – Katabhaw, Wateree, Eeno, Chewah, Chowan, Cangaree, Nachee (Natchez), Yamassee, Coosah, etc.(18).

By 1760 the Catawba were a small nation completely surrounded by White frontiersmen. Another small pox epidemic in 1759 had killed half again, of the Catawba Nation. In 1763 King Haiglar had been killed. In his place was elected Colonel Ayers. Hudson suggests Ayers fell out of favor with the South Carolina government, and Samuel Wyley, acting on behalf of South Carolina Governor Bull, persuaded the Catawba to get rid of Ayers, and they elected King Frow to take his place in 1765. The names of a few of his headmen exist. They were Captain Thomson, John Chestnut, and Wateree Jenny. By the turn of the Century, the Catawba no longer mattered. They were few in number, surrounded by Scots-Irish settlers who barely realized there were any Indians living in their midst (19).

And what became of the Saponi at Fort Christanna, or the Settlement Indians in lowland South Carolina? Hudson doesn't say. We will have to look elsewhere for the answers to these questions.

The Catawba Nation, by Charles M. Hudson

1.   p. 1

2.   p. 2

3.   p. 6

4.   p. 7

5.   p. 16-20

6.   p. 21-22

7.   p. 26

8.   p. 27

9.   p. 28

10. p. 30

11. p. 31-32

12. p. 32-33

13. p. 35-36

14. p. 37

15. p. 39

16. p. 42

17. p. 46

18. p. 47-48

19. p. 51

Comments about "Catawba Nation, Treasures in History" by Thomas J Blumer

From Catawba Nation, Treasures in History by Thomas J Blumer

The Spanish Years

The Catawba are barely known in Native American history due to the fact that they alone stayed behind in the Carolinas following the notorious “Trail of Tears”. The Catawba were almost forgotten to history. (1) In 1884, Anthropologist Dr. E Palmer visit4ed their nation and wrote notes on the. His notes are however now forgotten. In 1908 Dr. M. R. Harrington made a visit from Washington D. C. to the catawba Nation. He published a small book “The Catawba Indians” in 1909. Dr. Blumer's recent studies on these people has helped rediscover a people nearly forgotten.

Catawba-Spanish Contact

The Yuchi wre neighbors of the Catawba. They were living on the coast, near modern day Savannah, Georgia. They lived on the Muskogeean/Siouan border region. There language has said to look a little like the Muskogeean and a little like the Catawba. The English language looks like it also has dual origins, part Germanic and part Latin. Their language might tell us more about those who once conquered them than about they themselves. These Yuchi have a legend telling of viewing ships on the horizon, that landed on the coast. They returned a second time and took samples of the soil. They returned a third time, this time wanting land on which to grow crops. This is the Yuchi story.

Returning to recorded history, we have another tale to tell. The Catawba first saw Spanish ships in 1521. These ships were owned by Vasquez de Ayllon, and they were on a slave gathering mission. At a place called Chicora, the Spanish tricked some of the Catawba on board, then took off with them They went back to the Caribbean where they were sold as slaves. One of the slave ships sank, and many on the other ship later died.

The Spaniards traained one of the Indian slaves to speak Spanish, and renamed him Francisco de Chicora. Ayllon in 1621, returned to Chicora with Francisco, hoping to colonize the land. This time when Ayllon arrives, the Indians who saw his ships arrive fled into the woods. Francisco did the same, when he got the chance. The Spaniards never saw him again. This attempt to plant a colony on the Carolina coast failed. (2)

Sometime between Ayllon's expedition and De Soto's, they started calling this land “Cofitachique”. Cofitachique is a name of Muscogeean origin. Now the Muscogeean and Catawba peples were mortal enemies. The Creek/Muscogeean people started telling the Spaniards of a fabled land called Cofitachique which was a wealthy land full of wealth. He heard of a place called Yup-aha. Perhaps this was what became Yas-eh/Esaw/Waxhaw? We will never know. On De Soto's route to discover Cofitachqui, he came across the Creek/Muscogeean village of Cofaque. When they knew what De Soto wanted to do, they were eager to join the expedition. The Cofaque brought a great supply of food with them. They were eager to obtain vengeance on Cofitachique, but the Spaniards were ignorant of their ambitions. (3)

Interestingly, Blumer mentions a great buffer between the Creek and Siouan speakers. There was a rgeat region where no people lived. This is something many researchers ignore, but has to be understood and explained in any research of American Indian Peoples. ALL tribes had a great parcel of land they called “the hunting grounds” that remained uninhabited. That is where the tribal animal herds were kept. It is a lie that the Indians didn't own animals, they just owned them communally, not individually. They considered the deer, turkey, and smaller game as theirs, and if a neighboring tribe was caught in their hunting grounds, a war often was the result. Since more than one tribe used the same hunting grounds, inter-tribal warfare as common.

Finally De Soto and his Cofaque allies reached a village loyal to Cofitachique. Immediately the Cofitaque started massacreing the villagers, and the took many scapls. When De Soto realized their deception, he gave Cofaque war captain Patofa many gifts, and sent them back home. He conontinued on to Cofitachique.

On May 1, 1540, De Soto's men came to a large river. De Soto remained there until 13 may, 1540. Cofitachique was ruled by a woman. Despite being treated with great respect, the Spanish too her as a hostage. Blumer continues to say “Today we know the site of Cofitachique as modern Camden, [South Carolina]. The Catawba did not abandon its ceremonial center until after the treaty of Augusta in 1763.” (4)
The map below is the route of the eastern half of De Soto's Expedition.

The Spanish began an effort to colonize the vast holdings of the Cofitachique , also called Canos or Canosi until after the founding of St. Augustine in 1565. Pedro Memendez de Aviles was the man behind this adventure, and he had the backing of the Spanish crown. Prt on of this adventue was the defeat of the french in the area. Part two was the founding of Santa Elena on the Sout Carolina coastline. The third part of his plan was to gather about 120 men under the command of Captain Juan Pardo, and have them march inland. Menendez hoped they'd find an inland road to what is now Mexico. Pardo was also asked to pacify the Indians, and evangelize them so that they would become Christians, and bring them under the authority of the Spanish Crown. Pardo's progress was recorded by Juan de la Bandera, Pardo's archivist. Father Sebastian Montero went along, with the job of converting the Indians. They travelled through the heart of the Catawba regions. According to Blumer, the names of many of the locations Pardo visited still had similar names as the names recorded by De Soto's men earlier, an those names were of Catawban origin. Father Montero spent several years amongst the Wateree (called by the Spaniards Guateri) and he had some success in converting them to Catholocism. A report exists where some Indians learned Spanish, and even several catholic prayers. (5)

Please note they were never LOST. Also note they were NOT Portuguese, but rather Spanish. Would a 19^th century Cauasian of Scottish ancestor report that his ancestry in the 17^th century were English? .NO! He'd report they were Scots! And the Spanish were no different. They were as proud of their heritage as any of us would be. And as we will see later, there were trade routes, paths and roads that went to and from all the Catawban and Eastern Siouan towns. There is no was a group of Pardo's men could have gotten lost. They knew the roads back to Spanish settlements very well. Here (below) is a map of Pardo's route. Some of Pardo's men remained in the interior and these are the men some say were the unfortunate ones, those left behind, under the command of Moyano. But notice the movements of Moyano's men in the interior IS KNOWN! How could hi sovements have been known if he disappeared? It makes no sense.

I bring this up because some claim the Melungeons descend from a group of “Portuguese Adventurers.” Others claim some of Pardo's men got lost. Some claim they were descended from runaway slaves, or even shipwrecked Turkish sailors, some other band of lost souls. Odd though, that they have English surnames, then, isn't it? More on this later.

By March 1568 Pardo's work was finished. In 1572 father Montero left the Wateree/Guateri. His mission was abandoned. (5). The Spanish failed in their attempt to make the Catawba and the bands of Indians associated with them into Spanish Colony. They were still a strong Indian Nation in the 1570's. By the 1720s they were a rag-tag remnant of a great nation. What changed in the 150 years between 1570-1720? Blumer's book just cuts to the Tuscarora wars of 1711-1713. That and the Yamasee wars of the following year saw a great decline in fortunes of these Eastern Siouans. Before we delve into those wars, we need to know what happened to the Indians between the Spanish years, the 1570s, and the Tuscarora and Yamassee Wars. What happened between 1572 and 1711?

1572-1711

There is very little to go on about the eastern Siouan peoples from 1572 to 1670, and there is nothing from 1572 to 1711 (or very little) in Dr. Blumer's book. Other writers have a little and I hope it will fill in a few of the gaps.

The Tuscarora and Yamassee Wars and Repercussions, 1711-1717

Per Blumer, the Tuscarora Wars has several causes. He says I.] “The Indians objected the settlement of New Bern, North Carolina in 1710. ii.] The Indian traders also cheated the Tuscarora Indians regularly. The last straw was iii.] The ill treatment of intoxicated Tuscarora by a settler. towards a major confrontation with North Carolina. I.] Seneca agitation also pushed the Tuscarora towards a major agitation with North Carolina.

The Tuscarora attack wa carefully planned. At dawn, September 22^nd, 1711, over 130 settlers were killed by noon. Survivors fled to Bath and New Bern. For the next four months, the Tuscarora pillaged at will. Captives were tortured, and executed.

South Carolinian Captain John Barnwell left Charles Town with only 30 men, but travelled inland to recruit an Indian and then pouncing on the Tuscarora from the west. Blumer says that it is thought the Tuscarora had only recently moved south into North Carolina, onto Catawban lands. I do not know the evidence for this. But we do know the Tuscarora and the Catawba were traditional enemies, and had been for some time. They needed no convincing to go to war with the Tuscarora. The Yamassee were also recruited. The Tuscarora were no match for their combined forces. Blumer says Barnwell recruited 500 Indians, 350 of which were Catawba and their allies. Blumer mentioned Congaree, Waxhaw, Wateree, Cheraw and others allied to these Catawban peoples.

Blumer gives an impressive view of what a catawba warrior looked like in the old days. I feel I need to report what he says of their appearance. He says:

The Catawba and their allies went to war in the traditional way. The women combed their men's hair with bear grease and red root. The men's ears were decked out with feathers, copper, wampum, and even entire birds wings. The men painted their faces with vermillion. Often one eye was circled in black paint, and the other in white.

War dances were performed, and the men set out looking as fierce as possible. Blucher goes on to say some had guns and others had bows and arrows. He says; In full traditional battle attire, the Catawba must have been an impressive site. The name of the Catawba War Captain who led the nation on this expedition has been lost to history. None of the Indians would enter a war party without the urging of a powerful war captain who had won the right to carry snake images on his person in paint or tattoo.

Now Indian warfare was not as Barnwell had expected. The first battle was at the Tuscarora village of Narhantes. The Catawba took as many captives as they could get their hands on, and headed for the slave markets of Charleston, and sold them. By the end of February 1712, Barnwell's army consisted of about 90 Whites, and 148 Indians, mostly Yamassees. On March 1^st, Barnwell's army entered Tuscarora King Hancock's town, which was deserted. On March 5^th, King Hancock's fort was surrounded. He threatened to torture his captives in frout of Barnwell's men. Both sides agreed to hold a conference on March 19^th at Bachelor's Creek. The Tuscarora did not show up.

Barnwells reputation began to slide. He was forced to return to the Catawba towns, and get them to return to the battle. On April 7^th, Barnwell's reinforced army returned to Hancock's Fort. These attacks lasted 10 days. Again, his Catawba allies gathered as many captives as possible, and headed to the slave markets of Charleston.

Blumer adds; Disappointed but determined to turn a profit, Barnwell lured Indians into Forn Barnwell on the pretext of a meeting. Once inside the fort, these unfortunate souls were held captive and shipped off to Charleston. Barnwell would have his profit in Indian flesh.

As a result of Barnwell's short but bloody Tuscarora incursions, all the Indians lost their confidence in the Christian Whites. The Tuscarora began their exodus to Canada, to be with their Iroquoian relatives. The Five Nations were going to become the Six Nations. They ever after wards held a great grudge against the Catawba and their allies. And because of Barnswell's actions in obtaining his own slaves, the Catawba quit trusting the Whites. (6) This would lead us to the next war with the Tuscarora.

The Second Tuscarora War

As Blumer states, The Tuscarora continued to ravage the countryside, just before their exodus to the north, in the same way the Israelites spoiled the Egyptians before fleeing Egypt. Settlers remained behind palisades and fortresses, afraid to venture out, but doing little to hep themselves, depending mostly of South Carolinians. Some fled the colony. In June 1712, a delegation of North Carolinians again asked South Carolina to come to their rescue.

Colonel James Moore set off form Charleston in October, 1712, to gather an Indian army. Barnwell then says somehting odd. He says; After Barnwell's deception, Moore's recruiting was rather slow. Rather than halt at Waxhaw Town (as did Barnwell), he marched further to the catawba towns, presumably to coax the Catawba directly. His fist task was to convince the Catawba War captians that a war against the Tuscarora was to their advantage . . .once the war captains agreed, they began the war ritual. He took up a pot drum and danced counterclockwise around his house, performing a call to war song. When a crowd of men gathered, the war captian recited the crimes of the Tuscarora against the Catawba. Then the war captain and their men fasted for three days. They purged their bodies of impurities with the powerful emetic button snakeroot.

Colonel Moore crossed the Cape Fear River with 500 Catawba and their Catawban allies, 300 Cherokee and 50 Yamassee; 33 Whites led the force. They joined 140 members of the North carolina militia. (7)

Menawhile, not all the Tuscarora were part of the rebellion. King Blound delivered King Hancock, leader of the rebellion, to the North Carolinians, who was then executed. Moore, rather than attack the Tuscarora, stayed in the North Carolina communities of New Bern, and Bath, and Albemerle. Without provisions, the Indian army gathered provisions amongst the settlers, eating their cattle and other rations. While Moore waited, the Tuscarora strengthened their fortress at Neoheroka. Their fortress consisted of 1.5 acres of man made caves, palisaded walls, and strong buildings with a source of water inside. After a bloody battle, Fort Neoheroka fell on March 20ieth, 1713. 475 Tuscarora were killed and another 415 were sold into slavery. This was the end of the Tuscarora resistance. A band of the Tuscarora remained in North Carolina with King Blount, and others not sold into slavery fled north to join their Tuscaroran relatives who had already fled to live with the Six Nations. (8)

From this time forth the Six Nations and the Catawba would be at war until the Catawba and their allies were completely and utterly ruined.

Also notice the mention of how Moore went beyond the Waxhaw. Later a claim is made that the Catawba destroyed the Waxhaw, but that claim was by South Carolinians. We know it was said there were only 50 Yamassee with Moore, whereas there were hundreds earlier. We also know Barnwell took friendly Indians as slaves to the slave market in Charleston. It might be argued that the Waxhaw village and some of the Yamassee were those so enslaved.

We shall also see the small pox killed off many of the Indians, including the Catawba. They proved unable to battle all these foes at one time. Their numbers dwindled to a pitiful few that forgot much of their heritage. I hope to write these things to resemble a coal of a fire or a lamp in the darkness of the history of the people. There was only one more great war where the Catawba fought for themselves.

The Yamassee War 1715-1716

Although the next conflict of the era is called “The Yamassee War” of 1715-1716, the Catawba were the largest Indian component, with 570 warriors. The Yamassee by comparrison, supplied only 400 warriors. According to Blumer, “All the Catawban speaking groups in both of the Carolinas joined this effort to expel the Europeans from the Southeast.”

Per Blumer; The Indians had many grievances against the settlers. They included abuses of a cruel and obscene nature committed by the white traders who worked among the Indians. i.] Abuses such as murder and rape were common. ii.] If needed, they would help themselves to the Indians crops and not pay for the food.. iii.] In addition, the traders fomented Indian wars to foster the Indian slave trade. iv.] Other grievances included white settlements that encroached on Indian lands.

Blumer says the war was instigated by the Creek Indians, but the settlers thought it must have been instigated by the French at Mobile Bay, or the Spaniards at Saint Augustine. Blumer also speaks of the sale of free Indians into slavery by unscrupulous traders in the Indian towns. These are many of the causes and sentiments for the origins of the Yamassee War of 1715-1716. Virtually every Indian community took part in the rebellion.

On April 15^th, 1715, ninety percent of the traders working in the Indian towns were killed. In the process, 40 colonists were killed. South carolina mustered an army under General George Chicken. Per Blumer, The Indians suffered a defeated at Goose Creek, and the Catawba and their allies had second thoughts about the war. On July 19^th, 1715, the Catawba sued for peace. . . on October 18^th, 1715, a delegation [of Catawba] went to Williamsburg, Virginia. A second conference was called on Feburary 4^th, 1716. Virginia Governor Spotswood wanted the Catawba headmen to deliver their sons of their headmen to Fort Christanna. This exchange occurred by April of 1717. The end of the war occurred when the last of the Yamassee fled to Fort Augustine, Florida. Those not lucky enough to flee were sold into slavery. It is thought some of the Yamassee took shelter with the Catawba, and some with the Creek. But their tribe is now considered extinct as a nation. (9)

King Haigler

KingHaigler (also known as Nopkehee) was born about 1700. King Whitmannetaugehehee was king during the time of the Yamassee War. As a result of the Catawban participation in the Yamassee War, the Catawba were to deliver young men to Fort Christanna as ransom, also to be educated. Dr. Blumer suspects Nopkehee might have been one of these eleven based upon his age. King Haigler is the most famous of the Catawba rulers.

First, Haigler is noted for helping to negotiate a treaty of peace with the Six Nations. These are the Iroquois of New York and neighboring Canada. For mnay years, a war had been going on between the Iroquois in New York and the Catawba and related bands in the Carolinas and Virginia (10). These wars were intensified after the defeat of the Tuscarora and their emigration to New York. In June 1751 King Haigler and 5 other Catawba elders and a translated. They left Charleston, South Carolina, aboard the HMS Scorpion, arriving in New York harbor on June 7^th, 1751, at Fort George. They arrived at Albany, New York, the site of the conference, on June 30^th. According to Blumer, the Mohawk forced the Catawba to dance with their feathers pointing down in humiliation. King Haigler and King Hendrick of the Mohawk smoked a peace pipe. When the Six Nations presented King Haigler with a wampum belt, the peace was final.

Per Blumer a delegation of Iroquois visited the Catawba the next year, 1752. Blumer then adds that “During this period, the Cherokee invited the Catawba to incorporate with them and King Haigler refused.”

He spoke against the evils of alcohol, and against dual justice, that is, one set of laws for the White man and one for the Indians. He defended women as vital for every nation. In 1756, he signed a treaty with the Colony of Virginia. Blumer says “He still maintained his residence at Pine tree Hill, the ancient location of Cofitachique.” But the world of the Catawba was in decline, their numbers shrinking. He tried to get some of the former tributary tribes to move in with them, and some did. Others were, however, slowly becoming assimilated into White culture. Speaking of White Culture, settlers ee encroaching onto his lands and he was powerless to stop them. A great tragedy occurred in 1759, when half of the Catawba Nation died of Small Pox (11).

Per Blumer, “A second high point in King Haigler's career came when he negotiated the Treaty of Pine Tree Hill 70 miles to the north of the Waxhaw Old Fields on the banks of the Catawba River. About 16 miles west of what was soon to become the village of Lancaster.” In 1760, per the Treaty of Pine Tree Hill, he ceded most of the 55,000 square-mile land base of the Catawba. Settlers had already moved onto most of it, anyway. He was able to keep two million aces near the Waxhaw Old Fields.

On August 30, 1763, King Hagler was traveling from his town to visit the Waxhaws. The story goes that he was attacked by seven Shawnee, shot six times, and scalped. This crime occurred only months before King Hagler was to attend a Treaty signing at Augusta, Georgia. His death was convenient for both Carolinas. Also the terms of the Pine Tree Hill Treaty were conveniently lost. Colonel Ayers, inexperienced, represented the Catawba in Augusta. Instead of keeping two milling acres, the Catawba lands dwindled down to 15 square miles (12).

Treaty of Pine Tree Hill 1760

At the time of first contact between the Catawba and Associated Bands and the Europeans in 1521, the Catawba and Associated bands claimed a land base of 55,000 square miles. After the 1570s, the Spanish interest in their nation waned. They made a few attempts at establishing a colony on the Carolina coast, and a few slave raiding expeditions came north from the Spanish Caribbean. After Father Montero left in the 1570's, little effort was made to convert the Indians to the Christian faith.

There was a hundred luff in contact with Europeans, until about 1670, and the arrival of the English. Every emigrant who landed at Charleston, South Carolina, took a parcel of Catawba land. There were many thousands of settlers, some of whom took hundreds of acres of land. After only 90 years, by 1760, most Catawba lands were cone, and few Catawba remained, scattered in pockets, with the ancient capital Cofitachique at a place now called Camden, still their capital, although by 1760 it was called “Pine Tree Hill”. With the nation but a fragment of its former glory, King Haigler realized a need for a new treaty in the hopes that it would prevent more settlers from claiming his nation's lands

The Catawba agreed to abandon Pine Tree Hill and move north to the Waxhaw Old Fields, near prsent day Lancaster, South Carolina. The text of the treaty has been lost (some say conveniently). By the terms of the treaty, the Catawba lost their lands in Virginia and much of both Carolinas. King Haigler did keep two million acres of land however, for the Catawba. Much ancestral lands, were gone for ever, from central North Carolina to Danville, Virginia(13).

Blumer's only description of the lands the Catawba kept say “They kept control of two million acres centered in a circle around the Waxhaw Old Fields.” Blumer goes on to say “Thinking the Indian way, he kept Catawba hunting rights to all of South Carolina” (14).

Although the treaty no longer exists. Somewhere there must be a record of what it included, as Dr. Blumer continues to describe what was in the treaty. He says that South Carolina Governor Bull agreed to prevent White settlers from moving to within thirty miles of any Catawba settlement, and to remove those who trespassed within those limits.

The Catawba immediately moved to the region provided for them, around the Waxhaw Old Fields. Blumer says it s thought both North Carolina and Virginia went unmentioned in the treaty, however much of the land ceded by the Catawba was in their realms. Both states immediately siezed the lands permitting settlers access to it.

In reality, North Carolina settlers had already moved onto some of the lands reserved to the Catawba, and since the treaty wasn't signed by North Carolina's Governor Dobbs, he didn't feel compelled to obey it. South Carolina had promised to build a fort to protect the Indians, but didn't do so for many years. When Catawba hunters fanned out about South Carolina for fur trading, mobs of Whites bat them and stole their furs. So much for hunting rights. With King Haigler's murder in 1763, the whole treaty came under question. Apparently the Catawba lost even most of the two million acres they were supposed to receive. In 1979 an an unsuccessful attempt was made to find a copy of the treaty, unsuccessfully.

Blumer states, “As it stands, what little we know of the treaty is learned from secondary sources” (15). It is believed the circular dotted line from the map below was the Catawba Naton per the Pine Tree Hill Treaty of 1760, nad it is known the 1763 treaty reduced their lands to the diamond shaped lands on the map below, where the letters CN are centered.

The circular dashed line on the NC/SC border is a approximation of the the two million acre region  that King Haiglar negotiated in the 1760 Pine Tree Hill treaty that has been lost. The diamont shaped region insie the circle labeled "CN" is the fifteen square mile region renegotiated in 1763.

Augusta Treaty, 1763

Please know in 1759 a Small Pox epidemic killed off about half of the Catawba Nation. It was the year after this great loss that King Haigler signed the Pine Tree Hill Treaty. During those years they had also aligned themselves with the English during the French and Indian War. Per Blumer, they were nervously watching settlers move closer and closer. Just 3 years after the Pine Tree Hill Treaty, the Catawba were back at the negotiating table, ready to sign another treaty. All the Southern Indians were to participate in the treaty negotiating.

In July of 1763 the King of England issued a proclamation to the colonies that only the British Crown could purchase Indian lands.

The Catawba arrived in Savannah on October13, 1763 with a delegation of 60 men, women and children. By the end of October, the Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, and lastly Cherokee arrived around Savannah. King Haigler had just died 2 months earlier, and their contingent was headed by Colonel Ayers. In three years the Catawba had signed 2 treaties, one in which their land base went from 55,000 square miles down to 2,000,000 acres, and the second in which they could claim only 15 square miles, or 144,000 acres. It is easy to blame Col. Ayers, but he was not as experienced as King Haigler. I suspect he did his best, and the English probably used his lack of experience against him. Had Haigler lived, perhaps they might have retained more land. We may never know (16).

Blumer quotes part of the treaty transcripts: “The Catawba's are all of one mind . . . His land was all spoiled. He had lost a great deal both by scarcity of Buffalo and Deer. They have spoiled him 100 miles every way and never paid him. His hunting lands formerly extended to the Pedee River, but is driven right to the Catawba Nation.

If he could kill any deer he would carry the meat to his family and the skiins to the White People . . .”

Little of the treaty actually concerns the Catawba:

i.] We, the Catawba headmen and warriors . . . declare that we will remain satisfied with the tract of land fifteen miles square. ii.] The Catawbas shall not in any respect be molested by any of the King's subjects. iii.] Their lands are to be surveyed and iv.] they are allowed to hunt off tribal lands (17)

The American Revolution

The Revolutionary war puzzled the Catawba. They did not understand the settlers fighting one another. The Catawba by this time were ruled by King Frow. Preparations for war by neighboring South Carolinians worried King Frow. He sent two runners to Charleston to find out what was going on. South Carolina let them know that they expected the Catawba to side with the state, and they were also expected to send a delegation to secure the allegiance of the Cherokee.

King Frow soon abdicated, and was replaced by General New River. He was said to have been a “war hero of great merit.”

About this time the Catawba sent a delegation to Charlotte, North Carolina, and were present at the Declaration of Charlotte. At this moment, there was no turning back. Another warrior is mentioned – Pine Tree Ceorge, a war captain. As in days and years gone by, the men danced and fasted, and the women combed the mens hair in bear grease. The men decorated their heads with deer tails, which identified them as loyal to the Revoutionaries.In October 1775, 25 Catawba enlisted under Samuel Boykin.I February 1776 Boykin commanded 34 Catawbas and was used in the Low-country to round up run away slaves.In August 1776, 20 Catawba fought beside Colonel AndrewWilliamson's men against the Cherokee. Per Blumer, many Revolutionary War records are sketchy and are probably incomplete (18).

One major event during the American Revolution that involved the Catawba was during the summer of 1780. At this time, the English took the city of Charleston from the Colonists. They were aware of the sentiment of the rebel's in the area of Charlotte, North Carolina. On May 29^th, the English massacred a group of American soldiers at the Waxhaws, where the Catawba lived. Later, camden fell to the British on August 16, 1780. As by now the English were aware of the Catawba participation in the war. With the fall of Camden noting stood between the Catawba towns nad the British Army. Having seen them massacre American troops who had surrendered, the Catawba decided to evacuate their homes. (19).

The entire Catawba Nation fled to the north in August, 1780. Dr. Blumer provides a map of their route. They fled north, through Charlottte and Salisbury, North Carolina. Dr. Blumer thinks they then head for Danville, Virginia. He says “The land around Danville was still occupied by Catawban speakres, and was once claimed by Cofitachique when the Catawban realm consisted of 55,000 square miles through the Carolinas and the mountains of Southern Virginia. Today we know the Indians who inhabit this area as the Monacans.” We also know that there were others in the area, people known as “Melungeons”. From Danville their route is unknown. It is thought their final destination was somewhere between Danville and Roanoke, Virginia. Some think they went to live near the Pamunkey as a Pamunkey family is later found living with the Catawba. Blumer also says “In any case the Catawba women and children were far from harm, perhaps in some unsettled hamlet such as the modern Catawba, Virginia, which is only five miles west of Roanoke.” Dr. Blumer goes on to tell us at that time, 1780, Roanoke had not been settled yet. Blumer says they returned home in 1781 with the Army of General Greene. He quotes David Hutchinson: “When General Greene turned south, the Indians brought their women and children from Virginia and dispatched some of their numbers to bring word as to the situation of the property they had left. They received word from Charlotte about thirty miles from their towns, that all was gone; cattle, hogs, fowl, ect, all gone . . . (20).

All references from --

The Catawba Nation: Treasures in History, Thomas Blumer,

(1) p.13

(2) p. 18

(3) p. 20-21.

(4) p.21-22

(5) p. 23-24

(6) p. 25-27

(7) p. 28

(8) p. 29-30

(9) p. 31-32

(10) p. 33

(11) p. 34

(12) p. 34-35

(13) p. 36

(14) p. 37

(15) p. 38

(16) p. 39-40

(17) p. 41

(18) p. 42-43

(19) p.44

(20) p. 47

Relationship Between the Catawba and the Chickasaw

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CATAWBA AND THE CHICKASAW

PART ONE: THE CHICKASAW OF SOUTH CAROLINA

There was a historical relationship between the Catawba and the Chickasaw that is not well known. In researching my own family, in trying to discover owr own American Indian blood, I have run across many things that perhaps have little or nothing to do with my own family – I really don't know. I have tried to research all the locations where my family lived and in doing so researched the American Indian people who had lived in the same areas. This research brought me in contact with both the Catawba and the Chickasaw. I discovered some interesting relationships between the two tribes. Recently online I say a facebook entrance about an old map drawn by the Chickasaw on deer hide. I recalled a similar old Catawba map, also drawn in deer hide. All of these things resulted in the present research and blog posting about the relationship betwee the two tribes.


The Chickasaw are found in historic times from the eastern shore of the Mississippi River to Northwestern Alabama, and from Western Tennessee to the Northern half of Mississippi.


http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/chickasaw-indians.htm


Per the above website, a band of the Chickasaw first moved to the area around Augusta Georgia from about 1723 to the time of the American Revolution.


http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/south-carolina-indian-tribes.htm


According to the website above, a band of the Chickasaw settled near Augusta, Georgia in the early 18^th century. By 1753 or 1757 (the website mentions both dates, I suspect one of them is a typo) they moved to the Carolina side of the Savannah River. After the revolutionary War, they lost the title to their lands.


http://www.tolatsga.org/chick.html


One group moved east during 1723 at the invitation of South Carolina and settled on the Savannah River near Augusta, Georgia. They remained until 1783 when their lands were confiscated for their support of the British during the American Revolution. The eastern band spent a few years among the Creeks in eastern Alabama before rejoining the main body in northern Mississippi.


But there is also a state recognized Chickasaw Tribe in South Carolina today. They were recognized by the state of South Carolina in 2005.


http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/18620736/south-carolina-recognizes-chalokiowa-chickasaw


I don't know if the modern state recognized tribe is related to the main body of the Chickasaw or not. There was a time the Lumbee, who are related to the Catawba and Saura, were called “Cherokee”. We now know it was North Carolina politicians that gave them that name, and that they knew all along they were not Cherokee. Perhaps the name “Chickasaw” is used for the same reason the Lumbee were once called “Cherokee”.


Wikipedia adds the following:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaloklowa_Chickasaw


The Chaloklowa Chickasaw claim descent from a group of 50 Chickasaws who moved into South Carolina at the state's request in the 18th century, and they give the following as a source: Lippert and Spignesi 102. They say “Chalokiowa” means “turkey” in the Chickasaw language. They are based out of Hemingway, South Carolina.


As with many things, I remain skeptical of this modern day band of Chickasaw in South Carolina. But I don't know enough about them to deny their claim either. I looked “Hemingway” up on a map, and it looks like they lived where the pee-Dee Indians were last recorded, in Eastern South Carolina. Personally, until I see more evidence, I would suspect them to more likely be a remnant of the Pee Dee than of the Chickasaw. I could be wrong about this and freely admit it.


But I don't want this modern group to be confused with an earlier group who did settle on the South Carolina/Georgia, on the Savannah River, who were known to have been Chickasaw. This earlier group of Chickasaw Indians was invited by the South Carolina government to live along the Savannah River near Augusta in 1823, and they lost those same lands in 1783 because they chose to side with the English during the Revolutionary War. Most historians think these Chickasaw in South Carolina moved back to the Chickasaw Nation in Mississippi and Alabama. Apparently some South Carolinians think they went east.

PART TWO: THE CATAWBA WANTED TO BE ADOPTED BY THE CHICKASAW

From “The Catawba Indians, People of the River” by Douglas Summers Brown, Brown writes p. 323 that congress appropriated money for the Catawba to go to Oklahoma in 1848. Chief James Kegg wrote a letter to the president of the United States asking for permission to move to the west. Brown doubts however, that the president ever saw the letter. Brown says the government asked the Western Cherokee if the Catawba might live amongst them. Brown says John Ross replied emphatically, NO! But, Brown says, the Catawba themselves asked for permission to settle amongst the Chickasaw in Oklahoma. Quoting Brown, “The Western Chickasaw . . . had at one time invited the Catawba to settle amongst them. Government representatives promptly opened up negotiations with the Chickasaw among whom, the agent was told, some of the Catawba's descendants had already settled.” Continuing, it says, “The principle men of the tribe assured the agent that the Catawba would be welcome, but only the council had the right to invite them officially. But when a Chickasaw Council meeting was held in February of 1849, the Catawba proposal was voted down. This change of sentiment was attributed to the sudden death of old Chief Albertson, a strong advocate of the Catawbas.” I have found "Isaac Albertson's" name on several Chickasaw treaties starting in October 1832. 

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0356.htm

Did Chief Albertson descend from one of the Chickasaw who were living with/near the Catawba in the 1750s? I will continue to research these things.


Well, since one branch of my genealogy seems to go back to Fort Christanna, where a several bands of the Catawba, under the name Saponi, had been sent, and since my family later migrated to the Chickasaw Nation, this reference got my attention. I had an ancestor at Fort Gibson in the 1840s, but as far as I know, NOT the Chickasaw Nation, where were are located in the late 1880s, so the years are off. But it was sooooo close. Too bad . . .Still I was interested in this topic. Why had the Chickasaw ever invited the Catawba to live among them in the first place? What did they have in commom? The only common denominator seems to have been that at one time, from the 1720s to the 1780s, a small band of Chickasaw that had lived near the Catawba. Maybe there was something about that time frame that provided some friendship between the otherwise unrelated tribes.


https://archive.org/details/unitedstatescon666offigoog
United States Congressional Serial Set

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PART THREE: THE CATAWBA AND CHICKASAW IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Well, what did the two tribes, the Catawba and the Chickasaw, have in common, if anything , in South Carolina? Now I have been doing a lot of research about the history of the Eastern Siouan bands. I had been looking for every old map I could get my hands on. One map, dated 1750, actually showed some Chickasaw living with the Catawba!

The “Chicasaw” are next to the Wateree in 1750. These have to be the Chickasaw who were near Augusta. This is a map of the Catawba towns in 1750. In a few years a great Small Pox epidemic will kill half of the Catawba people, and their numbers had already been declining.

The 1756 treaty offers a small insight. One provision of the treaty, Catawba Chief Haigler (whom the treaty also calls Arataswa) states, “We are in perfect amity with the Cherokees, Cowetaws and Chickasaws. The Cherokees have ever been our Friends, and as they are a numerous Nation, we acknowledge them to be our elder Brother.” Here Haggler acknowledges the Cherokee as a powerful tribe. The Coweta's are a major band of the Creek Indians. But Chief Haggler also speaks of the Chickasaw as their friends. This is only 6 years after the map showing some Chickasaw as living within the Catawba Nation in their own town. We know there were some Chickasaw in South Carolina at least until 1783. Some say they went back to Mississippi/Mississippi and others say some of them remained in South Carolina after that date. 


I will keep looking for any communication between the Chickasaw and the Catawba between the years 1756 and 1846 when according to the Catawba, the Chickasaw had previously invited them to reside amongst them. However that invitation was taken off the table.