Catawba Indian Nation

The Catawba Nation is primarily associated with the state of South Carolina.

History
Culture Area: Southern Piedmont                    Linguistic Family:  Eastern Siouan

Traditional Economy: agriculture, hunting, gathering

The Catawba Indian Nation/Catawba Tribe of South Carolina is the only Federaly recognized tribe in South Carolina.

Brief Timeline
1738: smallpox raged in South Carolina and many Catawba died.

1759: samllpox killed close to 50% of the tribe

1763: reservation 15 miles square on both sides of the Catawba river, within the present York and Lancaster counties, South Carolina

1826: the reservation was leased to non-indians

1841: The Catawba tribe sold all but one square mile of their reservation. The tribal headquarters is located there today.

Brief History
Some of the tribe removed from the area and joined the Cherokee, most returned after a short time.

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Catawba Nation, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North Americaand in the Biography and history of the Indians of North America from its first discovery by Samuel G. Drake.

Tribal Headquarters
Catawba Indian Nation 996 Avenue of the Nations Rock Hill, SC 29730 Phone: 803.366.4792 Fax: 803.366.0629

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution and By-Laws of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina, approved 1944.
 * Offical website of the Catawba Indian Nation of South Carolina.
 * Catawba Tribe Wikipedia