Indigenous Peoples of South Carolina

Tribes and Bands of South Carolina
A list of American Indians who have lived in South Carolina has been compiled by John R. Swanton in his The Indian Tribes of North America Many of the tribes in this list may have had very limited contact with the area which became South Carolina. Some have become extinct or have been consolidated with other tribes. And some may simply be variant spellings.

Catawba, Cherokee, Chiaha, Chickasaw, Congaree, Creek, Cusabo, Eno, Keyauwee, Natchez, Pedee, Saluda, Santee, Sewee, Shakori, Shawnee, Sissipahaw, Sugaree, Waccamaw, Wateree, Waxhaw, Winyaw, Yamasee, Yuchi

Other tribes may have also been residents of the area of South Carolina, at least for a short time.

The following tribal names have been suggested as having resided in South Carolina, but no documentation for their contact with this state has been identified.

Cherokee - Iroquaian, Siouan, Muskhogean and Algonquain Cherokee Bear Clan, Chalokolowa-Chickasaw, Sumter Band of Cheraw

South Carolina State Recognized Tribes

 * Beaver Creek Indians
 * Edisto Natchez-Kusso Indians
 * Pee Dee Nation of Upper South Carolina
 * Santee Indian Organization (formerly White Oak Indian Community)
 * Waccamaw Indian People
 * Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians
 * Chaloklowa Chickasaw Indian People
 * Eastern Cherokee
 * Southern Iroquois and United Tribes of South Carolina, Inc.(also known as Cherokee Indian Tribe of South Carolina or ECSIUT)
 * Natchez Indian Tribe
 * Pee Dee Indian nation of Beaver Creek
 * Piedmont American Indian Association of South Carolina.

Waddell, Gene. Indians of the South Carolina Lowcountry, 1562-1751. WorldCat

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.

Reservation Map - South Carolina - Indian Reservations- Federal Lands and Indian Reservations. by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.


 * Catawba Reservation, State, Tribe: Catawba

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

A Census of Catawba Indians residing in South Carolina and Haywood County, North Carolina was taken in 1849:


 * Catawba Indian Records: The Second Census of the Catawba Indians and Other Miscellaneous Records. MSS.


 * The Never-ending Road: American Roma (Gypsy), Travellers, &amp; "Others": Early Native American Indian Remnants &amp; Other SC Ethnic Groups.

FamilySearch Library
The FamilySearch Library has some published documents and histories of Indians who lived in South Carolina in the colonial era.


 * The Catawba, Old Cheraws, Cherokee, and other Indian nations are chronicled in Chapman J. Milling, Red Carolinians (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1940)
 * To access other documents and histories of Indians in South Carolina available through the FamilySearch Library, use the Place-names search at the FamilySearch Catalog for:


 * SOUTH CAROLINA - NATIVE RACES


 * SOUTH CAROLINA,[COUNTY] - NATIVE RACES

Websites
Carolina Indian Heritage Association

South Carolina's Information Highway (SCIWAY) This site gives information on the South Carolina Indians: tribes, Geography, history, Language, Place Names and Resources

See also:
South Carolina - Church Records for a list of missions

South Carolina - Military Records for a list of forts

South Carolina_History