The Catawba people were also known as Issa or Esaw, "People of the River."
Location Catawbas traditionally lived along the North Carolina-South Carolina border, especially along the Catawba River. Today, most live near Rock Hill, South Carolina. Some live in Oklahoma, in Colorado, and in other states.
Population The Catawba were the largest of the eastern Siouan tribes in the early seventeenth century, with a population of about 6,000. There were roughly 1,400 people enrolled in the tribe in the mid-1990s.
Language Catawba is probably a Siouan language.
Historical Information
History Catawbas may have come to the Carolinas from the northwest. They first encountered non-natives—Spanish explorers—in the mid-sixteenth century. Extensive contact with British traders in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries transformed their lives. A dependence on non-native goods caused them to hunt ever farther afield for pelts with which to purchase such goods. Encroachment on other peoples’ hunting grounds combined with the heavy volume of goods carried along the trade routes encouraged increased attacks by enemy Indians. Catawbas also underwent severe depopulation from disease.
In order to maintain trade relations with the colonists, the Catawba took their side in a 1711-1713 war with the Tuscarora Indians. By 1715, however, some Catawbas had taken the Indian side in the Yamasee war, rebelling against unfair trade practices, forced labor, and slave raids. The non-native victory in this conflict broke the power of the local Indians.
In the mid-eighteenth century smallpox epidemics almost wiped the tribe out: Their precontact population of about 6,000 had declined by over 90 percent to 500 or fewer. Alcohol sold and aggressively promoted by Anglo traders took many more lives. Catawbas tended to absorb local tribes who suffered the same fate, such as the Cheraw, Sugaree, Waxhaw, Congaree, Santee, Pedee, and Wateree.
In 1760-1761 the Catawbas were forced by their dependence on the state of South Carolina to fight against the powerful Cherokee in the French and Indian War. By 1763 they were confined within a 15-square-mile (144,000-acre) reservation, as non-natives continued to take their former lands. Part of the agreement creating the reservation stipulated that non-Indians would be evicted from it (which never happened) and that the Catawba continued to enjoy hunting rights outside the area. Their last great chief, Haigler, or Arataswa, died at that time.
The declining tribe took the patriot side in the American Revolution and began a long process of intermarriage with the Pamunkey of Virginia at that time. After the war, they granted many long-term renewable leases to non-natives. They also established two towns, Newtown and Turkeyhead, on both sides of the Catawba River.
Some of the few remaining, poverty-stricken Catawbas went to live with the Cherokee in western Carolina in the 1830s. In 1840 they signed a treaty with the state of South Carolina, agreeing to cede lands in that state and move to North Carolina. Unable to buy land there, however, most dispersed among the Cherokee and Pamunkey, although a very few remained in South Carolina.
In the 1850s, most Catawbas who had gone to live with the Cherokee returned to South Carolina. A few families moved to Arkansas, the Indian Territory, Colorado, Utah, or elsewhere. Those in South Carolina acquired a reservation of 630 (of the original 144,000) poor-quality acres. They also obtained the promise of annual payments from the state.
Many South Carolina Catawbas began sharecropping at that time but returned occasionally to live on the reservation. They also continued to speak their language and to make their traditional crafts. The Catawba Indian School opened in 1896 and ran until 1962. Mormons also played a large role in educating Catawba children beginning in the 1880s.
Many Catawbas worked in textile mills beginning after World War I. The Indians added to their reservation by purchasing land in the mid-twentieth century. By that time, however, traditional Catawba culture had all but expired. Although the federal trust relationship was formally begun only in 1943, as a result of Catawba legal pressure, in 1962 the tribe voluntarily ended its relationship with the federal government, at which time individuals took over possession of the recently purchased tribal lands.
Religion The people made use of wooden images in their ceremonies, which were relatively unconnected to the harvest. Enemies were killed to accompany the dead to an afterworld.
Government There were two bands in the early eighteenth century. Some of their chiefs—men and women—were quite powerful.
Customs Catawbas may have practiced frontal head deformation. The chunkey game was a variety of hoop and pole, played with a stone roller. They also played stickball, or lacrosse. At puberty, young women learned how properly to wear decorative feathers. Doctors and conjurers cured and detected thieves by consorting with spirits. Men alone were punished in cases of adultery. Divorce was easy to obtain, and widows could remarry at once. Corpses were buried under bark and earth; later, the bones of chiefs were dug up, cleaned, wrapped in deerskins, and redeposited in a crypt. Personal enemies may have been poisoned.
Dwellings Six early villages were located in river valleys. People lived in bark-covered pole-frame houses. The town houses were circular, as were the temples. Open arbors were used in summer.
Diet Women grew corn, beans, squash, and gourds. Men hunted widely for large and small game, including buffalo, deer, and bear. The people also ate fish, pigeons, acorns, and various other wild plant foods.
Key Technology Blowguns with an average length of 5-6 feet and with an effective range of no more than 30 feet were used to bring down birds. Darts, about 8-10 inches long, were made of wood slivers. Scratchers, similar to combs, were made of a split reed with rattlesnake teeth. A number of clay items were made, including pipes.
Trade The main regional aboriginal trade routes ran right through Catawba territory. The Catawba became heavily involved with British traders, especially in the mid-eighteenth century but beginning at least in 1673.
Notable Arts Pottery was an ancient and highly developed art. It was often stamped with a carved piece of wood before firing. Baskets were constructed of rushes, roots, or grasses.
Transportation Rivers were navigated on dugout and possibly birch bark canoes.
Dress Chiefs wore headdresses of wild turkey feathers. Women may have worn leggings as well as, when mourning, clothing made from tree moss.
War and Weapons Traditional enemies included the Cherokee, Shawnee, and Iroquois, with whom they fought often. They also fought the Delaware in historic times. Catawba raiding parties traveled long distances, even to the Great Lakes.
Contemporary Information
Government/Reservations The Catawba State Reservation (650 acres) is located near Rock Hill (eastern York County), South Carolina. The tribe gained nonprofit corporate status in 1973 and elected an eight-member tribal council and executive committee at that time. The 1990 Indian population was 124.
Economy The tribe is known for its pottery, which, unlike any other eastern tribe, they continue to make approximately in the ancient way. There is also individual and tribal income from the 1993 settlement (see "Legal Status"). The people are relatively well educated and enjoy a range of economic opportunities.
Legal Status The Catawba Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribal entity. The tribe claimed possession of its 144,000-acre colonial reservation, holding that the lands were never legally transferred. An agreement with the United States was effected in 1993, by the terms of which federal tribal status was reinstated and the tribe was paid $50 million.
Daily Life Catawbas in Colorado and other western states, though not formally enrolled, communicate regularly with the Carolina people. Pottery making and training are still important activities. Other crafts include hide tanning, blowgun making, and beadwork. Most Catawbas are Mormons. The tribe sponsors an annual cultural festival and is involved with numerous local and regional museums. Efforts are under way to revive the native language. The old knowledge and ceremonies have long since disappeared.
