CherokeeThe Cherokee was a Native American nation that lived in the foothills and mountains of South Carolina at the time of the encounter with Europeans. The Cherokee called themselves ‘the real people’ and were a powerful nation. The Cherokee lived in villages of up to six hundred people surrounded by a palisade for protection. Their summer homes were open to the air; their winter homes were round structures with thick walls made of a mixture of grass and clay called daub. The roofs were made of bark and branches called wattle. The men fished by poisoning the water with walnut bark. This stunned the fish and made them rise in the water to be gathered. Leaders of the village, including women, met as a council to make rules for the nation. In times of peace, the village was led by a White leader; in times of war |
CatawbaTheCatawba
tribe, who called themselves the“river people”, lived along the rivers of the Piedmont region in villages surrounded by a palisade. Their homes were wigwams made of sapling frames covered with bark or mats made of grasses and reeds. The Catawba also had council houses in their villages where leaders made the rules for the people. The Catawba were great potters, using clay that they shaped into pots. The Catawba were known as being the friendly Native Americans that eventually die off from small pox given to them from diseases brought over by the Europeans. |
YemasseeThe Yemassee nation was originally from Spanish Florida (present day Georgia) but later moved to the coast of South Carolina near the mouth of the Savannah River to escape the Spanish governor. During the summer the people lived on the beach in wigwams covered with palmetto leaves which were plentiful in the area. During the fall, winter, and spring they lived farther inland in wattle and daub homes like the Cherokee with a roof of palmetto leaves. Clams and oysters were part of their diet. The Yemassee also had a council that sometimes included women. The Yemassee were known as being the mean and hostile tribe and eventually fled to Florida after the Yemassee War with the settlers |