THE PEDEE, WACCAMAW, AND WINYAW; THE HOOKS AND BACKHOOKS

Synoniimij.

Peadea.

—

LaTour map,1784.

Fedees.

—

War mapof 1715 iuWiiisor,HistoryofAmerica,1887, vol.v, p. 346.

Peedee.

—

Documentof 1732 inGregg, HistoryoftheOld Cheraws, 1867, p.8.

Ptdees.—Glen(1751j in

New

YorkCol. Docs.,1855, vol.vi, p.709.

Waccamans.

—

Letter of 1715inCol. Rec. of Kortli Carolin.a, 1886, vol.ii, p.252.

Waccamawc.

—

^Ibid., p.252.

Wacemaus.

—

^Ibid., ]). 251.

Waggamaw.

— Map

of theProvinceofSouthCarolina, 1760.

Wuggoman.

— War

mapof 1715 inWinsor,op. cit.,vo].v, p.346 (misprint).

Wicomaw. -Bowcn, Mapof the BritishAmerican Plantations, 1760.

JVigomaiv.

—

^Moll,mapof Carolina,1720.

Weenees.

—

Rivers, History of SouthCarolina,18.56, p.36(same?).

Wenee{riyer).

—

Mapof theProvinceofSouthCarolina, 1760.

Wincaus.

—

Letter of 1715 inCol.Rec. ofNorthCarolina, 1886, vol.ii,p. 251.

TVivgah.

—

MapoftheProvinceof SouthCarolina, 1760(misprint).

Winymvs.

—

^{Mills,Statistics ofSouthCarolina,} 1826,p.108.

Winyo.

—

Bowen,Mapof the BritishAmerican Plantations, 1760.

Wyniaxi-s.

—

^Gallatin inTrans,andColls. Am.Anti(iuariau Soc,1836, vol.ii,p.89.

Hools.

—

Lawson(1714),History of Carolina, reprint of 1860,p. 45.

Baclchooks.

—

Lawson,op. cit.,p.45 (misprint). .

Back Hooks.

—

^{Rivers,Historyof SouthCarolina,}1856,p. 35.

These small tribes lived on the lower

Pedee and

its tributaries in SouthCarolina

and

the contiguous border ofNorth Carolina. Nothing

is

known

of theirlanguageand verylittle can

now

be learned of their formerdaily lifeor their religioiis system of belief, asthey were never prominentin history.

For the

"Hooks"

and

"Backbooks"

there is only the authorityof Lawson,

who

mentions

them

as enemies of the Santee, living in tlie earliestpart of the eighteenth century about the

mouth

of

Winyaw

river,i.e.,Wiiiyah bay. South Carolina(Lawson,13).

The names

have a suspicious appearance, asthough badlycorruptedfrom their proper forms. Rivers, perhapsfromoriginal information,

makes them Hooks and Back

Hooks,which, if correct,

may

indicatethatthe former lived nearerthe coast

and

the other.sback ofthem.

The Waccamaw

livedon the riverof that name, which enters the

Pedee

fromthe north almostatits mouth.

The Winyaw

livedon the western ^sideof the

Pedee

near itsmouth. Blackriver, a lower tribu- tary of the

Pedee

fromthewest,

was

formerlycalled

Wenee

^river,prob-

ably another formofthe

same

word,

and Winyah bay

still preserves their

memory. The two

tribes are mentioned in 1715 as living near

^oo^^yj

THE WACCAMAW AND PEDEE. 77

together

and

asreceiving" supplies of ammunition from the Sara,

who

were endeavoring to persuade

them

to join the

Yamasi and

other hostiles against the English ^(N",

C,

11). In 1755 the Cherokee

and

Kotchee were reported to

have

killed

some

Pedee

and Waccamaw

inthewhitesettlements (Gregg,5). Thisappearstobe thelastmention of the

Waccamaw,

tlioughfromotherevidenceit isi^robable that, like the Pedee, Sara,

and

other tribes of that region, the

remnant was

finallyincorporated with theCatawba.

The Pedee

are

somewhat

betterknown.

They

lived on the middle course of

Pedee

river,

and

on amaj) of 1715their village islocated on the eastern bank, considerably below that of the Sara (about the present villageofCheraw).

They

arementionedina

document

of1732,

and

againin1743. In¹741they

and

theNotcheekilledseveralCatawba,

whereupon

the

Catawba

pursued

them and

drove

them down

into the settlements,necessitating theinterferenceof thecolonial

government

to prevent

war

between the

two

parties. In 1746 they

and

the Saraare mentioned as two small tribes, which

had

beenlongincorj)oratedwith theCatawba.

They

were restlessunderthe connection, however,

and

again Governor Glen

had

to interfere to prevent their separation.

This he did

by

representing to

them

that either

was

too

weak

to stand alone againsttheir enemies,althoughstrong

enough when

united, enforcing the parable

by means

of abundle of ramrods. Incidentally

it is learned that the

Pedee owned

negro slaves, as also did other tribes near the settlements (Gregg, 6). In the

Albany

conference of 1751they arementioned as one of the small tribes living

among

the whites,withwhichthe SouthCarolina

government

desired the Iroquois tobeatpeace

(New

York, 21). Inthe followingyearthe

Catawba

sent a message to Governor Glen to the effect that there werestill a great

many Pedee

living

among

the settlements,

and

asking

him

to advise theseto

come and

livewith

them

(the Catawba),

who

promisedto treat

them

as ^brothers.

By

this

means

the

Catawba

represented to the governor that theythemselves

would

be strengthened

and

the

Pedee would

runless risk of being killed

by

^hostileIndians while straggling in the woods. It isnot imi)r()bable that the invitation

was

accepted

by most

ofthe

Pedee who had

notalready joined theCatawba, although there is a record of

some Pedee

having been killed

by

the Notchee

and

Cherokeein 1755 within the whitesettlements (Gregg, 7).

THE SEWEE, SANTEE, W ATE REE, AN^D COl!^GAREE.

Synonymy.

Seawees.

—

Documentof 1719inRivers,Hist, of South Carolina, 1874, p. 93.

Sevwas.

—

Rivers(anonymous),History ofSouthCarolina, _{1856, p.}38.

Seicee.

—

Pureoll,Mapof Virginia,etc.,1795.

Seivees.

—

Lawson(1714), History of Carolina, reprint of1860, p. L'5.

Santees.

—

^Lawson(1714), op. cit.,p.34.

Seratees.

—

Mills, Statisticsof SouthCarolina, 1826, p. 735.

78 SIOUAN TRIBES OF THE

EAST. _[ethnology

Seretee.

—

Lawson,op.^cit., p. 45.

Zaniees.

— ^Howe

ⁱⁿSchoolcraft,IndianTribes, 1854, vol. iv, p. 1.55.

Chirhanees.

—

^Rivers(anonymous), History ofSouthCarolina, 18.56,p. 36.

Chickaree.

—

HoweinSchoolcraft, op.cit.,p. 158.

Guatari.

—

LaVandera(1569) inSmith,Docnmentos Indditos, 1857, vol. i,p. 17.

Watarees.

—

Jeffreys,FrenchDominionsinAmerica, 1761,parti,map,p. 1.34.

Watary.

—

Ledcrer, Discoveries,1672, p. 16.

Wateree.

—

Lawson (1714), op, cit.,p.56.

WatereeChicJcanee.

—

Ibid., p.59.

Waterrees.—Ibid., p.99.

Wattcree.—'MoU, Mapof Carolina, 1720.

Cmu/f/arce.

—

^Adair, Hist.Am. Indians, 1775, p. 225.

Confjarcs.— Doc. of 1719inRivers,EarlyHist,ofSouthCarolina,1874, p. 92.

CorKjarees.

—

Ibid., p.^93.

Congeres.

—

^Moll,Mapof Carolina, 1720.

Congerecs.

—

Lawson(1714), op. ^cit., p. 34.

Congree.—L,a Tour,MapofUnitedStates, 1784.

Conqerees

—

War map of 1715inAVinsor, Hist,of Am., 1887, vol.v, p. 346.

The

Sautee and its branches, the

Wateree and

the Cougaree, were held

by

the Sewee, Santee, Wateree, and Couoaree tribes,

whose

terri- tory extended to the neighborhood of the

Waxhaw and

Catawba.

Nothing is

known

of their linguisticaffinities, but their alliances

and

finalincorporation were withtheCatawba.

The Sewee

occui^ied the coast

and

the lower part oftheriver below

tlie Santee, extending westward to the divide of Ashley riverabout the present

Monks

Corner, in Berkeleycounty, South Carolina,

where

they adjoined the EtiwaM' (Rivers, 2). Their

name

is preserved in

Sewee

bay. Lawson,

who met them

in 1701, states that they

had

formerlybeen a large tribe, but, like the othertribes of Carolina,

had

been

much

wasted

by

smallpox

and

otherdiseases,

and

through the effectof liquor introduced

by

the whites.

The

great mortality always produced

among them by

smallpox

was owing

chietly to their universal habit of plungingintothe water ^atthe critical stage of the disease in orderto easethemselves of the feverishburnings.

The

destruction ofthe

Sewee was

theimmediate result of the fail-

ure of a great trading scheme which they

had

elaborated, but which proveddisastrousto theoriginators.

Being

dissatisfied withthebar- gains that the traders drove with them,

and

having noticed thatthe English vessels always

came

in atone particular harbor, theycon- cluded that

by

starting from the

same

point with their canoes they could easily reach England, which they

would

not believe

was

so far off asthewhites said,

and

there dotheir

own

trading to betteradvan- tage. Accordingly, after having deliberated the matter in council, they prepared a fleetof large canoes,

which

theyloaded with a full stock of their finest furs

and what

they supposed were sufficient sup- plies for thevoyage. In order notto be cheated out of thereward of theirenterprise,the plan

and

preparationwere kepta secretfromtheir neighboring tribes.

When

thefleet

was

ready they

embarked

nearly

SIOUAN

MOONEY,f^r]

THE SANTEE OR SERATEE. 79

all theirable-bodied men, leaving only the old people

and

children at

home

toawait their return,

and

putout into the Atlantic. Unfortu- natelythey were hardly out of sight oflaud before a storm (;ame up, which

swamped

most of their canoes

and drowned

the occupants, while the survivors were taken

up by

an English ship

and

sold as slaves in the

West

Indies. Aboriginal free trade thus received its

death blowin Carolina,

and

their

voyage

to

England

remained a sore toi^ic

among

the

Sewee

for along timethereafter.

Lawson

describes the

remnant

as tall, athletic fellows,

and

excellentcanoemen,

and

inci- dentally mentions that they used

mats

as sails.

Avendaughbough,

a deserted villagewhich he found on

Sewee bay

(p. 24),

was

probably oneof their settlements (Lawson, 14),

Ouly

one later referencetothe

Sewee

is

known.

It is said that in

January, 1715, they

numbered

57 souls

and

occupied a single village CO _(?) miles northeast ofCharleston (Rivers).

The Yamasi

war,which

began

three

months

later

and

involved all the tribesof thatregion, probablyput an end to their existence as a separate

and

distincttribe.

The

Santee or Serateelived on Santee river from the

Sewee

settle-

ments

up

about tothe forks.

They

were a small tribe,even in 1701, although theirchief

had more

desi)Otic

power

than

among

othertribes.

They had

severalvillages,one smallone beingcalled llickerau,

known

to the traders as "theblack house."

They

Avere a generally hospitable people

and

friendly to thewhites,butwereat that timeat

war

with the tribes below

them

onthe coast.

They made

beautiful feather robes,

wove

cloths

and

sashesofhair,

and

storedtheircorninprovisionhouses raised on posts

and

plastered withclay,afterthe

manner

ofthe Chero- kee

and

othersouthern tribes. It is recorded that their chief

was

an absolute rulerwith

power

of life

and

death over his tribe, an instance ofdespotism very rareinthat region but probably in accordancewith the customof the Santee, as

we

learn that his predecessor

had

been equallyunquestioned in his authority

and

dieaded by all his enemies

forhis suj^eriorprowess.

Their distinguisheddead wereburiedonthe tops of

mounds

builtlow orhigh accordingto therank of the deceased,

and

with a ridge roof supported

by

poles over the graveto shelteritfrom the weather.

On

these poleswere

hung

rattles, feathers,

and

other ofi'erings from the relationsofthedead

man. The

corpse ofanordinary person

was

care- fullydressed,

wrapped

in bark,

and

exposed on a platform for several days,duringwhichtimeoneof hisnearestkinsman,withfaceblackened intoken of grief, stood guard near the sjiot

and

chanteda mournful eulogy of the dead.

The

ground aboutthe platform

was

keptcarefully swept,

and

allthedead man'sbelongings, gun, bow,

and

feather robes, wereplacednearby.

As

soonasthe Hesli

had

softenedit

was

stripped fromthebones

and

burned,

and

the bones themselves were cleaned, theskull being

wrapped

separately in a cloth

woven

^of

opossum

hair.

80 SIOUAN TRIBES OF THE

EAST. _[ethnology

The

bones werethen put into a box, from which they were takenout annuallyto beagain cleaned

and

oiled. In this

way some

families

had

intheirpossession the bonesoftheir ancestors forseveral generations.

Placeswhere warriors

had

been killed were sometimes distinguished

by

pilesof stones, orsometimesofsticks,towhichevery passing Indian

added

another (Lawson, 15).

The

custom of cleaning

and

preserving the bones of the dead

was common

also to the Choctaw, Nanticoke,

and

severalother tribes.

Accordingto an old

document

theSantee in January, 1715, still

had two

villages,70_(?)milesnorth ofCharleston,with 43 warriors (Rivers), equaltoabout ICO souls.

As

nothingis heard of

them

laterthey prob- ablywere destroyed as a tribe

by

the

Yamasi

war, which broke out soon after.

TlieCongareelived on Santee

and Congaree

rivers,above

and

below the junction ofthe Wateree,in central South Carolina.

They had

the Santee tribe below

them and

the

Wateree

tribe above.

Lawson

found

them

in 1701, apparentlyonthe northeastern

bank

of the river below the junction of the Wateree; but ona

map

of1715 theirvillageis indi- cated on the southern

bank

of the Congaree

and

considerably above, perhaps about Big Beavercreek,orabout oppositethesiteofColumbia, on the eastern

boundary

ofLexington county.

A

fort called by their

name was

establishednearthisvillage

and

aboutthe present Columbia in 1718,

and

accordiiig to

Logan became

an importanttrading station.

Lawson

described their village in 1701 as consisting of only about a dozenhouses, locatedona small creek flowinginto Santeeriver.

They

were thenbut a small tribe,having lost heavily

by

tribal feuds, but

more

especially

by

smallpox, which

had

depopulated whole villages.

They

wereafriendly people,

handsome and

wellbuilt,the

women

being especially beautiful.

Although

the several tribeswere generally small

and

lived closely adjoiningone another, yet there

was

as great adiffer- ence in their features

and

disposition as in language, which

was

usually differentwith each tribe (Lawson, ^IG).

The

Congaree, like their neighbors, took part in the

Yamasi war

in 1715, as a result of which they were so reduced that they were obligedto

move up and

join the Catawba, with

whom

theywereliving in 1743, ^stillpreserving their distinct dialect(Adair, 8).

The Wateree

werefirst

met by

the Spaniards under

Juan

de

Pardo

in 1507,

and

were described

by La Vandera

twoyears later under the

name

of Guatari.

The name

isderivedfromthe

Catawba word

^icaterdn,

"to float in the water" (Gatschet).

From

the Spanish account they were thenliving ataconsiderable distancefromthe coast

and

near the Cherokeefrontier. Tliey are described asbeing15or16leaguessouth- east from "Otari-yati(pii," a misconception of an Indian term for an interpreter oftheOtari, Atali, or

Mountain

Cherokee.

They

wereruled

by two

female chiefs,

who

helddignified conrt with a retinue of

young

men and women

as attendants (French, 2).

MooifEY] "I'HE

OONGAREE AND WATEREE.

81

More

than a ceutiiry later (in 1070) Lederer found tlieni apparently on the extreme nipper Yadkin, far northwest of their later location, withthe Shoccoree

and Eno

on their northeast

and

the Saraon their west. Itisprobable thatin this position theyAverenotfarfromwhere they

had

been found

by Pardo

in 15G7. Thereisreason tobelievethat the

name Wateree was

formerly applied to

Pedee and Yadkin

rivers iDStead of the stream

now known by

that

name

(Gregg, 8).

Pardo

describes the

Wateree

as differing from other Indians in being slaves, rather than subjects, to their chiefs, which agrees with

what Lawson

says of the Santee.

While

Lederer

was

stopping with the

Wateree

their chief sent out three warriors with orders to kill

some young women

of a hostile tribe in order that their spiritsmight servehis son,

who was

dying, in the other world. Inaccordancewith their instructionstheysoon returned withthescalpsand the skinfrom thefaces ofthree

young women.

Thesetrophiestheypresentedto the chiefwho, ^it is related,received

them

with grateful

acknowledgment

(Lederer, 12).

In the first half of the eighteenth century the

Wateree

lived on

Wateree

river in South Carolina, with the Congaree below

them and

the

Catawba and Waxhaw

above.

On

a

map

of 1715their village is

marked

onthe western

bank

of the river,perhaps about the present

Wateree

creek in Fairfield county. Moll's

map

^of 1730 jilaces their villageon the northern or eastern

bank

of the river,

and

Mills states definitelythatit

was

on Pinetree creek below

Camden

(Mills,5). It

seemstohave beenhere that

Law

son found

them

in 1701.

He

calls

them

in oneplace

"Wateree

Chickanee" Indians, thelatter part of the

compound

perhaps designating a particular

band

of the tribe.

He

describes

them

as tall

and

well built, friendly,butgreatpilferers

and

verylazy, even for Indians.

At

that time they

had

but few guns or otherarticles obtained from thewliites. Theirhouses wereas poor as their industry.

They

were a

much

larger tribe than the Congaree,

and

spoke a ditterent language (Lawson, 17).

The Yamasi war

in 1715 probably broketheir i)ower,

and

in 1743 they wereconsolidated withthe Catawba,

though

still constitutinga large village and retain- ingtheir distinct dialect (Adair, 9).