South Carolina – Indians, Native Americans – Edisto

Name, Language

• The Edisto were a member of the Cusabo family of tribes.
  
  
• Alternate spellings: Edistoe, Edistow, Adusta, Audusta, Orista, Oristanum
  
  
• Possible meanings: ?
  
  
• Language family: Muskogean
  

Current Status

• Extinct

SC Location, Territory

• Traditional: Edisto Island and along the lower Edisto River in Charleston and Colleton counties.

Related SC Names

• Edisto River
• Edisto Beach in Colleton County
• Edisto Island in Charleston County

Population Estimates

• 1600: 1,000

History

• The Edisto aided a group of French Huguenots in 1562 with their unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony at Port Royal.

• The Spanish established a mission and built Fort San Felipe in the area in 1566.

• The Edisto and their neighbors rebelled against the Spanish and burned the fort in 1576. The Spanish rebuilt the fort.

• The Spanish abandoned Fort San Felipe in 1587. The Edisto moved from the lower Edisto River to Edisto Island.

• In 1663, they entertained English exploring parties.

• An English colony was established in the area in 1670.

• Weakened by disease and attacks from neighboring tribes, during 1715, the Edisto gradually disappeared.

Dwellings

• ?

Food

• Farming – ?
• Fishing – ?
• Hunting – ?

Beliefs and Practices

• ?

Related Edisto Indian Resources

• Milling, Chapman J. Red Carolinians. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1969.
• Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Instition Press, 1984, p. 158.