South Carolina – Indians, Native Americans – The Pee Dee

SC Pee Dee Indians

Name, Language

Alternate spellings: Pedee, Peedee, Peadea, Pidees
Possible meanings: From pi'ri, Catawba for "something good" or pi'here, for "smart, expert, capable"
Language family: Siouan

Active
The Pee Dee Indian Tribe of South Carolina obtained official state recognition on January 27, 2006.
The Pee Dee Indian Nation of Upper South Carolina obtained official state recognition in February 2005.

The Pee Dee River, about 435 miles long, rises as the Yadkin River in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern North Carolina and flows northeast then southeast to Winyah Bay, South Carolina. It is called the Yadkin for about 200 miles until it is joined by the Uharie River west of Troy, North Carolina. As the Pee Dee, it continues for another 230 miles.
Traditional: Along the middle course of the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield and Marlboro counties
Today: The Pee Dee Indian Tribe of South Carolina is headquartered in the McColl, Marlboro County.

Great Pee Dee River - Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marlboro, Marion, Williamsburg counties
Little Pee Dee River

1712 – Fought with the British in the Tuscarora War
1715 – Map shows Pee Dee village located on the east bank of the Pee Dee River, near where the town of Cheraw is now. The Cheraw tribe lived to the north.
1715-1716 – Fought with the British against other South Carolina tribes in the Yemassee War
1717 – A Pee Dee Indian named Tom Rice negotiated a peace agreement between the British colonists and the neighboring Cheraw tribe.
1744 – Tribe members killed several Catawba. In return the Catawba drove the Pee Dee from their lands into white settlements.
1751 – At the Albany conferences the Iroqouis agree not to attack the Pee Dee and several other small South Carolina tribes whose members lived in white settlements.
1752 – The Pee Dee began joining the Catawba, though some remained in white settlements as late as 1755.
1808 – Last mention of the Pee Dee in a state document

Homes: Built circular homes made of tree bark along river banks.
Villages: Most villages probably contained a sweat lodge which was used for ritual purification, but no description of these exists.

Farming: Corn, beans. Gathered many wild plants and nuts including acorns, chestnuts, strawberries, and plums.
Hunting: Deer and small game
Fishing: Freshwater fish

Little is known about the culture of the Pee Dee, but it is likely that their beliefs and basic practices were similar to other southeastern Siouan tribes.

Gorry, Connor "Pee Dee." Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998, pp. 468-70.
Milling, Chapman J. Red Carolinians. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1969, pp. 220-30.
Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Instition Press, 1984, p. 97.