South Carolina – Indians, Native Americans – Wateree

Name, Language

• Alternate spellings: ?
• Possible meanings: "to float on water"
• Language family: Siouan

Current Status

• Extinct

SC Location, Territory

• Traditional: On the Wateree River near Camden in Kershaw County

Related SC Names

• Wateree River in Kershaw, Richland and Sumter counties

Population Estimates

• 1600: 1000

History

• Met Spanish explorer Juan Pardo sometime between 1566 and 1567, killing the soldiers he left behind.

• Fought with colonists against the Tuscarora Indians of North Carolina in the Tuscarora War of 1711-1712.

• Fought against colonists in the Yemassee War which greatly reduced their population in 1715.

• In the mid 1700s, the remaining tribe members merged with the Catawba tribe.

Dwellings

• Homes: Round, bark-covered dwellings with a fireplace in the center and opening in the roof to release smoke. Extended families lived in a single dwelling.
• Villages: Surrounded by a wooden palisade or wall. Consisted of a large, square council house, a "sweat lodge" or sauna, individual homes, and an open plaza for meetings, games, and dances.

Food

• Farming: Corn, beans, and squash
• Fishing: Variety of freshwater fish
• Hunting: Deer and other game

Beliefs and Practices

• ?

Related Wateree Indian Resources

• Merrell, James H. The Indians' New World: Catawbas and Their Neighbors from European Contact through the Era of Removal. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
• Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Instition Press, 1984, pp. 90-92.