Sewee Indians – Native Americans in SC

South Carolina SC Native Americans SC Indian Tribes SC Sewee Indians

Name, Language – Sewee Indians

  • Alternate spellings: Seewee, Seawee, Seewa, Sewoe
  • Possible meanings: "island"
  • Language family: Siouan

Current Status – Sewee Indians

SC Location, Territory – Sewee Indians

Related SC Names – Sewee Indians

Population Estimates – Sewee Indians

  • 1600: 800
  • 1715: 57 (one village)

History – Sewee Indians

  • During the 1670s, they were possibly the first natives to meet the English settlers in Sewee Bay, now Bulls Bay. They assisted the English in fighting off the Spanish and supplied them with food.

  • By 1701, the Sewee had been decimated by alcohol and smallpox.

  • After 1715, the remaining members probably merged with the Catawba.

Dwellings – Sewee Indians

  • ?

Food – Sewee Indians

  • Accounts by settlers who received food from the Sewee indicated that they grew corn, probably as their staple food.

Beliefs and Practices – Sewee Indians

  • ?

Related Sewee Indian Resources

  • Milling, Chapman J. Red Carolinians. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1969, pp. 206-208.
  • Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984, pp. 98-99.
  • Coy, Mary. "A Lowcountry Thanksgiving." Charleston, SC: Island Vibes Vol. 1, Issue 2 November 2023, pp. 24-25.


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