All about the ancient tribes
Catawba Indian Nation Chief William ‘Bill’ Harris is based in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and was elected by the tribe’s members. Involved in tribal politics for more than 20 years, Chief Harris has used his position as a tribal leader to work for the rights of the Catawba people as well as for the implementation of the Catawba Constitution.
In exchange for agreeing to assist them in their continual confrontations with other tribes, the Catawba were among the East Coast tribes that formed selected alliances with some of the early European colonists, including the Dutch, the English, and the French. Catawba are a tribe of people.
Catawba Reservation | |
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Headquarters | Rock Hill |
Government | |
Chief | William Harris |
Assistant Chief | Jason Harris |
Please keep in mind that ‘tnak’ is more informal than ‘hello,’ and is more like ‘hi’ or ‘howdy.’
Bringing together thirty-five (35) corporate and community leaders from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, Leadership Catawba brings together individuals who have proven leadership potential throughout our community. The program begins in August 2022 with an orientation session and a team-building retreat and finishes in March of the following year.
With around 2800 members residing on their reservation in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the Catawba tribe is now a nationally recognized tribe with a federally recognized government. Smaller groups of people dwell in Oklahoma and Colorado, where they are more numerous.
The Catawba Indians have been residing on their ancestral territories along the banks of the Catawba River for at least 6000 years, according to archaeological evidence. It is thought that the Nation occupied the majority of the Piedmont region of South Carolina, North Carolina, and sections of Virginia before coming into contact with European explorers.
Kataba (/ktb/) is an Eastern Siouan language spoken in the eastern United States. It is one of two Eastern Siouan languages spoken in the eastern United States, which combined with other Western and Eastern Siouan languages constituted the Siouan language family. Samuel Taylor Blue, who died in 1959, was the last person to speak Catawba natively and fluently.
Catawba Indians were a group of Native Americans that lived in the Catawba River Valley above and below the current North Carolina-South Carolina boundary in historical times. These people are derived from a vast number of autonomous peoples that lived in the Catawba Valley and spoke a Siouan language, which they still speak now.
The Catawbas were an agricultural group of individuals. Catawba women worked in the fields, harvesting maize, beans, and squash. Catawba men hunted deer, wild turkeys, and other small animals, as well as going fishing in the rivers of their homeland. Cornbread, soups, and stews were some of the traditional Catawba foods.
As the Spanish, English, and French fought it out for control of the Carolinas, the Catawba were reduced to the status of virtual satellites of the various colonial powers. A smallpox outbreak wiped out about half of the tribe in 1738, and by 1780, there were only an estimated 500 Catawba people remaining on the reservation.
It is possible that it is derived from the Choctaw word katapa, which means’separated’ or ‘split.’ Several other academics have linked the term to a native Catawba phrase that means ″people on the edge (or bank) of a river″ or ″people of the fork.″ ″Nieye″ (people) or ″Ye iswa’here″ (you are here) were terms used by the Catawba to refer to themselves (people of the river).
The Catawba Two Kings Casino is located near Exit 5 on I-85, in the Catawba Valley. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with smoking only permitted in specific outside areas.
Catawba Indians were both enslavers and slaves, as was the case with the Cherokees.
The Catawba tribe sold everything save one square mile of their reserve in 1841. The tribal headquarters are still located in this location today. During their return to South Carolina in 1850, the Catawba tribe members were given more than 600 acres by the state.