South Carolina
Native Americans
SC History
8-1.1
Summarize the collective and individual aspects of the
Native American culture of the Eastern Woodlands tribal
group, including the Catawba, Cherokee, and Yemassee.
Chapter 3
South Carolina Native Americans
1350-1500
European
Renaissance
Prehistory-Native
Americans in
America
1492 Columbus
Arrives in
America
1527 Spain
settlement at San
Miguel de Gualdape
near Georgetown, SC
1562 France
settlement at Charles
Fort near Port Royal,
SC
Chapter 3
South Carolina Native Americans
American Indian Eras
Paleo Indians (10,000 B.C.)
• Hunter gatherers – hunted large herd animals/gathered plants
for food
• Used projectile points attached to spears & stone tools
• Were NOT farmers
Archaic Indians (8,000-2,000 B.C.)
• Became less nomadic-more settled
• Large animals (mammoth/camels) disappeared, hunted smaller
animals (raccoon, turkey, deer, fish, shellfish, turtles…)
• Change in tools – smaller spear points, fishing hooks from bone,
grinding bowl
• Developed pottery = food storage & closer to creation of village
Chapter 3
South Carolina Native Americans
American Indian Eras
Woodland Indians (1000 B.C.)
• Development of Agriculture (domestication of plants) & Villages
• Farming, Hunting, and Gathering food
• Population increased
Mississippian Indians (700 A.D.)
• Last prehistoric era
• Villages with mounds were common
– 100 feet high & surrounded by palisades (12-20ft high fence w/
pointed stakes)
– Burial place
– On top were public buildings, temples, and where the chieftain
lived
• Hieroglyphics (picture symbols representing sounds, meanings, &
ideas)
List the three major Indian tribes of South
Carolina and where they are located (SC
Geographic Regions)
SC Native Americans
SC Native American Tribes
Were different based on the
regions in which they lived &
the natural resources available
Cherokee
Catawba
Cherokee - Blue Ridge &
Piedmont Regions
Catawba – Piedmont
Region
Yemassee – Coastal
Plains and Coastal Zone
Yemassee
Chapter 3
List specific natural resources found in
South Carolina that the Native
Americans used.
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Natural Resources
Rocks, Minerals, Rivers, Plants, Shells &
Animals
Are different in each geographic region of SC
Had an affect on diet, housing, & travel
The Yemassee had oyster shells and sea- grass,
which the Cherokee & Catawba did not have.
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Natural Resources
Wood & Animal Skins were natural resources
found in all of the regions
ALL 3 South Carolina tribes used wood to build
houses, canoes, weapons, & tools
Animal skins had a variety of uses
Wigwam roof
Style of House?
Cherokee house Catawba and Yemassee house -
Upon which natural resource did all 3
groups rely to build their homes?
SC Native Americans
Rock, wood, bone, shells, and animal skin were
all used for tools, weapons, and building supplies.
–Rock and animal bone were commonly used for sharp
points for hunting and bows and arrows.
–Tree bark and animal skins were used to make houses
•The Cherokee lived in wattle and daub style houses
of sticks and mud.
• The Catawba and Yemassee lived in wigwams of
tree bark and deer skins.
Chapter 3
SC Native Americans
The Catawba and Yemassee
used a style of house called a
wigwam.
Chapter 3
Housing
wattle & daub
grass or wood woven together &
covered in mud
Cherokee
Rectangular summer house
A winter house was round & conical
Native Americans located their villages
next to rivers for…
• ___
• ___
• ___
• ___
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Natural Resources
Native American villages were often found near
water sources – Rivers
Drinking, farming, food, and transportation
The rolling hills and red-yellow clay, made the land fertile
and ideal to develop farming
• List examples of Native American
weapons and tools.
• What types of natural resources were
used to make them?
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Weapons & Tools
• Smaller harder rock - used as drills
– for making holes in wood, shells, and other types of stone
• Rock used to create farming tools (Garden hoe) and mortars
• Shells were carved down to create a sharp edge used for
scraping
• Shells and bones were used to make combs, jewelry, awls and
other tools.
 Awl: instrument used to poke holes in animal skins for sewing
How was fire used as a tool?
•
•
•
SC Native Americans
Weapons & Tools
Fire -used as a tool
1. Used to drive out animals
for hunting
2. To clear a field for
farming
– cut trees and burned the
brush to create farmland
3. Burn out a log to make a
canoe
Chapter 3
The entire region from the Mississippi
River to the Atlantic Ocean and up to
the Great Lakes is know as…?
SC Native Americans
Eastern Woodland Indians
•Eastern because of
the East Coast
•Woodland because of
all the forests
•Hunters & Farmers
•Mississippian
Chapter 3
Mounds were used by the Native
Americans for what four reasons?
1.
2.
3.
4.
SC Native Americans
mound builders
Chapter 3
Villages
Mounds were used for
a variety of reasons:
1. burial places
2. public buildings
3. temples/ceremonial
sites
4. houses of the
chieftain
Mississippian
Sautee Nacoochee Valley, GA, Cherokee burial mound
Remains of a shell mound, Edisto, SC
• Name the Native American group that
had the most advanced government in
South Carolina.
SC Native Americans
Villages
Government
• Cherokee had the most advanced
• 7 sided tribal house
• Usually located on a mound
• Cherokee had representatives from
each of the 7 clans meet in the
council house with the chieftain
• Made decisions for the tribe
Chapter 3
• List the language group for each of the
three main tribes in South Carolina.
Cherokee =
Catawba =
Yemassee =
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Culture
3 Tribes = 3 Language Groups
Cherokee - an Iroquoian language group
- Did NOT have a written language until early 1800’s
Catawba – Siouan language group
Yemassee – Muskogean language group
- Historians know very little about the Yemassee
- A violent tribe
- Did not allow observers near to document actions
SC Native Americans
Always located near a
water source:
•Rivers
•Springs
•Stream
•Ocean
Palisades - surrounded by tall
wooden posts that were
sharpened on top
 Farming was usually done
outside the palisades
The open space in the middle of
the village was used for sports
Lacrosse
Villages
Chapter 3
• What was the Native American attitude
toward land ownership?
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Culture
Communal environment
•All hunted and worked to harvest the
food
•Shared by everyone in the village
They used all parts of the animal that they
killed, for example an animal’s bladder was
used to store and carry water.
Land
•Belonged to everyone
•Could not be owned by one person
Would eventually cause problems with the
European Settlers
• Two methods in which the Native
Americans got their food
SC Native Americans
Culture
Chapter 3
SC Native American Diet
• Very Simple
•Yemassee (Low Country/Coast)
•seafood, wild game, and gathered
nuts and berries
Possible Yemassee village
appearance
•Cherokee & Catawba
•Hunted wild game
•Used wooden fish traps to catch fish
in rivers and streams
•Gathered seeds, nuts, and berries
Eventually farmed
 Fertile soil & domestication of
plants
Easier than hunting/gathering
Fish Trap
• Describe the “three sisters”.
– Draw an illustration
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Culture
The Most Important crops:
 Corn
 Pole beans
 Squash
Together, these crops are known as “The 3 Sisters”
Corn was easily dried
and kept for winter
food.
Gourds were used for
bowls and to carry
water.
Used corn stalks as poles for the
beans
Grew crops of pumpkins and bottle
gourds
Tobacco was grown in rows on
separate plots
SC Native Americans
Villages
Cofitachequi
•SC Indian town near the Savannah River
•Ruled by women
•Rich Indian village
•Large trade network in Coastal Plain
Large quantities of:
Clothing, deerskins, shoes, pearls, & figures made from
pearls
Chapter 3
SC Native Americans
European Contact
Chapter 3
Culture
At first contact, Native Americans got along well with
European settlers.
•Because Native Americans viewed the land as belonging to
everyone, they were very willing to share food and
resources with struggling colonists.
Did not take long to change!!
SC Native Americans
Chapter 3
Culture
Europeans
• Thought American Indians to be crude,
savage, & uncivilized
• Mistreated the Indians and took their land &
lives
• Indians were enslaved
• Some males shipped to West Indies
• Native Americans had to fight for survival
against disease, wars, and cultural destruction