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Pee Dee (tribe)
Encyclopedia
The Pee Dee tribe are a nation of Native Americans
of the southeast United States
, especially the Low Country of present-day South Carolina
. Several tribes are recognized by the state, although none has federal recognition. The Pee Dee River
and the Pee Dee
region of South Carolina were named for the nation. Scholars are unsure of what language they spoke, although it may have been of the Siouan family, as were the languages of neighboring small tribes.
" of the southeastern Mississippian culture
type. Around 1550 A.D., the historical Pee Dee migrated from the lower Pee Dee River of the Atlantic Coastal Plain
to the upper Pee Dee River of the Piedmont
. They remained in the Piedmont for about a century.
The Pee Dee allied with other American Indian
nations and colonial settlers against the Tuscarora
people, an Iroquoian-speaking group, during the Tuscarora War
of the early 18th century. The political relationships formed between the Pee Dee and other tribes in the area at this time carried over into the Yamasee War
. The Yamasee War of 1715-1717 caused major changes among the southeastern tribes. By some accounts the Pee Dee, along with many other tribes, were "utterly extirpated". But at least some of the survivors found refuge with the Catawba
located closer to the South and North Carolina border. Other survivors either remained along the lower Pee Dee River or returned in the years following the Yamasee War.
In 1737, the tribe petitioned South Carolina for a parcel of land to live upon. They, along with the Notchees (also spelled Nochis), were moved to an 100 acre (0.404686 km²) reservation provided by James Coachman in 1738. This reservation was in Berkeley County
, along the Edisto River
.
Conflicts in 1744 led to the Catawba's forcing the Pee Dee off the lands and back into white settlements. South Carolina colonists called Indians living within the European-settled areas as "Settlement Indians". A 1740s list of such tribes included the Pee Dee. In 1752 the Catawba asked South Carolina to encourage the Pee Dee "Settlement Indians" to move north and rejoin the Catawba.
During the American Revolution
, a company of Pee Dee men fought for the United States under the American general Francis Marion
. Known as the Raccoon Company, their company of riflemen was headed by Captain John Alston. A group of Pee Dee men who had lived on John Coachman's land were under the command of Colonel William Thompson. Many of these men received grants of land as a form of payment following the conclusion of the war.
Following the American Revolution, the Pee Dee tribe was mentioned only once in governmental documents. Members of the remnant tribe began assimilation into the majority white society. This enabled their descendants to avoid removal
to Indian Territory
(present-day Oklahoma) in the 1830s.
Such assimilation led to a number of issues in the 20th century. During the South's period of racial segregation
and classifying all people into a binary society, appearing and identifying as "white" brought people more privileges and freedom. Since many Pee Dee were of mixed ancestry, some began to pass
as white to make their daily lives easier. Those whose complexions were darker were often forced to go to "black" schools. Some attended one of the few Indian schools around the Neeses
and Charleston
areas during that time.
Some Pee Dee institutions created during the years of segregation have continued to be maintained to this day. One example is the Rocky Swamp Methodist Church, with a majority Pee Dee congregation. Its members observe a combination of Methodist and Native American Church religions. Many Pee Dee people are buried in its historic cemetery.
No branch of the Pee Dee tribe is officially recognized by the United States Federal government. Several remnant or merged Indian communities have gained recognition by South Carolina as state recognized tribes or groups. Other descendants of the historic tribe have affiliated with several different tribes: members live mostly in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. These tribes are the following:
The only tribe in South Carolina that has gained federal recognition is the closely related Catawba
tribe. It was historically part of the Siouan-language family, as were many of the smaller tribes in the Low Country and Piedmont.
Recently, an ethnography
of the Pee Dee in the northern part of South Carolina was completed. This work has been used by the tribal government of the Pee Dee Indian Nation of Upper South Carolina as the basis of documentation needed to obtain federal recognition.
in his 1894 Siouan Tribes of the East, and reinforced by John R. Swanton
in his 1936 essay "Early History of the Eastern Siouan Tribes", the Pee Dee are surmised to have spoken a Siouan
language, specifically an "Eastern" or "Southeastern" Siouan language. However, Mooney's theory had no linguistic evidence. There is tenuous ethnohistoric evidence to support it.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
of the southeast United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, especially the Low Country of present-day South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Several tribes are recognized by the state, although none has federal recognition. The Pee Dee River
Pee Dee River
The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in North Carolina and South Carolina. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course above the mouth of the Uwharrie River is known as the Yadkin River. It is extensively dammed for flood...
and the Pee Dee
Pee Dee
The Pee Dee region of South Carolina is the northeastern corner of the state. It is the area of the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, named after the Pee Dee Native American tribe. Its center is Florence...
region of South Carolina were named for the nation. Scholars are unsure of what language they spoke, although it may have been of the Siouan family, as were the languages of neighboring small tribes.
Pre-Contact history
Anthropologist Charles Hudson described the prehistoric and protohistoric ancestors of the Pee Dee as a "southern chiefdomChiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...
" of the southeastern Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
type. Around 1550 A.D., the historical Pee Dee migrated from the lower Pee Dee River of the Atlantic Coastal Plain
Atlantic Coastal Plain
The Atlantic coastal plain has both low elevation and low relief, but it is also a relatively flat landform extending from the New York Bight southward to a Georgia/Florida section of the Eastern Continental Divide, which demarcates the plain from the ACF River Basin in the Gulf Coastal Plain to...
to the upper Pee Dee River of the Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
. They remained in the Piedmont for about a century.
Colonial and 19th-century history
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
nations and colonial settlers against the Tuscarora
Tuscarora (tribe)
The Tuscarora are a Native American people of the Iroquoian-language family, with members in New York, Canada, and North Carolina...
people, an Iroquoian-speaking group, during the Tuscarora War
Tuscarora War
The Tuscarora War was fought in North Carolina during the autumn of 1711 until 11 February 1715 between the British, Dutch, and German settlers and the Tuscarora Native Americans. A treaty was signed in 1715....
of the early 18th century. The political relationships formed between the Pee Dee and other tribes in the area at this time carried over into the Yamasee War
Yamasee War
The Yamasee War was a conflict between British settlers of colonial South Carolina and various Native American Indian tribes, including the Yamasee, Muscogee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Catawba, Apalachee, Apalachicola, Yuchi, Savannah River Shawnee, Congaree, Waxhaw, Pee Dee, Cape Fear, Cheraw, and...
. The Yamasee War of 1715-1717 caused major changes among the southeastern tribes. By some accounts the Pee Dee, along with many other tribes, were "utterly extirpated". But at least some of the survivors found refuge with the Catawba
Catawba (tribe)
The Catawba are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. They live in the Southeast United States, along the border between North and South Carolina near the city of Rock Hill...
located closer to the South and North Carolina border. Other survivors either remained along the lower Pee Dee River or returned in the years following the Yamasee War.
In 1737, the tribe petitioned South Carolina for a parcel of land to live upon. They, along with the Notchees (also spelled Nochis), were moved to an 100 acre (0.404686 km²) reservation provided by James Coachman in 1738. This reservation was in Berkeley County
Berkeley County, South Carolina
Berkeley County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2000, its population was 142,651. The 2005 Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 151,673. Its county seat is Moncks Corner....
, along the Edisto River
Edisto River
The Edisto River is the longest completely undammed / unleveed blackwater river in North America, flowing 206 meandering miles from its sources in Saluda and Edgefield counties, to its Atlantic Ocean mouth at Edisto Beach, SC...
.
Conflicts in 1744 led to the Catawba's forcing the Pee Dee off the lands and back into white settlements. South Carolina colonists called Indians living within the European-settled areas as "Settlement Indians". A 1740s list of such tribes included the Pee Dee. In 1752 the Catawba asked South Carolina to encourage the Pee Dee "Settlement Indians" to move north and rejoin the Catawba.
During the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, a company of Pee Dee men fought for the United States under the American general Francis Marion
Francis Marion
Francis Marion was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven...
. Known as the Raccoon Company, their company of riflemen was headed by Captain John Alston. A group of Pee Dee men who had lived on John Coachman's land were under the command of Colonel William Thompson. Many of these men received grants of land as a form of payment following the conclusion of the war.
Following the American Revolution, the Pee Dee tribe was mentioned only once in governmental documents. Members of the remnant tribe began assimilation into the majority white society. This enabled their descendants to avoid removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
to Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
(present-day Oklahoma) in the 1830s.
Modern Tribe
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
and classifying all people into a binary society, appearing and identifying as "white" brought people more privileges and freedom. Since many Pee Dee were of mixed ancestry, some began to pass
Passing (racial identity)
Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one racial group attempting to be accepted as a member of a different racial group...
as white to make their daily lives easier. Those whose complexions were darker were often forced to go to "black" schools. Some attended one of the few Indian schools around the Neeses
Neeses, South Carolina
Neeses is a town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 413 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Neeses is located at ....
and Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
areas during that time.
Some Pee Dee institutions created during the years of segregation have continued to be maintained to this day. One example is the Rocky Swamp Methodist Church, with a majority Pee Dee congregation. Its members observe a combination of Methodist and Native American Church religions. Many Pee Dee people are buried in its historic cemetery.
No branch of the Pee Dee tribe is officially recognized by the United States Federal government. Several remnant or merged Indian communities have gained recognition by South Carolina as state recognized tribes or groups. Other descendants of the historic tribe have affiliated with several different tribes: members live mostly in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. These tribes are the following:
- Pee Dee Indian Nation of Beaver Creek (recognized in 2007),
- Beaver Creek IndiansBeaver Creek IndiansThe Beaver Creek Indians are a unrecognized tribe located in South Carolina which achieved state recognition on January 27, 2006. It is seeking federal recognition. The tribe was formed as a non-profit organization in 1998....
(recognized in 2006), - Pee Dee Nation of Upper South Carolina (recognized in 2005), and
- Pee Dee Indian Tribe of South Carolina (recognized in 2006). Issues of identity and politics have prevented the smaller groups uniting as one Pee Dee tribe.
Catawba (tribe)
The Catawba are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. They live in the Southeast United States, along the border between North and South Carolina near the city of Rock Hill...
tribe. It was historically part of the Siouan-language family, as were many of the smaller tribes in the Low Country and Piedmont.
Recently, an ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
of the Pee Dee in the northern part of South Carolina was completed. This work has been used by the tribal government of the Pee Dee Indian Nation of Upper South Carolina as the basis of documentation needed to obtain federal recognition.
Language
Little is known about what kind of language the historic Pee Dee spoke. Based on a theory proposed by James MooneyJames Mooney
James Mooney was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. He did major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as those on the Great Plains...
in his 1894 Siouan Tribes of the East, and reinforced by John R. Swanton
John R. Swanton
John Reed Swanton was an American anthropologist and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and ethnohistory...
in his 1936 essay "Early History of the Eastern Siouan Tribes", the Pee Dee are surmised to have spoken a Siouan
Siouan languages
The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian...
language, specifically an "Eastern" or "Southeastern" Siouan language. However, Mooney's theory had no linguistic evidence. There is tenuous ethnohistoric evidence to support it.