Cheraw
Siouan peoples |
The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,
After attacks in the late 17th century and early 18th century, they moved to the southeast around the Pee Dee River, where the Cheraw name became more widely used. They became extinct as a tribe, although some descendants survived as remnant peoples.
Name
Originally known as the "Saraw", they became known by the name of one of their villages, Cheraw.[4] They are also known as the Charáh, Charrows, Charra, Charaws, Charraws, Chara,[5] Sara, Saraw, Saura, Suali, Sualy, Xualla, Xualae, and Xuala. Xuala and Xualla were Spanish and Portuguese spellings of their name.[6]
The name they called themselves is lost to history, but the Cherokee called them Ani-Suwa'li.[6]
Territory
The
Cheraw (Saura,
In the early 18th century, the Cheraw lived in present-day
History
Origins
Scholars have conflicting theories about the tribe, its history, and its relation to other tribes. Some sources say the Cheraw are descended from the Mississippian culture chiefdom of Joara, located in present-day western North Carolina. In the mid-16th century, the Juan Pardo Expedition founded the short-lived Fort San Juan in Joara.
16th century
Few historical references to the Cheraw exist. Spanish explorer
17th century
In 1600, they may have numbered 1,200. In 1670, they left their homes near present-day Asheville to settle on the lower
In 1670, German explorer
18th century
In 1710, due to attacks by the
The Saura nation were recorded in The Journal of Barnwell as maintaining a village on the east bank of the upper branches of the Pee Dee River circa the Tuscarora War in 1712.[3] Some Cheraw fought with colonizers in the Tuscarora War.
In 1712, John Barnwell led a force of 400-500 troops against the
The 4th company was of northern Indians who lived even farther away and whose allegiance was still weaker. Among this group were the Saraw, Saxapahaw,
Historian Alan Gallay has speculated that the Saura and Saxapahaw people deserted Barnwell's army because their villages were likely to be attacked by the Tuscarora in vengeance for assisting colonizers in the war.[8] Gallay described the approximate location of the Saura homeland as "about 60 miles upriver from the Peedees", whose home is described as "on the Peedee River about 80 miles west of the coast". This puts the Saura in the general vicinity of the upper Dan and Yadkin rivers.[8]
In 1715, Cheraw warriors joined other Southeastern tribes in the Yamasee War to fight against European enslavement of Indians, mistreatment, and encroachment on their territory. On July 18, 1715, a Cheraw delegation represented the Catawban tribes in Williamsburg, Virginia and negotiated peace. They were out of the war by October 1715.[9]
In 1728, William Byrd conducted an expedition to survey the North Carolina and Virginia boundary, and reported finding two Saura villages on the Dan River, known as Lower Saura Town and Upper Saura Town. The towns had been abandoned by the time of Byrd's visit. He noted in his writing that the Saura had been attacked and nearly destroyed by the Seneca 30 years before, who had been raiding peoples on the frontier from their home in present-day New York. The Saura were known to have moved south to the Pee Dee River area.
When the
They were last noted as a distinct tribe among the Catawba in 1768. During the Revolutionary War, they and the Catawba removed their families to the same areas near Danville, Virginia, where they had lived earlier. Their warriors served the Patriot cause under General Thomas Sumter.[3]
Population
In 1715, South Carolinian
In 1768, Cheraw numbered only 50–60 individuals.[citation needed]
Descendants
In 1835, Cheraw descendants, who had been absorbed into the Catawba tribe,[11] were classified as "free people of color" in local records.
Today the state-recognized Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina, and the Sumter Tribe of Cheraw Indians Sumter County, South Carolina,[12] claim descent from the Cheraw.
Namesakes
Cheraw, South Carolina, is named for the tribe. Cheraw, Colorado was named by an early settler who was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, and migrated west. Cheraw, Mississippi was named by a contingent of passported Cheraw to Bogue Chitto Neshoba District of Choctaw land in 1810 from Dimery Settlement. Chief of Churrah, Thomas Parker, was the recipient of the re-reserve land at Honey Island Swamp on the Little PeDee and he willed that land to his nephew, John Parker.
Located in Walnut Cove, North Carolina, South Stokes High School's team mascot name honors the Native American Indian Saura tribe.
The Sauratown Mountains, located in the region the tribe inhabited, are named for the Saura.
See also
- Occaneechi
- Catawba
- Moneton
- Mosopelea
- Saponi
- Sewee
- Tutelo
- Waccamaw
- Joara
- List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition
References
Notes
- ^ a b c Sebeok, Thomas Albert. Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2. Plenum Press, 1977: 251.
- ^ a b c Rudes et al. 310
- ^ a b c Handbook of the American Indian North of Mexico, 1906 [page needed]
- ^ a b Demallie 296
- ^ Rules 316
- ^ a b c Swanton, The Indian Tribes of North American, 76.
- ^ Beck, p. 170 Quote: "William Byrd of Westover, writing in 1733, similarly reports that 'the frequent inroads of the Senecas' (1928:290) had forced the Saras, probably descendants of Joara, to leave the Dan for the Pee Dee some thirty years before..."
- ^ a b Gallay, Alan. The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670-1717. Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002.[page needed]
- ^ Rudes et al. 309
- ^ Rudes et al. 311
- ^ Blu 320
- ^ "State Recognized Tribes". South Caroline Commission for Minority Affairs. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
BIbliography
- Beck, Robin. Chiefdoms, Collapse, and Coalescence in the Early American South, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 170
- ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
- Blu, Karen I. "Lumbee." In ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
- Demallie, Raymond J. "Tutelo and Neighboring Groups." In ISBN 0-16-072300-0.
- Gallay, Alan. The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670-1717. Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002. ISBN 0-300-10193-7
- Swanton, John Reed (1952). The Indian Tribes of North America. Genealogical Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 9780806317304.
External links
- "Handbook of North American Indians: North Carolina Indian Tribes". Smithsonian Institution, carried on Access Genealogy, Indian Tribal Records. 1906. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
- "South Carolina Indians: Cheraw". SCIway. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
- "Sumter Tribe of Cheraw Indians". The Sumter Tribe of Cheraw Indians. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
- 1905 Reprint of Bishop Gregg's History of the Old Cheraws (pdf)
- Stokes County, North Carolina
- History of Saura Indians