The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-08-26
THE LAST OF THE CATAWBAS
But Eighty OF the Great Tribe Left In
South Carolina.


South Carolina.
In a recent issue of the Ners and
Courier Mr.. Mcdonald Furman, the
ethnologist and collector Of Indian
lore, gave an interesting sketch Of
"Uncle Billy George, the Catawba. -
The picture Mr.. Furman gives OF
this old Indian and his tribe should
not be effaced from memory until some
thing is done to answer the call he
makes in their behalf.
The remnant of the Catawbas on the
reservation in York County are de-
scendants Of the once powerful and
warlike nation, which few centuries
ago occupied and controlled a large
portion of the Carolinas.
Long years before these people
named our streams and fshed and
fought upon their banks. Their fore
fathers were prehistoric inhabitants
of South Carolina, and yet so little
interest is taken in them that histo-
rians of the State fail to mention that
vestige Of that "mystic race and
brave still fingers within our bor-
ders; and school children are left in
ignorance of this interesting fact.
The exterminating greed of the
white man has almost driven the Ca
tawbas from the land of their fathers.
Many red man fell at the crack Of
the woodlands rifle; the rest fled in
ward as though retreating from some
angry waters, which slowly began to
surround them and threatened to break
over their heads. The surging waves
of civilization drove them back until
they were confined to bounds fifteen
miles square. The survivors of the
onward march of civilization have now
but one square mile! Itremains to be
seen whether they will be further
crowded and encroached upon until
they give up in despair and pass out
over the ploughed fields, whose furrowS
the white man has nearly run to the
Indians very door.
All that is left of the race which is
passing away exc out miserable ex-
istence on the banks of the Catawba
River, nine miles southeast of Rock
Hill. The total number of the Ca
tawba Indians given in the statistics
in the report of the bureau of ethnol-
ogy in 1895 was one hundred and
twenty; eighty of these were on the
reservation in York County, and the
remainder were scattered throughout
North Carolina. At present there are
still about eighty on the reservations;
of this number considerably less than
one dozen are of pure Indian blood,
while the remainder are half breeds
or are more nearly white. They do
not mix blood with the negro, for
whom they entertain the strongest
antipathy, and it is said that negro
can not be induced to so on their land.
The homes of our South Carolina
Indians are in a way picturesque.
Their settlement consists of rude log
huts widely scattered over long, high
bluff, which is heavily tinbered, and
which commands sweeping view far
across the Catawba River. On the
reservation there is excellent bottom
land, but few Of the.tribe pretend to
cultivate it, and stock Of any kind is
seldom seen.
The chic, occupation of the tribe,
especially the women "a little too civ
ilized to be termed squaws, is the
manufacture of all kinds of pottery.
earthenware and pipes. These arti:
cles are made in a primitive way,
which, like the taste for making them,
is probably inherited. They make
graceful pitchers, flower jars and va
rious kinds of toys and toys and orna-
ments. Their wares generally have a
soft, yellowish appearance, and es-
pecially their flower vases, which are
not too mean to be touched by the
brush of an artist.
Their pipes, after being burnt, are
jet black; they are all shapes and
sizes, and are usually of fantastic de-
sometimes in the form Of squir.
reIs, turtles, birds, pots, shoes and
other objects. To give the pipes an
historic interest the clay is brought
from the Waxhaw swamps, where a
Revolutionary battle was fought be-
tween Col. Buford, of the American
army, and Tarleton, of the British.
It was in this battle that the British
commander received the name of
"Bloody Tarleton" for allowing the
American prisoners to be butchered
after they had surrendered. In the
course of years these relics will be ap.
preciated by collectors, for most of
the full-blooded Indians will soon be
dead.
The Indians generally carry their
wares to Rock Hill, where they dis
pose of them for mere trife. Should
anyone at distance wish to secure
souvenirs of the Catawbas, and thus
aid them in their impoverished condi-
tion, they can doubtless obtain infor-
nation from Capt. H. L. Smith, the
Indian agent at Rock Hill, S. G.
The Indians do not seem to recog-
nize any tribal head since the death of
their last chief some years ago. The
old men say, with a tone of pathos:
"Our people are getting out OF the
old way, and the young people do not
take interest in the old customs. " 1t
is really only the oldest Indians that
have a genuine Indian air about them.
Some of these have never learned the
English language, and when they are
gone the musical tongue of the Cataw-
bas will be stilled forever, and with
this generation will pass away tradl-
tions and conceptions which have
travelled down from tongue to ear
through the centuries.
The old Indians will talk Of their
boyhood days and tell how their faith
ers went on the warpath, but when
questioned as to the mounds in the
surrounding country they are reti-
cent-the reply of Hiawatha might De
read in their faces:
son the grave-posts of our fathers
Are no signs, no figures painted;s
Who are in those graves we know not,
Only know they are our fathers"
Uncle Billy George is the oldest In
dian on the reservation. lie is a
fragment of the old times and is one
of those links which connect us
i'll ~ Jaws tbot ora No moro