Native Americans

No Mans Land Cherokee vs. Catawba These two tribes hated each other. Cherokee lived in the Blue Ridge. The Catawba lived in the Rock Hill area. They agreed not to settle and only hunt the Piedmont land region. This becomes a problem later on when European settlers try to set up. These tribes don’t even settle this land, and they were not happy about outsiders moving in.

Native American Leaders Shaman: Native American Medicine Man. (left) Cherokee Chief: Native American Chiefs ran their tribes with help of counsels. (right) Most Native Americans tried to become more like their new neighbors the European Settlers so they could build good relationships.

Peace Chief The Peace Chief wore a white head dress to show he had no blood on his hands. His position was passed down through his family blood line so that he was pure.

War Chief The War Chief wore a Red Head Dress to show he was the only Chief with blood on his hands. He only took power in times of war, and gave up his power to the Peace Chief as soon as the war time was over. He kept the Peace Chief clean and pure.

Yemassee The Yemassee Native Americans were one of the three major tribes in SC. They moved to SC from FL because the Spanish pushed them off their land. The Yemassee started to trade (Deer Skins) with SC settlers, and for a time they lived in peace. Eventually the Yemassee felt the settlers were charging too much and decided to attack the settlers. The Cherokee helped the settlers run the Yemassee out of SC. Most of the surviving Yemassee ended up back in FL.

When settlers came to the new world many Native Americans died. Why? The Catawba tribe helped to protect settlers from other hostile Native Americans but this help was negated by a smallpox epidemic that all but wiped out the tribe. More then 10 X’s then number of Native American who died by gun fire died of diseases brought by settlers. This was often spread accidently. Small Pox killed most, and even was used as a weapon by the British (this was the first form of biological warfare on North American soil) in the French and Indian War we will cover that later.