Catawba Nation: Treasures in History

By Thomas J Blumer, Robert P. Smith and E. Fred Sanders

The story of one of the few original Native American communities of the Carolinas, whose rich and fascinating history can be dated back to 2400 BC.

While the Catawba once inhabited a large swath of land that covered parts of North and South Carolina, and managed to remain in the Carolinas during the notorious Trail of Tears, most Catawba now live on a reservation in York County, South Carolina. In Catawba Nation, longtime tribal historian Thomas J. Blumer seeks to preserve and present the history of this resilient people.
 
Blumer chronicles Catawba history, such as Hernando de Soto’s meeting with the Lady of Cofitachique, the leadership of Chief James Harris, and the fame of potter Georgia Harris, who won the National Heritage Award for her art. Using an engaging mix of folklore, oral history, and historical records, Blumer weaves an accessible history of the tribe, preserving their story of suffering and survival for future generations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781625844224

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Catawba-Spanish Contact 1521

The clash between Stone Age America and Iron Age Europe is a topic of much discussion. On this continent we begin counting our New World time with Columbus, but the American Indian, including the Catawba, had no such need. Today the Catawba are thought by scholars to be the aboriginal people of the Carolinas.

We have no idea when the news of Columbus’s arrival reached the Catawba. The news must have shot across the Caribbean Sea as fast as a traveling Indian canoe. The ancestors of the Catawba were apparently totally unprepared to greet the Spanish, then the French and finally the English explorers and colonists. The Europeans called the Indian situation primeval innocence.

Today we must go back to that first moment in history when the two cultures met. We must understand what went through the minds of the Indians who looked across an always-empty sea to find foreign vessels on the horizon. The startled Indians did not even have a name for the phenomena before their amazed and curious eyes. Their records are scant at best. On our side of the scene, the Spanish recorded what they were thinking. They had nearly despaired of seeing land. For the Europeans, the thought of finding a resting place with the promise of fresh water was the ultimate prayer. For the Indians, expecting nothing, they had thoughts of a different nature. They were on familiar turf and gazed at the strangers, confident that they had the upper hand. The Catawba were paramount in their territory; even the powerful Creek feared contact with these mighty warriors.

To get close to the Catawba contact experience, we must visit Yuchi folklore. The Yuchi, Catawba neighbors and perhaps allies, were living on the coast, apparently near modern Savannah, Georgia. Living in a buffer zone between the two powerful nations, we do not know if this small tribe was tributary to the Creek or the Catawba. Today the Yuchi live incorporated with the Creek Nation of Oklahoma. In any case, the Yuchi saw strange ships on the sea.

The Yuchi thought the ships, with their wind-propelled sails, were ocean birds. When the white men emerged from the surf, the Yuchi thought they were seagulls born of the sea’s foam. Deceit was not expected.

The two, Indian and white man, stood amazed and pondered each other on the beach. They could not converse and resorted to awkward hand and body signals. As the Yuchi tale goes, the white strangers left only to return again for soil samples. They returned for the third time and wanted land on which to grow food. The saga of the invasion had begun. To the unsuspecting Indians, land was not a commodity, for it belonged to all men.

Leaving the Yuchi legend, history tells us that the Catawba first saw the European strangers and their amazing ships in 1521. Two Spanish slave ships belonging to Vasquez de Ayllon appeared off the coast of Chicora (Cofitachique), modern South Carolina. The Indians flocked to greet the strangers and to examine what they brought from their mysterious world. The Indians marveled at the size of the vessels made, not of one, but of many logs. Up to this time, the Indian experience included the dugout canoe only. True, one of these canoes could accommodate up to fifty men with paddles and twenty-five to thirty passengers. The Indian canoe was well carved but a primitive craft when compared with a Spanish galleon. The Indians immediately recognized the superiority of metal tools over stone. The wonders arriving with the Spanish ships were many. The Indians let their guard down. They were, after all, on their turf. The Spanish were vulnerable strangers.

The Spanish appeared friendly to the Indians and were generous with small gifts. By gesture, they invited the growing crowd of Indians to board their mysterious vessel. The curious Indians liked the idea of an entertainment; after all, learning is a passion common to all men. They would experience the wonders of the strange vessel and return home to tell the tale. More than one hundred Catawban speakers took the bait and boarded the vessel. To the Indians’ surprise, the Spanish quickly raised their anchor and set sail with their unwilling human cargo. The destination was the young Caribbean colonies established by the Spanish.

These innocent souls fell victim to the first Catawba contact experience. Trapped far from shore, some refused to eat and starved to death. The two vessels experienced hard weather and one sank. Half of the captive Indians died by drowning in this tragedy. Those who lived to see the Spanish colonies led lives of misery so shocking that the Spanish Crown insisted they be returned to Chicora.

Only one man was fortunate enough to see his home again. He was baptized as Francisco of Chicora. Francisco became key to the Spanish plans to plant a colony at Chicora. He was taken from the Caribbean to Spain and trained as a translator for Spanish/Catawba relations.

Ayllon, accompanied by Francisco, returned to Chicora in 1526 with the purpose of planting a colony there. To the Spaniard’s surprise the Indians fled when his ships arrived. Convinced that he faced only a temporary problem, Ayllon landed and began his colonization effort assisted by his trusted translator and servant, Francisco of Chicora. When the first opportunity presented itself, Francisco fled into the forest and was never seen again. Ayllon’s colony was a dismal failure.

We have no idea what became of Francisco of Chicora. Since he had spent several years in Spain, he was knowledgeable of European ways. We can only imagine Francisco heading straight for the Indian emperor at Chicora (Cofitachique), his goal to inform his monarch of all he had learned.

It was many years before the Spanish returned to make another colonization attempt among the Catawban-speaking Indians of South Carolina. When the Spanish finally made a foothold on the Carolina coast, the Catawba had no romantic notions about these strangers or the amazing gifts they brought.

Originally published as Catawba meet the Spanish in 1521, The Herald, August 12, 1999.

Chicora, Cofitachique or Yupaha

Soon after Hernando de Soto began his journey across the American South, he began to hear rumors of a legendary land, always outside of reach. Earlier explorers who had touched the eastern coastland of the continent called this place Chicora. Between 1521 and 1540, the land had changed names to Cofitachique. This place became de Soto’s goal.

When de Soto visited the Apalache in a land that later came to be known as Georgia, the rumors about this land grew in intensity. During this period, de Soto got lucky. One day an Indian youth appeared in his camp. The youth had spent time with an Indian merchant who knew the region and had visited Cofitachique to trade. The young fellow was called Pedro. The most interesting information Pedro provided the Spanish concerned an el Dorado to the north. The place was famed for its gold, silver and pearls. The Muskogee speakers of Georgia called the place Cofitachique. The term is a Creek word, in keeping with the Creek who dominated the area de Soto found himself in at the moment. De Soto was to learn later that in the language of the Catawban speakers who lived there, the place was called Yupaha. De Soto, operating through greed, quickly abandoned Apalache and headed north through Creek country. He was determined to reach two goals: peace with the Indians and possession of Cofitachique’s treasures.

As de Soto’s army inched its way north, the Indian diplomacy held sway. Rather than fight, the Indians generally approached de Soto in friendship. All along the way de Soto declared his friendship and told his informants that he was seeking Cofitachique, a land none of the Creek ever dared to enter. De Soto’s hosts were faced with supporting a large army of Europeans. De Soto at this point had over 1,000 men and 250 horses, not to mention his growing herd of hogs. The Indian response was to be rid of de Soto as quickly as possible. By this time they knew his greed all too well and always pointed him to the north and away from their territory.

Eventually, de Soto reached Cofaque, a chiefdom adjacent to Cofitachique’s southern border. The Indians of Cofaque (probably part of a Creek confederation), though they had never visited Cofitachique, lived in a constant state of war with the fabled chiefdom to the north. So eager was the ruler of Cofaque to seek vengeance among his enemies beyond the Savannah River that he sent eight thousand men as guides with de Soto. The Cofaque men carried a huge food supply with them, as they were ignorant of what they would find beyond the Savannah. The Cofaque and the Cofitachique were separated by a very wide uninhabited buffer zone between the two chiefdoms. After a week of wandering through this area, de Soto and his Cofaque allies began to reach villages loyal to Cofitachique.

Operating on the ancient rule of vengeance, the Cofaque, unbeknownst to de Soto, sacked this village. They desecrated temples and carried off any riches they could wrest from the vanquished Indians. They also collected scalps. When de Soto discovered this deception, he loaded down the Cofaque war captain, Patofa, with gifts of fabrics, knives, scissors and mirrors and sent him back to the chiefdom of Cofaque, south of the Savannah River.

The Spanish continued their earnest search for Cofitachique. On May 1, 1540, de Soto’s men reached a wide river. The legendary town of Cofitachique lay on the opposite bank of the river. Pedro, a Spanish soldier who knew some of the Indian languages, shouted across the river explaining that de Soto came in peace.

In time a large canoe appeared on the opposite bank. It carried six noble ambassadors, all elegantly dressed. It is possible that at least some of these men held the high rank of war captain. Once they reached shore, they disembarked and made ceremonial rituals of respect and saluted in the four cardinal directions. The men explained through interpreters that the chiefdom was ruled by a lady. They had little food to share since the chiefdom had recently suffered a pestilence, probably as result of the disease brought to America through the Spanish colonies established in the Caribbean. De Soto repeated that he had come in