The First Carolinians

The First Carolinians. . , Native Americans have occupied this part of the Catawba River Valley for more than 10,000 years. First came the Paleo Indian hunters following big game and spreading their Ice Age culture south. Later, Archaic Indian peoples adapted to climate changes and developed a sophisticated hunter-fisher-gatherer technology which served them well for thousands of years. By 1,000 years ago, local Native Americans were practicing a Woodland lifestyle. From fields and streams they skillfully drew the materials needed to sustain their way of life. Stone, bone, wood, and shell gave them tools. Trees, grasses and other plants were processed into shelter. These, plus a rich array of animals, provided food and clothing. Cultivating the soil, they added yet other resources and security to their lives. The earth itself yielded clay for parts.

By the time the Spanish arrived in the area in the 16th century, Native Americans had developed large towns, long-distance trade networks, and political alliances both north and south along the Catawba River. They were the Ye Ishwa ("People of the River"). We would come to know them as the Catawba. After the Spanish came European-American traders and settlers, an influx of new deadly diseases, and the loss of most of their ancestral land with the Treaty of Nations Ford in 1840. The Catawba Indian Nation is today centered in York County, South Carolina, just south of Charlotte , a vital part of this area's history.