LibGuides: W. Brent Burgin Archives: Catawba

The modern Catawba Nation is located in the upstate of South Carolina. According to Catawba.com, "The Catawba Indians have lived on their ancestral lands along the banks of the Catawba River dating back at least 6000 years. Before contact with the Europeans it is believed that the Nation inhabited most of the Piedmont area of South Carolina, North Carolina and parts of Virginia. Early colonial estimates of the Catawba population when settlers arrived are between 15,000-25,000." Today, the Catawba Reservation consists of 600-acres of tribal lands located in York County, South Carolina. They are led by their elected chief, William "Bill" Harris.

In an effort to create permanent jobs and create a better source of income for tribal members, the Nation broke ground on a casino in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, in July 2020. The "Two Kings Casino celebrates the Catawba Nation’s history and hopeful future in their ancestral lands in North Carolina. The Two Kings name pays tribute to the 18^th century Catawba Chief King Hagler and the City of Kings Mountain." (twokingscasino.com)

Archival Resources

The Archives is home to a multiple collections of Catawba records, documents, oral histories, photographs, and more. Dr. TJ Blumer's collection is one of the largest, spanning decades of research and covering topics such as folklore, traditions, legal battles, and genealogies. Others collections with resources on the Catawba include: Early Fred Sanders Collection; David Lindsay Pettus Collection; David Livingston Pittman Collection; Dr. Alice Bee Kasakoff Collection; Garfield Crawford Harris Collection; Gene Joseph Crediford Collection; Monty Hawk Branham Collection; and Steven Guy Baker Collection. There is also access to much of Frank G. Speck's prolific research through the Medford Library.

If you are interested in viewing any of our archival resources, please schedule a time with the archivist. We will be happy to pull the materials you wish to see from the vault.

Folklore

Catawba Indians and the Yehasuri ("Wild Little People") Who Live in the Woods.
Materials and writings concerning the Yehasuri can also be found in the NAS Archives Thomas J. Blumer Collection (Series IV).

Trickster by Matt Dembicki (Editor); Joseph Bruchac (Introduction)
Call Number: E 98 .F6 T73 2010

Some Catawba Texts and Folklore
The Journal of American Folklore; Vol. 26, No. 102 (Oct. - Dec., 1913), pp. 319-330; Published by: American Folklore Society.

Voices from Four Directions by Brian Swann (Editor)
Call Number: E 98 .F6 V665 2004

Catawba Folk Tales from Chief Sam Blue
The Journal of American Folklore; Vol. 60, No. 235 (Jan. - Mar., 1947), pp. 79-84; Published by: American Folklore Society.
The Iron in the Posthole: Witchcraft, Women's Labor, and Spanish Folk Ritual at the Berry Site
American Anthropologist; Vol.118, Is.3; Sept. 2016; pp.525-540

Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians by John R. Swanton
Call Number: E 98 .F6 S92 1929

Catawba Traditions

CATAWBA MEDICINES AND CURATIVE PRACTICES
From the book Twenty-fifth Anniversary Studies, Vol. 1; Frank G. Speck
Catawba Religious Beliefs, Mortuary Customs, and Dances
Primitive Man; Vol. 12, No. 2 (1939), pp. 21-57. Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research

Foxfire 9: General Stores, The Jud Nelson Wagon, A Praying Rock, A Catawban Indian Potter, Haint Tales, Quilting, Homes Cures, The Log Cabin Revisited by Foxfire Fund, Inc.; Eliot Wigginton (Editor)
Call Number: F 217 .A65 F694 1986

2 Mormon missionaries to the Catawba: Journal of Elder Joseph Willey and Elder PInkney H. Head, a Catawba
By Willey, Joseph.; Head, PInkney H.; Martin, Judy Canty.
Call Number: F 274 .W55 2001

Catawba Foodways

Fit for War by Mary Elizabeth Fitts
Call Number: E 99 .C24 F58 2017

Traditional Catawba Lands

According to the Catawba Nation, "The Catawba Indians have lived on their ancestral lands along the banks of the Catawba River dating back at least 6000 years. Before contact with the Europeans it is believed that the Nation inhabited most of the Piedmont area of South Carolina, North Carolina and parts of Virginia. Early colonial estimates of the Catawba population when settlers arrived are between 15,000-25,000."

Catawba Deerskin Map
"The Catawba Deerskin Map was a map drawn on deerskin and presented to Francis Nicholson, the colonial governor of South Carolina, around 1721. The original map, believed to have been authored by Indians of the Catawba Nation, has been lost. However, Nicholson had two copies of the map made and returned to London, thereby ensuring this rare preservation of indigenous cartography from the colonial period." -- Library of Congress
Catawba Nation
Map courtesy of Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina.
"The ancestral lands of the Catawba Nation extend through the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina and into southern Virginia. We have lived on these lands along the Catawba River for thousands of years."
Map courtesy of Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina.
"The Catawba lands were reduced dramatically from the 144,000 acres granted to us by the King of England to the 700-acre reservation now held in trust for the Nation along the banks of the Catawba river today."

Glimpses of Life Among the Catawba and Cherokee

Catawba Traditional Arts

Catawba River

The Catawba River Companion by Bill Price (Photographer); Yon Lambert (Text by); Louise Pettus (Text by); Diane Milks (Text by)
Call Number: F 262 .C3 M55 2003
The only guidebook to the entire Catawba River in North and South Carolina. Illustrated with nearly two-dozen color maps and 50 dramatic color photographs, it will take you to dozens of exciting getaways and nature stops and give you a flavor of the local history, the flora, and fauna along the Catawba.