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The Santee

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Santee traditional territory: Along the middle course of the Santee River (modern Orangeburg, Calhoun, and Clarendon counties)

Santee today: Santee, Orangeburg County, South Carolina (see below for contact information)

NOTE: the publication date for the source information contained in the following article was 1920.

Contributed by: 
Paul R. Sarrett, Jr. Aug. 11, 1998                         (prsjr@aol.com)

Santee tribe. - Named according to Speck (1935), from iswan'ti, 
"the river," or "the river is there." Also called: Seretee, by Lawson 
(1860).

Santee Connections. - No words of the Santee language have come 
down to us, but there is little doubt that they belonged to the Siouan 
linguistic family.

Santee Location. - On the middle course of Santee River.
Santee Villages. - The only name preserved is Hickerau, on a branch 
of Santee River.

Santee History. - The Santee were first encountered by the Spaniards 
during the seventeenth century, and in the narrative of his second 
expedition Captain Ecija places them on Santee River. In 1700 they 
were visited by John Lawson, who found their plantations extending 
for many miles along the river, and learned that they were at war 
with the coast people (Lawson, 1860). They furnished Barnwell (1908) 
with a contingent for his Tuscarora campaign in 1711-12, but are said 
to have taken part against the Whites in the Yamasee War of 1715. 
In 1716 they were attacked by the Etiwaw and Cusabo, acting in the 
interest of the colonists, and the greater part of them were carried 
away captive and sent to the West Indies. The remainder were probably 
incorporated with the Catawba.

Santee Population.- The number of Santee was estimated by Mooney 
(1900) at 1,000 in 1600. In 1715 an Indian census gave them 43 warriors 
and a total population of 80 to 85 in 2 villages.

Santee Connection in which they have become noted.- The name Santee 
has been given permanency chiefly by its application to the Santee 
River, S. C., but it has also been applied to a village in Orangeburg 
County, S. C.

Sewee tribe. - Significance: perhaps, as Gatschet suggested, from 
sawe', "island."

Santee Connections.- No words of their language have survived, but 
the Sewee are regarded as Siouan on strong circumstantial grounds, 
in spite of the fact that they are sometimes classed with the Cusabo.

Santee Location.- On the lower course of Santee River and the  coast 
westward to the divide of Ashley River about the present Monks Corner, 
Berkeley County.

Santee Villages. - In Lawson, writing about 1700, mentions a deserted 
village in Sewee Bay called Avendaughbough which may have belonged 
to them (Lawson, 1860). The name seems to be still preserved in the 
form Awensdaw.

Santee History.- Possibly Xoxi (pronounced Shoshi or Shohi), one  of 
the provinces mentioned by Francisco of Chicora, an Indian carried 
from this region by the Spaniards in 1521, is a synonym of Sewee. 
The name is mentioned by Captain Ecija in 1609. They may have been 
the Indians first met by the English expedition which founded the 
colony of South Carolina in 1670, when they were in Sewee Bay. They 
assisted the English against the Spaniards, and supplied them with 
corn. Lawson (1860) states that they were formerly a large tribe, 
but in his time, 1700, were wasted by smallpox and indulgence in alcoholic 
liquors. Moreover, a large proportion of the able-bodied men had been 
lost at sea in an attempt to open closer trade relations with England. 
Just before the Yamasee War, they were still living in their old country 
in a single village, but it is probable that the war put an end to 
them as a distinct tribe. The remnant may have united with the Catawba.

Santee Population.- Mooney (1900) gives an estimate of 800 Sewee 
for the year 1600. In 1715 there were but 57.

Santee Connection in which they have become noted.- At an earlier 
period this name was applied to the body of water now called Bulls 
Bay. There is a post hamlet with this designation in Meigs County, 
Tenn., but the name is probably of independent origin.

MORE ABOUT THE Santee:

The Santee is an active tribe seeking federal recognition.

Contact Information:
Santee Indian Nation of South Carolina (Chief William Koon)
PO Box 741
Roebuck, SC 29376
Phone: 864-948-9546

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