Catawba people

The original Catawba ( proper name Iyeye or Nieye for people, real people ), were a Native American tribe of the family of languages ​​of the Sioux and lived on the Catawba River on the border between North and South Carolina. It consisted of the sub- tribes of the Iswa and the actual Catawba.

Weakened by the smallpox epidemics of the 17th century, several other Sioux -speaking tribes of the region the Catawba joined ( such as the Keyauwee ). Nevertheless, their number dropped from an estimated 10,000 people at the arrival of the Europeans to approximately 5,000 in 1692, 1,400 in 1728 and reached its low point in 1826 with 110 members.

Today in the tribal list are back 2,600 tribal members to find.

The Catawba played a major role in the expulsion of the Tuscarora and the destruction of their settlements in 1712 / 13th