Location: Hwy 211 South, near the intersection of Old Lake Rd.
County: Columbus
Original Date Cast: 2023
The “People of the Falling Star”, currently known as the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe is situated on the edge of the Green Swamp east of Lake Waccamaw off Hwy 211. The major communities of tribal members are St. James, east of Lake Waccamaw, and Buckhead and Council, north of Bolton, North Carolina. The Waccamaw Siouan history was documented in 1701 by John Lawson as he visited the tribal areas located on the lower Neuse River with the tribal name then referenced to as “Woccon”. The tribal area was located two leagues (6 miles) from the Tuscarora tribe where Lawson recorded 143 Woccon words from the Siouan Language which is a similar dialect to that of the southwestern neighboring Catawba Tribe resident in present-day South Carolina. The words are documented in Lawson’s book, A Vocabulary of Woccon, which can be found in the State Archives of North Carolina.
After the Indian Wars in North Carolina known as the Tuscarora (1711-1713) and Yamassee (1715) Wars, the Waccamaw Siouans (Woccon) retreated southeast to the current day Green Swamp, while others were adopted by the Catawba Tribe due to similar language dialects. There in the secluded Green Swamp, the Waccamaw Siouan remained in obscurity until the late-1700s.
Tribal history speaks of the formation of Lake Waccamaw as the result of a huge meteor that crashed into the earth’s surface, creating a large crater; the surrounding waters of the swamps cooled creating a gem of blue in verdant green surroundings. There is no known translation of the word Waccamaw, but study of the Catawba language provides an explanation to the origin of the name. A game played by the Catawba Indian children is spelled Wap Ka’ Hare, which translated is “ball knock”. Listening to an Indian say this word sounds like “Wah-um-wah”. It is reasonable to say that Waccamaw is the English translation of part of the phrase that told of the ball of fire that “knocked” into the earth and created Lake Waccamaw.
The Waccamaw Siouan received North Carolina state recognition in 1971 and hold membership with the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs per NC GS Section 143B-407. The Tribe was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1977. On the third week of October, an annual powwow is held on the tribal grounds two miles east of Hwy 211 on Hwy 1740 (Old Lake Rd.).
For a more complete history of the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe visit, https://waccamaw-siouan.org
References:
John Lawson (1674? -1711), A Vocabulary of Woccon, 1709
The American Indian, 1943-1959. MS The Association on American Indian Affairs: Publications, Programs, Legal and Organizational Files, 1851-1983: Legal Cases, Programs and Publications 378:6. Mudd Library, Princeton University. Indigenous Peoples of North America, link.gale.com/apps/doc/ARBDOG200567631/INPU?u=aaia&sid=bookmark-INDP&xid=elec5206&pg=331. Accessed 20 Dec. 2021 Gale Document Number: GALE|ARBDQG200567631
David La Vere. (2013). The Tuscarora War: Indians, Settlers, and the Fight for the Carolina Colonies: Vol. 1st ed. The University of North Carolina Press.