SIOUAN 

 MOONEY 



] EARLY ACCOUNTS OF THE CATAWBA. 71 



universal custom of plucking out tlie beard. Tliey were acquainted 

 with the Spaniards, who lived only two or three days' journey south- 

 Avestward. The Sara, living northwest of the Catawba, also were 

 acquainted with the same nation. 



According to Lederers account, the Catawba had the fire dance 

 found among so many tribes; he says: 



.Those misfrable wretches are straugely infatuated with illuess of the devil; it 

 caused so small horror in uie to see one of them wrythe his neck all on one side, 

 foam at the mouth, stand barel'oot upon burning coal for near one houi", and then, 

 recovering his senses, leap out of the tire Avithout hurt or sigue of any (Lederer, 

 10;. 



As it is impossible to do justice to the Catawba within the limits of 

 this paper, only a brief sketch of the tribe will be i^resented, with espe- 

 cial attention to the obscurer tribes; the fuller descriptions being re- 

 served for a future work on the Indians of tke southern Atlantic region. 



In 1701 Lawson passed through the territory of the Catawba, whom 

 he calls by the two names of Esaw and Kadapau, evidently unaware 

 that these names are synonyms. In Esaw may be recogniaed IswS, 

 whence is derived the name Ushery of Lederer. Kadapau, of course, is 

 another form of Catawba, the band which he calls by this name living- 

 some little distance from those designated by him as Esaw. He calls 

 the Esaw a "powerful nation" and states that their villages were "very 

 thick." From all accounts they were formerly the mos.t populous tribe 

 in the Carolinas excepting the Cherokee. He wiis everywhere received 

 in a friendly manner, in accord with t'he universal conduct of the 

 Catawba toward the English save during the Yanmsi war. Virginia 

 traders were all among tlicm then, and the great trading jiath from 

 Virginia to Georgia was commonly known as the Catawba path. He 

 says nothing of head-llattening among this tribe, although he describes 

 the custom in detail as found among the neighboring Waxhaw. In- 

 cidentally he mentions that scratching a stranger on the shoulder at 

 parting was regarded as a very great compliment. He also notes the 

 use of a comb set with the teeth of rattlesnakes for scraping the body 

 before applying medicine to the affected i^art in cases of lameness (Law- 

 son, 10). A similar in^actice still persists among the Cherokee. 



Adair states that one of the ancient cleared fields of the Catawba 

 extended 7 miles, besides which th(^y had several other smaller village 

 sites (Adair, 4). In 1728 (1729 by error) they still had six villages, all 

 on Catawba river, within a distance of 20 miles, the most northerly 

 being called iSTauvasa (Byrd, 21). Their principal village was formerly 

 ou the western side of the river in what is now York county. South 

 Carolina, opposite the mouth of Sugar creek (Millg, 1). 



The history of the Catawba up to about tiie year 17G0 is chiefly a 

 record of the petty warfare between themselves and the Iroquois and 

 other northern tribes, throughout which the colonial government was 

 constantly kept busy trying to induce the Indians to stop killing each 

 other and go to killing the French. With the single exception of their 



