Catawba

The Catawba called themselves yeh is-WAH h'reh, the people of the river. Their towns stood along the Catawba River in the Carolina Piedmont, where they traded deerskins for European muskets, knives, kettles and cloth. Their villages became a meeting point for traders from Virginia and Carolina. Communities displaced by war and disease joined them, contributing to a nation that brought together people from several neighbouring groups.

Epidemics and colonial encroachment took a heavy toll in the eighteenth century. After smallpox struck in 1759, the Catawba abandoned several towns and gathered at Twelve Mile Creek. Their leader Hagler negotiated with British officials at Pine Tree Hill in 1760, seeking protection for their remaining lands. The Treaty of Augusta in 1763 confirmed a reservation for the nation, though settlers continued to press upon its boundaries.