Santee

The Santee country lies along the rivers and lowlands of coastal South Carolina. Indigenous communities used its waters for travel and fishing, while nearby fields and forests supplied crops, game and materials. The Santee people belonged to the varied native societies encountered by European colonists in the Carolina region. Their lives were disrupted by disease, warfare and the destructive trade in enslaved indigenous people during the colonial expansion.

In 1701 the English traveller John Lawson encountered Santee and Wateree people along the river. In 1715 the Santee joined other Indigenous peoples in the Yamasee War against Carolina's colonists and traders; after the conflict, Santee and Wateree people withdrew toward Catawba settlements. Meanwhile, English settlement and rice plantations increasingly reshaped the lowcountry, relying on the forced labour and knowledge of enslaved Africans.