Sissipahaw

The Sissipahaw lived along the Haw River in the Carolina Piedmont, their villages standing near its banks and tributaries. They grew maize, beans and squash, and drew on fish, game and wild plants from the surrounding country. Their name survives in the river's name and in the old village site known to later settlers as the Haw Old Fields.

In 1711 the Sissipahaw refused to join Tuscarora plans for war against the Carolina settlements. A Tuscarora party attacked and destroyed their town, scattering its inhabitants. Some Sissipahaw warriors joined John Barnwell's South Carolina force against the Tuscarora; others may have sought refuge among the Waccamaw. After the subsequent Yamasee War, survivors probably joined the Catawba, whose towns brought together several peoples of the Piedmont.