COLUMBIA — For the first time in history, 10 Native American tribes from across South Carolina signed an alliance. And it came with the support of Gov. Henry McMaster.
"Today we stand at a crossroads, where the voices of our ancestors whisper in the wind, urging us to come together for the future of our peoples," said Brian Harris, chief of the Catawba Nation.
The chiefs gathered with the governor at the Statehouse the afternoon of Feb. 4 to mark the occasion. After the 10 chiefs had spoken, McMaster took the podium to remark on the importance of remembering the full history of South Carolina.
"We need to know our history, how we got here and what happened along the way," he said. "Our history books tell us about when Columbus discovered America. But America was already here, and America was already a people, made up of the ancestors of the people here right now."
The Catawba Nation is the only federally recognized tribe in South Carolina, affording it protections like self-governance, land control, taxation power and federal funding.
Nine other tribes are recognized at the state level: Edisto Natchez-Kusso, Beaver Creek Indians, Pee Dee Indian Nation of Upper South Carolina, Pee Dee Indian Tribe, Santee Indian Organization, Piedmont American Indian Association, Lower Eastern Cherokee Nation, Sumter Tribe of Cheraw Indians, Waccamaw Indian People and Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians.
The alliance is focused on goals like cultural preservation, historical and physical conservation, economic development and sovereignty.
But it's more than symbolic — the alliance is a “government-to-government” relationship, according to Tylee Anderson, spokesperson for the Catawba Nation. That means supporting economic relations between the tribes.
“It’s always great to have a helping hand,” said Anderson. “As a federally recognized tribe, we have more resources than the state-recognized tribes. So this is important to help lift up all the Native American people of South Carolina.”
Last month, the chief of the Catawba nation invited entrepreneurs from other tribes and local communities to open businesses on a new piece of the Catawba reservation in York County. Tylee said their federal recognition allows them to offer tax breaks and other financial incentives to encourage economic development.
Seeking sovereignty
Self-governance is also a key factor in the alliance.
Sovereignty, or the federally recognized right for a Native American tribe to govern itself, is more than just a title, according to Joshua Shumak, Native American affairs program coordinator and vice chief of the Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians.
“With South Carolina being one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, many tribes are feeling that pressure of displacement once more,” said Shumak.
Many tribes are located in “growth corridors” around the state. As a result, tribes are finding it impossible to keep up with the pace of development around them, according to Shumak. That’s where the “conservation” element of the alliance comes into play; not only is it important for members to stay connected as a community, but it’s equally important for the tribe to remain connected to the land itself.
The Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians is one of four tribes that have introduced bills for federal recognition into the U.S. Congress. The Catawba Nation said they will support the Wassamaw’s bill, along with bills from the Waccamaw Indian People, Pee Dee Indian Tribe and Edisto Natchez-Kusso.
Shumak said preserving Native American culture should be of the utmost importance in a state that's fast growing and fast changing.
“It’s a community that’s been around for thousands of years,” said Shumak. “That’s something you can’t get back once it’s lost.”
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