The Cheraw, variously spelled Charaw, Charraw, Sara, Saraw, Saura, Suali, Sualy, Xualla, or Xuala, are a tribe of Siouan-speaking Amerindians first encountered by Hernando De Soto in 1540.
The name they call themselves is lost to history but the Cherokee call them Ani-suwa'ii and the Catawba Sara ("place of tall weeds").
The Spanish and Portuguese call heir territory Xuala (or Xualla).
The later English colonists spell their name Saraw, Saura, Suali, Sualy, Charaw, Charraw, etc.
in an attempt to transliterate the Spanish term.
The early explorer John Lawson includea them in the larger eastern-Siouan confederacy, which he calla "the Esaw Nation."
