Cheraw people (Amerind tribe)
Nation | Defunct
1500 CE to 1799 CE
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."
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The Catawba absorb many of the remnants of northern or Piedmont tribes like the Cheraw, Congaree, Santee, Pee Dee, Waxhaw, Wateree, Waccamaw, and Winyah—although these tribes will remain relatively independent for years.
The Catawba confederacy emerges from the Yamasee War as the most powerful native force of the Piedmont region, especially as the Tuscarora migrate away to join the Iroquois in the north.
Some Santee and Waxhaw natives kill several colonists in 1716, a year after the Catawba had made peace with South Carolina.
In response, the South Carolina government asks the Catawba to "fall upon them and cut them off", which the Catawba do.
Surviving Santee and Waxhaw are absorbed into the Catawba society as slaves or "adoptees".
The Cheraw will remain generally hostile for years to come.