Origin and History of the Congaree Indians

Moderator: John Jameson, 12,000 Year History Park, City of Cayce

Storyline: Guest speaker Prof. Chris Judge of USC Lancaster discusses the origins and illusive identify of the Congaree Indians who once inhabited the region surrounding the 12,000 Year History Park.

Background: In the wake of the demise of the native Province of Cofitachequi, centered near Camden, South Carolina, appeared a new Native American group on the cultural landscape known from the historical record as the “Congaree.” Sometime between 1672 and 1693 the first group disappears from the landscape and the documentary record followed by the arrival of the second— the “Congaree” in 1693 to the Midlands of South Carolina. Some scholars have suggested that the Congaree descend from Cofitachequi, some believe the remnants of Cofitachequi moved west and became the Creek of Georgia, or the Cherokee of North Carolina, while others including some Catawba assert Cofitachequi as Ancestral Catawban. The location of the Congaree in the late 17th and early 18th centuries spans the lower course of the Wateree from Camden to the confluence of the Wateree and Congaree Rivers and the entire course of the river named for this tribe.

In this presentation, Professor Chris Judge explores these issues and asserts the possibility that rather than being descendants of Cofitachequi, that maybe the Congaree descend from the population at the 16th century town at the confluence of the Wateree and Congaree Rivers known variously as either Hymahi or Guiomae visited by both Hernando DeSoto in 1540 and Juan Pardo in 1566 and 1568..

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89174114291