In the mid-eighteenth century, the towns of the Catawba Nation were located near Nation Ford, where the main trading path that traversed the southern Appalachian Piedmont crossed the Catawba River. By serving as auxiliaries for the English colonies—particularly South Carolina—Catawba men from these communities had achieved notoriety and helped maintain the political autonomy of the Nation. However, this militaristic strategy precipitated a set of processes that transformed the conditions of daily life near Nation Ford. Two of these processes were settlement aggregation and the incorporation of native refugee communities. This book examines whether the political process of centralization through which refugees were incorporated into the Catawba Nation was accompanied by parallel changes in economic organization, particularly with regard to foodways. It also examines the impacts of settlement aggregation on the formulation of community identities. By combining information from historic documents and previously unpublished data from Catawba archaeological sites, this study provides access to the daily lives of the people living around Nation Ford during the mid-eighteenth century. Archaeological materials provide details concerning the activities of Catawba women, who played a large role in making pottery, farming, and collecting wild foods. When a food security crisis struck the Nation between 1755 and 1759, it was these women who worked to overcome the long-term effects of Catawba militarism. Ultimately, this study highlights the double-edged nature of strategies available to American Indian groups seeking to maintain political autonomy in early colonial period contexts.
Patriots and Indians: Shaping Identity in Eighteenth-Century South Carolina