The Wando were a tribe of Native Americans of the Cusabo group who lived in South Carolina on the banks of the Cooper River.[1]

Wando people
Wando
Total population
extinct as a tribe
Regions with significant populations
Southeast South Carolina
Languages
Eastern Siouan[1]
Religion
Native American religion
Related ethnic groups
other Cusabo people

Their name is also spelled Wandoe.[2] Another Cusabo tribe, the Etiwaw, lived on the Wando River.[3]

Language

edit

The Cusabo language is unattested.

History

edit

Spaniards explored Charleston Harbor in 1605.[4] English colonists settled near Wando territory in 1670.

In 1675, the Wando, along with their neighbors, the Etiwan, Sampa, and Sewee petitioned English settler Maurice Mathews asked for land to be reserved for their settled. The colonial council established land for these tribes to settle near Charleston Harbor, and the Wando and Sewee settled on the southern banks of the Wando River.[4]

The Sewee people lost the majority of their men to an ill-fated ocean voyage, in which they planned to travel to England, but instead were caught in a storm. Survivors were saved by British vessels only to be sold into slavery in the Caribbean. The remaining Sewee moved in with and intermarried with the Wando people.[5]

Swanton surmises that the Wando merged into their neighboring peoples.[6]

Legacy

edit

The Wando River was named for the tribe.[2] The United States Navy tug USS Wando, in commission from 1917–1922 and 1933–1946, was named for them.[7] Wando High School is also named for them.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b Swanton, The Indian Tribes of North America, 98.
  2. ^ a b Swanton, Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors, 23.
  3. ^ Swanton, Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors, 51.
  4. ^ a b Dahlman, Dahlman (15 May 2014). "Native Americans". Daniel Island Historical Society. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  5. ^ Olexer, Barbara (2005). The Enslavement of the American Indian in Colonial Times. Joyous Pub. p. 116. ISBN 9780972274043.
  6. ^ Swanton, Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors, 71.
  7. ^ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Wando

References

edit
edit