The Congaree (also spelled Conagree) were a group of Native Americans who lived in what is now central South Carolina of the United States, along the Congaree River. They spoke a dialect distinct from, and not intelligible by, Siouan language speakers, the primary language family of the area.
Contents |
Early European observers and later American scholars thought the Congaree were likely of the Siouan language family, given their geographic location and characteristics of neighboring tribes. Since the late 20th century, scholars more widely agree that the people were non-Siouan. Their language was distinct from the Siouan language, and not intelligible to their immediate Siouan neighbors, the Wateree.[1]
In early 1715 the English colonist John Barnwell took a census; it identified the Congaree as living in one village, with a total population of 22 men and 70 women and children.[2] During the Yamasee War of 1715, the Congaree joined with other tribes in the fight against the colony of South Carolina. Over half were either killed or enslaved by the colonists and Cherokee.
In the subsequent decades, Congaree survivors merged with the larger Catawba people. Different tribes lived in their own villages within the loose Catawba federation. The Congaree tribe maintained their distinction until the late 18th century. The tribe is now considered extinct. Some members of the present-day Catawba and other tribes of the Carolinas are likely genetic descendants of the Congaree.