The Catawba Indians in Oklahoma and the West

Unknown to many, the Catawba Indians of South Carolina have over the last two centuries had many groups of its people leave the reservation in Rock Hill SC and migrate to other area including Florida, Tennessee, and especially the western states. Several families settled among the Creek, Cherokee, and Shawnee Indians of Indian Territory and in time were included as citizens of these large tribes. In the lead up to Oklahoma statehood and the allotment of the Indian lands there, the Western Catawba Association, with hundreds of members sought to be included and allotted lands as a tribe of Indian Territory, an effort that would not be successful. Today there are hundreds of Oklahomans who proudly claim Catawba ancestry, as there are in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. This is their story.