Wassamassaw

1. Place in South Carolina: 

Wassamassaw is a place in South Carolina, United States (with several variant spellings during the colonial era).

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2. Swamp in South Carolina

The Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians derives its name from Wassamasaw Swamp, a cypress swamp located in Berkeley County, South Carolina, in close proximity to Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

3. Tribe of Varnertown Indians

The Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians or Wassamasaw Tribe is a state-recognized tribe and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Berkeley County, South Carolina.

The Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians derives its name from Wassamasaw Swamp, a cypress swamp located in Berkeley County, South Carolina, in close proximity to Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

The name and its variants date back to the colonial era and is thought to mean "connecting water" in an unknown indigenous language. The 'Wassamassaw' variant of the word is a palindromic place name.

The Tribe is not federally recognized as a Native American tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Catawba Indian Nation is the only Tribe in South Carolina that is federally recognized by the U.S. Government.

Members of the Wassamasaw Tribe claim descent from several indigenous tribes of the Carolinas including the Etiwan, Edisto, Catawba, and Cherokee. Some have speculated that members may be the last living link to the historic Edisto people.

The tribe also claims descent from remnants of the Catawba, Etiwan, Edisto, and Cherokee, who began to intermarry during the early eighteenth century following the Yamasee War.

Members of the Wassamasaw Tribe has been considered more racially mixed than individuals from other Lowcountry indigenous communities, having over the course of the past two centuries gradually intermarried with their European American and African American neighbors.

The three most predominate surnames associated with Varnertown are Varner, Dangerfield, and Clark.

Historically, the Wassamasaw lost touch with their culture and crafts but have been working to revive lost traditions since the 1960s. Since becoming state-recognized, the Wassamasaw can sell arts and crafts identified as "Native American".

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Photo: Pixabay/GDJ 

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