SC’s only federally recognized tribe expands to new county with ‘sacred land’ deal

South Carolina’s Catawba Nation has gained new territory outside of York County on a parcel that the federally-recognized tribe considers sacred land along the Catawba River.

The Catawba received the site, located in Lancaster County, in November from the state and the Environmental Banc & Exchange, LLC, a land mitigation company. The Camden, S.C.-based company acquired the lands in 2021 for $2.4 million. Catawba Nation plans to apply to have 32 acres placed into a federal land trust.

The land is one of the more scenic spaces in the region. It’s immediately south of Landsford Canal State Park, the riverfront site best known for its late spring and early summer bloom of the largest known patch of rocky shoals spider lilies.

The site also has historic value to the tribe as a former village location. Traditional Catawba villages were surrounded by wooden walls and had a council house, sweat lodge, home and an open plaza for community gathering.

“I strongly feel that us taking charge of this important site is far better than being granted the opportunity to visit the site,” Catawba Nation cultural director Wenonah Haire said in a statement announcing the newly acquired property.

Another 470 acres still owned by the land mitigation company sits directly east; bordering the river to the south is a 450-acre crop and timber property.

The company that owned the Catawba property is a mitigation bank. When land disturbances for new roads or other construction impacts wetlands, developers can pay mitigation banks to preserve property there as a trade-off. The banks themselves are restored or enhanced through that funding and can become pristine sites.

During a remediation effort with the mitigation bank, the South Carolina Department of Commerce discovered the property’s connection to the Catawba and began negotiation with the tribe to transfer it. The tribe plans to work with archaeologists to study the site.

Catawba Nation grows its footprint

The Catawba claim a lengthy history living along the Catawba River, with artifacts dating back at least 6,000 years. The tribe lived in parts of South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia before Europeans arrived. The tribe also points to a 1763 title it received from England granting ownership of 144,000 acres.

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The Catawba gained federal recognition in 1993 and now has a 630-acre Reservation near Rock Hill held in trust. That riverfront property is located on Tom Steven Road.

There are more than half a dozen smaller properties beside the reservation that went into trust in the years since. All are fewer than 10 acres. There are larger properties in other parts of York County.

Two miles northwest of the Catawba Reservation, also along the river, there’s a 296-acre property the tribe acquired in 1999. The tribe took ownership of two connected properties at a combined 309 acres in 2005, more than 20 miles west of the Reservation on Simpson Road near York. A 22-acre Greenwood Road property, near the Reservation, added to tribe property in 2020.

The Catawba have had other significant developments in North Carolina. Four years ago, the tribe received federal approval to build a casino on 17 acres in Cleveland County.

Lancaster County grows Catawba Nation ties

Another Lancaster County project also has significance for the tribe.

Last summer, several groups announced plans for a new 600-acre state park in the county. The Van Wyck Road site is across the river from the Catawba Nation. Part of the project would include access to clay deposits used to create its well-known pottery. In December, the Catawba and other groups announced land had been acquired for the park.

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The newly announced 32 acres are more than six miles directly south of the planned park property.

The return of ancestral lands is important as indigenous communities hold cultural, spiritual and economic ties to the land, said Catawba Chief Brian Harris said.

“Restoring ownership and control over these lands allows tribes to preserve their cultural heritage, practice traditional ways of life and exercise self-governance,” Harris said.