Winyah

The Winyah ( ) were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands who lived near Winyah Bay, the Black River, and the lower course of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina during the 18th century. In the early 20th century, anthropologist John R. Swanton suggested they had ceased to exist as a distinct group by 1720 and speculated that members of the tribe may have merged with the nearby Waccamaw. However, the Winyah appear thirty-two years later on a 1752 map between the Black River and Pee Dee River. Their ultimate fate remains unknown.

Etymology

The exact etymological meaning of ''Winyah'' is presently unknown, though the tribe's language is generally accepted as Catawban. Anglicized variants include ''Winyaw,'' ''Winyaws,'' ''Wanniah,'' ''Wyniaws,'' ''Weneaws,'' and ''Wineaus.'' Other recorded spellings include ''Wee Nee'' and likely ''Wee Tee.'' Linguists consider the analysis of these names uncertain; however, anthropologist John R. Swanton and later linguist Blair A. Rudes concluded that they likely correspond to the names ''Yenyohol'' or ''Yenyochol'' recorded in Spanish accounts of the Ayllón colony in 1526.

History

The Winyah have been considered by academics to be equivalent to the ''Yenyohol'' described to Peter Martyr d'Anghiera in early 16th century by Francisco de Chicora, a Native American man held captive by the Spanish following Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón's expedition to the Carolinas. It has been believed possible that members of the tribe may have also been enslaved by the Spanish at this time.

The Winyah were later mentioned by English colonists of South Carolina after 1670. The tribe was at first allied with the colonists who settled in Charles Town, but this friendship soon was shattered when European slavers instigated a war against them in 1683 as an excuse to capture slaves. During the Tuscarora War of 1711, John Barnwell brought twenty-four Winyah warriors on his expedition into North Carolina, but they deserted him prior to arriving for lack of guns or ammunition.South, "The Tribes of the Carolina Lowland, 31.

Just prior to the Yamasee War, in 1715, the Winyah people lived in a single village of 106 people. Later that year the Cheraw attempted to pressure the tribe into participating in the war against the English but they refused, instead remaining allies of the colonists. Following the war, in 1716, a number of Winyah moved to the Santee River. However, after two years these Winyah, along with others, joined the Cape Fear Indians who had been driven from their lands in North Carolina, in a move adjacent to a trading post operated by Meredith Hughes at Uaunee, within present-day Georgetown County, South Carolina. The Cape Fear Indians eventually settled inland from Charleston in present-day Williamsburg County, South Carolina.

When the Waccamaw settled along the Black River in 1718, the Winyah may have felt crowded, as they aided the English in the Waccamaw War in 1720.South, "The Tribes of the Carolina Lowland, 32. A 1722 map depicts the tribe on the south side of the Pee Dee River. In 1724, members of the Winyah requested reservation lands on which to settle from the colonial government of South Carolina. By 1728, it was proposed to settle the Winyah and a band of Pedee people on some part of the Santee River. However, by 1731, this plan, along with any other reservations in the South Carolina Lowcountry were abandoned.

The last certain record of the Winyah people appears on a 1752 map, placing them between the Black River and Pee Dee River. Traditionally, anthropologist John R. Swanton proposed that the tribe disappeared by 1720 and speculated that its members may have merged with the nearby Waccamaw. Their ultimate fate remains unknown.

Legacy

While the Winyah are considered to have vanished by the mid-18th century, there are many namesakes of the tribe, including:
*Winyah Bay
*Winyah Park
*Winyah Indigo School

Notes

References

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Extinct Native American tribes
Native American history of South Carolina
Native American tribes in South Carolina