Description
The Keyauwee Indians were a small North Carolina tribe, native to the area of present day Randolph County, North Carolina. The Keyauwee village was surrounded by palisades and cornfields about thirty miles northeast of the Yadkin River, near present day High Point, North Carolina. The Keyauwee village was vulnerable to attack, so the Keyauwee constantly joined with other tribes for better protection. They joined with the Tutelo, Saponi, Occaneechi, and the Shakori tribes, moving to the Albemarle Sound with the last two for a settlement that would later be foiled. The Keyauwee would move further southward along with the Cheraw and Peedee tribes, close along the border of the two Carolinas, where they conducted deerskin trade with Charleston traders and allied with the Indian neighbors in the Yamassee War. Eventually, their tribe name vanished from historical records, and with time, they were absorbed by the Catawba tribe.
Language
The Keyauwee tribe merged with local tribes throughout their time due to factors like geographic proximity and Siouan language.
Culture
In 1701, English explorer John Lawson noted of finding them in a palisaded village about 30 miles north east of Yadkin River, near the present Highpoint, Guilford County, North Carolina. Around the village were large fields of corn. At that time they were about equal in number to the Saponi and had, as chief, Keyauwee Jack, who was by birth a Congaree, but had obtained the chieftaincy by marriage with their “queen.” Lawson stated the men wore mustaches or whiskers, an unusual custom for Indians.