Description
The Santee were a historic tribe of Native Americans that once lived in South Carolina within the counties of Clarendon and Orangeburg, along the Santee River. The Santee were a small tribe even during the early eighteenth century and were primarily centered in the area of the present-day town of Santee, South Carolina. In South Carolina, there was a small Catawban tribe known as Santee, whose name came from the word for a river in their language, Santa. The Santee people's earliest documented presence with a high degree of certainty can be traced back to the early seventeenth century. Their settlement along the Santee River has since been dammed and is now called Lake Marion.
Language
Catawban Santee
Culture
Their nation was characterized by a form of despotism, where the chief held absolute authority, including the power of life and death over his people. This authoritative practice was inherited hereditarily from the previous chief. Santee rulers were interred atop mounds constructed in accordance with their status within the tribe, with a roof supported by poles sheltering their graves from the elements. Native American mound next to Lake Marion (formerly Santee River). South Carolina is thought to be the easternmost expression of the Mississippian culture's moundbuilding. Upon the death of other tribe members, a different tradition was observed.