Description
The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura, were a tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, in the Piedmont area of North Carolina near the Sauratown Mountains, east of Pilot Mountain and north of the Yadkin River. They lived in villages near the Catawba River. Their first European and African contact was with the Hernando De Soto Expedition in 1540. The early explorer John Lawson included them in the larger eastern-Siouan confederacy, which he called "the Esaw Nation." Scholars have conflicting theories about the tribe, its history, and its relation to other tribes. Some sources say the Cheraw are descended from the Mississippian culture chiefdom of Joara, located in present-day western North Carolina. In the mid-16th century, the Juan Pardo Expedition founded the short-lived Fort San Juan in Joara.
Language
Siouan-speaking
Culture
In 1670, German explorer John Lederer, described a large town he called "Sara", in the mountains that "receive from the Spaniards the name of Suala". He wrote that the natives here mined cinnabar to make purple facepaint, and had cakes of salt. Many cultural traditions reported by the earliest European explorers, such as the use of ceremonial mounds, the heavy reliance on corn (maize)and the importance of social stratification in some areas. They supplemented their diets with acorns, nuts, seeds, and fruits. Since they did not use any fertilizer, they had to burn the fields and create new ones every season. This required immense amounts of time and labor but ultimately led to large crop yields.