Website launch for New River Catawba

The New River Catawba have a new website and domain name, New River Catawba.org:

https://newrivercatawba.org

From History and Culture page:

The History of the New River Catawba

   Our members are the modern-day descendants of the original Catawba people who migrated here around 1200 AD. In our language, Tla Wilano, we are known as the Wagahattamnegleechee Odah.  The Catawba originated as an Eastern Siouan Nation who, since “time immemorial” have occupied lands in the mountains, foothills and Piedmont regions of North Carolina and Virginia. Our origin stories place our ancestral home in the Ohio River Valley. Current archeological evidence agrees. (Moore p. 49 & 195).  By 1200 AD a lack of resources, overcrowding, and attacks from Iroquois raiding parties forced our people to seek refuge in the Carolina’s and Virginia. (Carlson p. 46).

Once in North Carolina, we eventually divided further into the Tribes that are today known as the Catawba, Saponi, Tutelo, Occanechee and others as described by the first European explores, i.e. DeSoto, Pardon, Lawson and others. (Moore p.19-24) (Carlson p. 45-46). The reason for this separation was to conserve resources. Isolation eventually led to many different dialects, but each was a variation of our original Siouan. When those first explorers came through what would one day be called the western North Carolina our people had called the land home (Wichisniup Ulta) for many centuries.  But fate and time would one day reunite us as we finally found a home in the north western mountains of North Carolina.

Eastern Siouan

By 1713, our ancestors, devastated by war, disease, and encroachment of their lands, (Carlson p. 53-60) reunited to join under one banner at Fort Christanna.  This confederation of Eastern Siouan tribes that would finally coalesce into the New River Indians. While at Fort Christanna our people signed a 1714 “Treaty of Peace” with Governor Spotswood in Williamsburg, VA. (Carlson p.57)

Tla Wilano Language

Tla Wilano is our language. It is currently being studied by the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. It is a beautiful language that rises and falls like musical melodies. Here are some fun and common words in Tla Wilano with some easy phonetic guides to pronunciation.