Beaver Creek Indians

A tribe of Native Americans located in South Carolina (USA) which achieved state recognition on January 27, 2006 [Cite web |title=South Carolina Indian Affairs Commission (official SC state government listing of tribes and their status) |url=http://southcarolinaindianaffairs.com/members.html] [Cite web |title=List of State Recognized Tribes (on the 500 Nations website) |url=http://500nations.com/tribes/Tribes_States.asp] [Cite web |title=List of Tribes in South Carolina (on the 500 Nations website) |url=http://500nations.com/South_Carolina_Tribes.asp] but is still working toward federal recognition. The tribe was formed as a non-profit organization in 1998 [Beaver Creek Indians document submitted for State Recognition to the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs (Kathleen Chavis, compilation organizer)] .

Their traditional lands are between the two forks of the Edisto River in Orangeburg County, and especially along Beaver Creek. [Surviving Indians Groups of the Eastern United States by William Harlen Gilbert, Jr. 1949] [The Mestizos of South Carolina by Brewton Berry 1948 (published in The American Journal of Sociology)] [The Beaver Creek Band of Indians by Alexia Jones Helsey, 2003] [Oral History of the Beaver Creek Indians by Annis Williams] Historical accounts refer to them in this area as far back as the 1700s. Most of the tribe members still live in this area and so have always farmed or held jobs within the local community.

Their original language family was Siouan (though today all speak English). Common family names within the tribe are: Chavis, Hutto, Williams, Barr, Bolin, Jackson, Huffman and Gleaton.

The tribe is goverened by a Chief (Louie Chavis) and a Vice Chief (Kenneth Adams) and a Tribal Council of nine members, and an Elders Council of five members. The tribe's current headquarters is in the Town of Salley, South Carolina.

Lazarus Chavis

Lazarus Chavis, who was born in 1767 and died sometime after 1830, is the tribe's earliest known ancestor. He is a central figure in the tribe's history, identity, genealogy and ancestry; and was the key to its success at achieving state recognition.

Though he lived during a time when Native Americans were treated poorly, leading many to deny or hide their ethnicity, Lazarus Chavis identified himself openly and in legal documents as an American "Indian." Records indicate he served in the American Revolutionary War and received a pension for this military service. He is also listed in the first U.S. Federal Census of 1790 and every census after it up to 1830.

Because his Native American ethnicity is documented through multiple and unrelated sources, the documentation of his life became the principal means by which the tribe achieved state recognition. And because he is the foundation of the tribe's legal existence, he has come to define the extent and limits of its ancestry. Today he is defined as the common ancestor for all the members of the tribe. To be a member of the tribe, each person had to show that they descended from him.

References