Mormon Missionaries Among The Catawba Indians

The Catawba, also know as Iswa are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. They live in the Southeastern United States, on the Catawba River at the border of North Carolina, near the city of Rock Hill, South Carolina. They were once considered one of the most powerful Southeastern Siouan -speaking tribes in the Carolina Piedmont, as well as one of the most powerful tribes in the South as a whole.The legend is that they may have been the folks that greeted Columbus and were once a very populous tribe which was decimated by smallpox and alcohol use. By the 1880's it was supposed that there were only 60 to 80 left in and around York County, South Carolina and Cherokee, North Carolina.This was the condition of the nation until the Mormon missionaries found them. They joined the church nearly in mass, 2/3 of the tribe, however, the number was around 60.