Waccamaw Indian People

The Waccamaw Indian People is a state-recognized tribe and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Conway, South Carolina. The organization was awarded the status of a state-recognized tribe by the South Carolina Commission of Minority Affairs on February 17, 2005 and holds the distinction of being the first state-recognized tribe within South Carolina. The Waccamaw Indian People are not federally recognized as a Native American tribe and are one of two organizations that allege to be descended from the historic Waccamaw, the other being the Waccamaw Siouan Indians, a state-recognized tribe in North Carolina. The two organizations are not affiliated with one another.

Members of the Waccamaw Indian People trace their origins to the Dimery Settlement, a tri-racial isolate population once located near Dog Bluff in Horry County, first established during the early 19th century. Members of the organization allege that the Dimery Settlement originated as an 18th-century Waccamaw village. However, existent historical records can presently only demonstrate the settlement as being identified as an indigenous community beginning in the early twentieth century.

Government
On October 28, 1992, the Chicora-Waccamaw Indian People first formed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, being originally called the Chicora Indian Nation. The organization was established following Harold D. "Buster" Hatcher's departure from the Chicora Indian Tribe of South Carolina due to a disagreement with then chief, Gene Martin, in October of 1992. Hatcher is the organization's founder, president, agent, and inaugural chief. In 2002, the organization voted to remove the term "Chicora" from its name to avoid confusion with the Chicora Indian Tribe.

On February 17, 2005, the Waccamaw Indian People was awarded the status of a state-recognized tribe by the SCCMA, becoming the first ever state-recognized tribe within South Carolina.

Historic origins
Members of the Waccamaw Indian People trace lineal descent from the historic Dimery Settlement, an isolated population once located in Horry County near Dog Bluff. The Dimery family are considered to have comprised a distinct tri-racial isolate population, being descended from African, European, and Native American ancestors. Hatcher and many members of the Waccamaw Indian People descend from John Dimery, who is said to have founded the settlement near modern Aynor, South Carolina during the early 19th century. During the era of segregation, the community maintained its own church, and later a school, as members of the settlement refused to send their children to schools built for local African American children. During this era members were often referred to as "free coloreds" or "croatans". The settlement was the subject of speculation in newspapers within Horry County during the early 20th century, particularly regarding the racial origins of its inhabitants. This uncertainty fostered a local mystery and led to several legal cases when residents of the settlement were accused of marrying outside of their race due to anti-miscegenation laws of the time.

In the fall of 1994, historian Forest Hazel was hired to assist the Chicora-Waccamaw Indian People, supported by a grant from the Administration for Native Americans, in compiling historical documentation for their federal recognition bid. During his research, Hazel explored various local theories about the origins of the Dimery Settlement's origins, including the idea that community members might have been the descendants of the historic Waccamaw people, a foreign population of Spaniards or Portuguese, an amalgamation of Civil War deserters, runaway slaves, and Native Americans who settled near Gunter's Island, or an offshoot of the Lumbee people of Robeson County, North Carolina, who were also referred to as "croatan" by locals. Hazel was unable to substantiate any of these theories with historical records available at the time of his research.

Research was able to confirm that the settlement's patriarch, John Dimery, first appears marrying his wife, Elizabeth Hardwick, in Marion County, South Carolina in 1809 and by 1813 had moved to Horry County, where he purchased three hundred acres from William Lewis. Dimery is classified as a "free colored" in the 1850 United States census, presumably residing near Dog Bluff. This census also indicates that John Dimery was born in North Carolina. It was speculated that he may have been born in Anson or Columbus County, North Carolina due to the presence of individuals carrying the Dimery surname in these regions at the time. Hazel noted the possibility of indigenous people inhabiting the Dog Bluff area at the time Dimery's arrival, given the nearby late Woodland Period village site near Jordanville, with excavated pottery shards dating to the 17th century. Yet, this theory, in Hazel's opinion, lacked concrete evidence and was not able to be supported by hard fact. Members of the Dimery Settlement, as evidenced in historical records from the 19th century, led lives comparable to their neighbors, showing no distinctive indigenous customs or language, and were to some limited extent integrated into the local rural society.

Hazel investigated several other prominent surnames within the community, such as Hatcher. He discovered a broad connection of this family to early 18th-century traders operating along the North Carolina-Virginia border, known for their dealings with various Carolinian tribes. Findings also included the presence of Hatchers, Dimerys, and Coopers within the Lumbee Tribe. Specifically, he traced the Lumbee Coopers back to Marlboro County and noted their claims of Cheraw ancestry. Hazel postulated that many of these families, including those prominent in the Dimery Settlement, likely originated near the historical Cheraw settlement in Marlboro County.

Subsequent researchers have highlighted the fluidity of racially mixed population's movement across Horry, Marlboro, Dillon, and the neighboring Robeson County, noting that members of the Waccamaw Indian People are often closely related, within one or two generations, to families like the Ammons, Coopers, Dimerys, Hatchers, and Turners in the McColl, Clio, Maxton, and Pembroke areas.

Pursuit of federal recognition
On October 5, 1994, while still named the Chicora-Waccamaw People, the organization submitted a letter of intent to submit a petition for federal acknowledgement of existence as a tribe to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In 2021, US Representatives Tom Rice and Nancy Mace (R-SC-7) introduced HR 1942 Waccamaw Indian Acknowledgment Act to attempt to secure federal recognition for the organization. However, no vote ever happened, and the bill was never mentioned during its two years in Congress.

As of December of 2023, the office of U.S. Representative Russell Fry has been actively engaged in discussions and collaborative efforts with both the Waccamaw Indian People, supporting their pursuit of federal recognition.

Chicora name dispute
Before the Waccamaw Indian People, formerly called the Chicora Indian Nation, chose to formally remove the term "Chicora" from its name, there were public disputes and legal confrontations over the organization's use of this term. A key incident occurred in 1993 between Chief Gene Martin of the Chicora Indian Tribe and Second-Chief Bill "Kicking Bear" Fowler of the Chicora-Waccamaw. The dispute escalated into a public altercation at a powwow hosted by the Lumbee Tribe in Pembroke, North Carolina. The focus of the dispute was on the right to use the "Chicora" name. Subsequently, Martin faced disorderly conduct charges, which were dismissed due to the incident occurring outside of Horry County's jurisdiction. Martin, citing his organization's entitlement to the term "Chicora", considered filing a civil suit against the Chicora-Waccamaw for a name change. Hatcher defended local use of the term "Chicora", stating the term was a regional designation rather than being an assertion of tribal heritage or identity. In 1994 Hatcher publicly expressed that he and Martin had put their dispute over the use of the name "Chicora" behind them. Later, in 2002, the Waccamaw Indian People dropped "Chicora" from the organization's name by popular vote in order to avoid being confused with the Chicora Indian Tribe.

Other activities
In 2004, the Waccamaw Indian People acquired twenty acres that once comprised part of the historic Dimery Settlement near Dog Bluff. This land is referred to as the "Waccamaw Tribal Grounds" and is used by the organization to host cultural events and an annual powwow every November.

The Horry County Museum showcased the exhibition The Waccamaw Indian People: Past, Present, and Future in 2021.