By VICKI BROWN
The Edisto Natchez-Kusso tribe hosted their 45th Annual Powwow on April 22-24 on tribal grounds on Ridge Road. The tribe lives near Cottageville and Ridgeville in Colleton and Dorchester counties.
A powwow is a Native American celebration bringing together families and friends to enjoy food and dancing, participate in centuries old traditions, and honor their culture.
The annual event began on Friday evening with families greeting other families while celebrating with food, dancing and fellowship. On Saturday, festivities began at 11:00 a.m.
People brought lawn chairs and blankets, prepared to sit and watch the Native American dancers. Food was available, and vendors were on hand to sell handmade crafts.
At 1:00 p.m., the Grand Entry of the host drum, head man, head lady and Chief John Creel officially opened the powwow.
Dr. John Creel is a physician in Walterboro and serves as chief of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso tribe.
On Sunday, attendees were invited back to tribal grounds for a community church service featuring preaching and singing from local tribal members.
Tribal spokeswoman Sabrina Russell said she is excited that the powwow is back after Covid-19 interrupted the festivities for the last few years. “I feel proud that we were able to hold the powwow again,” said Russell. “We are still here in the same area where my ancestors lived.”
At this time, the Edisto Natchez- Kusso people are only recognized in the state of South Carolina as a full-fledged tribe, but there is hope that in the near future, they will be recognized federally as well.
The process of federal recognition has been challenging and ongoing. In the 1990s and early 2000s, journalist Wes Taukchiray and Native American John Israel Muckenfuss conducted a series of interviews of people who were Indians or worked with the Indians of Creeltown, the community belonging to the Edisto Natchez-Kusso people, to document their lives.
Some tribal ancestors came from Mississippi in the 1700s, but most had been born and lived in S.C. on the Ashepoo and Edisto Rivers. Henry Creel who was born in 1880 and his brother Ivy who was born in 1891 were the last two Indians at Creeltown who knew how to make white oak baskets, a craft they learned from their father. The Creel brothers were also the last Indians at Creeltown to carve cypress boat paddles. Although the craft relatively disappeared in 1939, the tribe recently became interested in resurrecting the skill and are working and learning to create the paddles, baskets, draw knives, and turkey calls out of cedar.
