The
Catawba — also known as
Issa or
Essa or
Iswä but most commonly
Iswa (Catawba:
iswa - “people of the river”) — are a
federally recognized tribe of
Native Americans, known as the
Catawba Indian Nation. They live in the Southeast
United States, along the border of
North Carolina near the city of
Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Catawba were once considered one of the most powerful Southeastern
Siouan-speaking tribes in the Carolina Piedmont. The Catawba and other Siouan peoples are believed to have coalesced as individual tribes in the Southeast. Living along the
Catawba River they were named one of the most powerful tribes in the south.