Most writing about the Native history of the Lowcountry is written in the past tense. This page is not, because the Edisto-Natchez Kusso Tribe is here. Reporting from May 2024 puts its membership at roughly 800 people, living along the Edisto River in two communities: Creel Town in Colleton County and the Four Holes Indian Community in Dorchester County, southwest of Ridgeville.
Where the tribe comes from
The tribe combines older peoples. The Edisto were originally based on St. Helena Island and later settled on Edisto Island in the late 1500s. The Kusso (Kussoe) are the same people the colony went to war with in 1671. The Natchez left Mississippi around 1729, lived among the Cherokee in North Carolina, and reached the Charleston area by 1747. The tribe says the Natchez and Kusso were pushed inland, given land near the Edisto River, and merged. From the 1840s they established Creel Town and Four Holes.
Recognition
South Carolina recognized the tribe in 1972, under Chief Robert Davidson, who led it from 1969 to 1982. As of May 2024 it was not federally recognized. The current chief, Dr. John Glenn Creel, said then that the tribe planned to notify the federal government of its intent to seek recognition, with a formal application expected to take about a year. The only federally recognized tribe in South Carolina is the Catawba Indian Nation, recognized in 1941. Recognition status can change, so check the tribe’s own announcements for the current position.
The civil rights years
Tribal members worked alongside Black civil rights activists to integrate Dorchester County’s schools. The Charleston City Paper names Victoria DeLee and John Reynolds of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as participants. That story belongs in any honest account of the county, and it connects the Native community to the same fields, churches and schools this series writes about.
How to learn about them well
This is a community, not an attraction. The tribe runs a free clinic and holds a homecoming, and it speaks for itself through its own channels. The respectful way to learn is to read what the tribe publishes, attend public events when invited, and support its work. County Line Confidential does not write stories about the tribe’s beliefs or ceremonies, and it will not invent them.
Sources: Charleston City Paper, May 24, 2024; Avery Research Center, Edisto Natchez Kusso.