Beaver Creek Indians

The Beaver Creek Indians, formerly known as the Beaver Creek Band of Pee Dee Indians, is a nonprofit organization, and state-recognized tribe headquartered in Salley, South Carolina representing the "Beaver Creek", a mixed-ancestry group of free African American and European American descent. The organization was designated a state-recognized tribe by the South Carolina Commission of Minority Affairs on January 27, 2006. In the early 20th century, academics speculated ancestors of the group might have been of partial Native American descent. The Beaver Creek's common origins and claims of Native American ancestry originate entirely from their "earliest known ancestor" Lazarus Chavis, who is maintained as being the source of the group's Pedee heritage. However, according to modern genealogical research, he was likely the son of John Chavis, an African American carpenter whose family settled along the Edisto River after migrating to South Carolina from out of state. Research conducted by author and professional genealogist Paul Heinegg in the 21st century has concluded that the Chavis family originated in Virginia as Tidewater Creoles.

Organization

On January 28, 1998, the organization was first chartered as a nonprofit organization, being originally called the Beaver Creek Band of Pee Dee Indians. Every two years the organization holds an election for these positions, each lasting for a term of four years, with the chief in one category and the vice-chief and council in another. Additionally, an elders council provides the council with consultation and advice. While the Beaver Creek traditionally inhabited lands near Neeses, South Carolina, the organization today is headquartered in Salley. In 1999, the Pee Dee Indian Nation of Beaver Creek split from the organization following an administrative disagreement and was later recognized by the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs as an independent state-recognized group in 2007. ==History==

History

The tribe claims descent solely through Lazarus Chavis, who they claim was a Native American and their earliest known ancestor. Mary, Richard, and Elijah Chavis moved from Granville County like John Chavis, who was most likely their father according to genealogical analysis. They filed land patents in Orangeburg County near the forks of the Edisto and settled there. Elijah and Lazarus Chavis were recorded together as free people of color on the Orangeburg census in 1710. During this era, the ancestors of the Beaver Creek were recorded as mulatto. Members, were referred to by locals as mulatto or the racial slur Brass Ankle. When people knew of their purported "Indian" affiliation, they sometimes mistakenly considered them Cherokee or Lumbee. The Beaver Creek Indians achieved state recognition in the early 21st century. The organization was designated a state-recognized tribe by the South Carolina Commission of Minority Affairs on January 27, 2006. ==Tidewater Creole descent==

Tidewater Creole descent

In the 21st century research conducted by author Tim Hashaw and professional genealogist Paul Heinegg has concluded that the Chavis family originates from free African Americans from Tidewater Virginia, being associated with Tidewater Creoles. Legal scholar Daniel Sharfstein notes that for some African American descendant groups like the Beaver Creek "Native American identity came to represent a bridge to freedom and to whiteness, with the result that many people of African descent deliberately became Indians." The surname Chavis appears among various other descendant groups of free African Americans in the United States, including the Melungeons, Brass Ankles, Lumbee, as well as among the Louisiana Redbones. ==See also==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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