Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians

Wassamasaw Tribe
of Varnertown Indians
Named afterWassamassaw Swamp,
Berkeley County, SC
FormationMarch 7, 2001; 23 years ago (2001-03-07)[1]
Typestate-recognized tribe,
nonprofit organization
EIN 57-1121837[2]
PurposeS20: Community, Neighborhood Development, Improvement[2]
HeadquartersMoncks Corner, SC[1]
Membership
1,500 (2005)[3]
Official language
English
LeaderLisa M. Collins[4]
Websitehttps://www.wassamasawtribe.com/
Formerly called
Wassamasaw Tribe[5]

The Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians or Wassamasaw Tribe is a state-recognized tribe and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Berkeley County, South Carolina.[4][2] The organization was awarded the status of a state-recognized tribe by the South Carolina Commission of Minority Affairs in November 2009, becoming the sixth state-recognized tribe within South Carolina.[6][dead link‍] They are not federally recognized as a Native American tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[7] The Catawba Indian Nation is the only tribe in South Carolina that is federally recognized by the U.S. Government.

Members of the Wassamasaw Tribe claim descent from several Indigenous peoples of the Carolinas including the Etiwan, Edisto,[6] Catawba, Cherokee,[6][8]

  1. ^ a b "Wassamaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians". OpenCorporates. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians". CauseIQ. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  3. ^ Petersen, Bo (26 May 2005). "Tribe reclaims its roots, heritage". The Anderson Independent-Mail. Vol. 106, no. 206. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b "South Carolina's Recognized Native American Indian Entities | Commission for Minority Affairs". cma.sc.gov. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians". businessfilings.sc.gov. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Petersen, Bo. "Varnertown Indians gain state recognition". Post and Courier. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Indian Affairs Bureau. Federal Register. 29 January 2021. pp. 7554–58. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Varner Town Indian Community Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 10 January 2023.