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. Primarily involved in agriculture, the Catawba were friendly…