Celebrating Catawba Traditions through art, education and community engagement within the on-campus and off-campus community.
By Caroline Smith
Staff Writer
To kick off Homecoming Week at Winthrop University there was an Indigenous Pride Night to celebrate the Catawba Nation. Winthrop and the Catawba Nation have always had a close relationship, especially because the Catawba Nation has sold pottery with Winthrop students in the 19th century.
Today, there are around 5,000 Catawba citizens. Their roots date back to 12,000 years ago, but they have modernized their land to provide the community with a museum and nature trails that are open to the public at the reservation in Rock Hill, SC, and there is a second Catawba reservation in Kings Hill, NC.
Events such as the Indigenous Pride cultural event at The Edge, in the DiGiorgio Campus Center, helps support the preservation of Indigenous culture with historical representations and general cultural appreciation.
Kassidy Plyler, the Catawba Nation Cultural Public Programs Specialist, talked about how important it is to remind people that the Catawba people are still here and not going anywhere.
“I think this kind of sparks a little bit of interest in the Native community. One, it showcases the community that’s here, and still here, still kind of thriving, still having younger people involved and elders involved, it showcases just a variety of aspects of Native culture. The main takeaway is that we’re still here and still active, and vibrant in this community,” Plyler said.
Ms. Senior Catawba 2025-2026, Tonda Medlin, shared a similar sentiment.
“We’re still here, We’d like to get more people to come out and visit our reservation,” Medlin said.
The event, which was hosted on November 10, featured traditional Catawba performances, like the friendship dance and prayer dress dance.
Dalton Kimbrell, a sophomore psychology major, said he enjoyed participating in the friendship circle because of “how it created a sense of community in such little time and effort.”
John Kirk, Director of Campus Programming, set up the event with the help of DSU. He hopes students learn just how engrained in the community the Catawba Nation is – as their land is only about 15 minutes from Winthrop’s campus.
“Listen, learn and show up. Support Indigenous voices, share their stories and take time to understand the history and communities that exist right here around us,” Kirk said.
Kimbrell also expressed the importance of being educated on the Catawba Nation, but he also wants to see people engage in Native communities more.
“It’s important that we are educated this way and that events take place in this manner so we as a greater community are exposed to different ways of life,” Kimbrell said.
The Nation fought alongside the Patriots, American colonists opposing British rule, during the American Revolution. They were the only tribe to fight the entirety of the war alongside the Patriots.
Although the Indian Reorganization Act tried to better the conditions of the tribes, the government policies were changed in the 1950s, and because of this the Catawba Nation was no longer federally recognized. In 1973, the Nation submitted a petition to Congress, in hopes of federal recognition.
Native Americans also were unable to practice their traditional rituals or religions until the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978. In 1993, the Catawba Nation, after a lengthy back and forth with the federal government, was finally recognized as its own Nation.
As of 2025, the tribe resides on 600 acres of land in Rock Hill. They are currently preparing to open a casino in Kings Mountain, N.C.
Another event that is open to the public as an opportunity for cultural appreciation will be at the Catawba Cultural Center in Rock Hill for the Yap Yè Iswà Festival on November 22, 2025.
