Beaver Creek Indian Tribe
The Edisto River, location of the first settlement in Orangeburg County | |
| Named after | Beaver Creek |
|---|---|
| Formation | January 26, 1998 |
| Type | state-recognized tribe, nonprofit organization |
| EIN 57-1063914 | |
| Purpose | A80: Historical Societies, Historical Preservation |
| Headquarters | Salley, South Carolina |
| Location | |
Official language | English |
| Leader | Louis Chavis |
Vice Chief | Helen Jeffcoat |
| Website | beavercreekindians |
Formerly called | Beaver Creek Band of Pee Dee Indians |
| Part of a series on ethnic |
| African Americans |
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The Beaver Creek Indian Tribe or Beaver Creek Indians is a state-recognized tribe and nonprofit organization headquartered in Salley, South Carolina, that represents the Beaver Creek Indians. The organization was awarded the status of a state-recognized tribe by the South Carolina Commission of Minority Affairs on January 27, 2006. They are not a federally recognized Native American tribe and are one several recognized nonprofit organizations within South Carolina that allege to be descended from the historic Pee Dee. The organization is not to be confused with the Pee Dee Indian Nation of Beaver Creek, a "state-recognized group" recognized by the South Carolina Commission of Minority Affairs in 2007.
The tribe claims descent from a band of Pee Dee who settled between the forks of Edisto River in Orangeburg County, South Carolina during the eighteenth century. This claim is entirely through their "earliest known ancestor" Lazarus Chavis. However, according to genealogical research, he was most likely the son of John Chavis, a free Black man from Virginia.