Cassique of the Kiawah - Charleston, SC
N 32° 48.307 W 079° 59.037
17S E 595125 N 3630139
This statue of the Cassique (or Chief) of the Kiawah Indians in 1670 is located at the Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Waymark Code: WMQ1R4
Location: South Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 12/01/2015
Views: 4
"Nestled on the Ashley River, Charles Towne Landing honors the site of the first European settlement in the Carolinas, dating back to 1670. The settlement lasted only a brief time before being moved to Oyster Point in 1680, now known as White Point Garden.
This location was initially chosen as the settlement for European explorers after the Cassique of Kiawah, leader of the Native American tribe which inhabited this area, met with English explorers Captain Robert Sanford and Dr. Henry Woodward. The Cassique persuaded the men to make this land their new home with the promise of cooperation and trade. The statue..., created by Charleston sculptor Williard Hirsch, was unveiled in 1971 and commemorates the Kiawah chief."
-- Source
The life-size statue depicts the Cassique in a standing position atop an approximately 2.5 foot square stone plinth. He is wearing a breech cloth and has some type of hat atop his head. He has two strands of beads hanging from his left shoulder and draped across his chest and a string of something (perhaps teeth or feathers) draped around his shoulders. He holds what appear to be dead waterfowl in his left hand and a feathered staff in his right hand. The wooden end of the spear rests on the ground.
A plaque on the plinth reads:
Cassique
of the Kiawah
1670
Seeking a place for establishing
a settlement, the first colonists
were directed to this site by the
Chief of the Kiawah Indians.
The friendly Cassique and his
people greatly helped the struggling
colony.
This statue by Williard Hirsch
Commissioned in 1971
by the S.C. Tricentennial Commission