The Waccamaw Sioux or the "People of the Falling Star" are a tribe of American Indians that mostly reside in present-day Columbus and Bladen Counties, North Carolina. From the 16th to the early 18th century, the Waccamaw lived along the eastern border between North and South Carolina. The Waccamaw first appear in written records in 1521 when mentioned by Francisco de Chicora, an American Indian man enslaved by the Spanish in South Carolina, who referred to the nation as the Guacaya.

By the turn of the 18th century, a portion of the Waccamaw had separated, called the Woccon. Naturalist and surveyor John Lawson met the Woccon in 1709, when he recorded a portion of their language. At the outbreak of the Tuscarora War in 1711, many Waccamaw and Cape Fear Indians sided with the colonists. A smaller portion, including the Woccon, sided with the lower Tuscarora and lost their land as  a result. After the Tuscarora War, the Waccamaw Sioux continued to have occasional clashed with colonists, including a brief war with South Carolina in 1720. Aside from war, the main threat to the Waccamaw Sioux was disease, as they, like many other American Indian nations, had no immunity to European-born pathogens.

By the 20th century, the Waccamaw Siouan  were farming cash crops such as tobacco, much like their white and African American neighbors. Culturally, the nation became known for their distinctive quilting styles, which draw on the nation's traditional sewing and weaving practices. Today the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe is one of eight American Indian tribes recognized by the State of North Carolina.

For more information and links to resources, please see our editorial statement on American Indian terminology.