For thousands of years early humans called Daufuskie Island home, as evidenced by ancient piles of discarded oyster shells exhibiting pottery shards from all phases of the hunter-gathering period.
[5] Prior to European arrival numerous Indian tribes inhabited the
Lowcountry and islands. Culturally and linguistically these tribes were of
Muskogean stock.
[6] Daufuskie comes from the
Muscogee language and means "sharp feather", for the island's distinctive shape.
[7]
As early as 1523,
Spanish explorers were sailing the southeastern coast of North America in search of potential settlements.
[8] By 1565, the Spanish had settled in
St. Augustine, Florida, and were pushing up the coast establishing and maintaining additional colonies. Concurrent with these 16th-century ambitions for settlement, the French also made attempts at colonization in
South Carolina Lowcountry areas. By the mid-1600s the English began to explore the southern coast. Prosperous Caribbean planters sponsored several expeditions to South Carolina. Captain William Hilton and
Robert Sandford both made voyages to
Port Royal Sound and vicinity. In July 1666 Sanford entered Calibogue Sound between Hilton Head and Daufuskie
