United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018Bowne, Eric E. (Eric Everett), 1970-2002-08-08Encyclopedia article about the Westo Indians. The Westo Indians, who lived along the Savannah River near Augusta from about 1660 to 1680, were one of the most important Native American groups in the southeastern United States. They obtained firearms from the English in Virginia before most other Indians in the Southeast did, which gave them a tremendous military advantage over bow-and-arrow Indians. The Westos used this advantage to enslave natives throughout Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas. They then traded their captives as field slaves to colonists in Virginia and South Carolina for items of European manufacture, including guns, ammunition, steel hatchets, blankets, and glass beads. Since firearms and ammunition were the key to Westo dominance, the group fought hard to establish a reliable source for these goods while at the same time denying such access to other native groups.GSE identifier: SS2H2, SS8H1text/htmlForms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.Indians of North America--Georgia--17th CenturyIndian slaveholders--GeorgiaYuchi Indians--GeorgiaWesto IndiansText