[9] Members of the Waccamaw Indian People trace their origins to the Dimery Settlement, a tri-racial isolate population once located near Dog Bluff in Horry County, first established during the early 19th century.

[2][4][12][13] The organization was established following Harold D. "Buster" Hatcher's departure from the Chicora Indian Tribe of South Carolina due to a disagreement with then chief, Gene Martin, in October of 1992.

[6] Members of the Waccamaw Indian People trace lineal descent from the historic Dimery Settlement, an isolated population once located in Horry County near Dog Bluff.

[11] In the fall of 1994, historian Forest Hazel was hired to assist the Chicora-Waccamaw Indian People, supported by a grant from the Administration for Native Americans, in compiling historical documentation for their federal recognition bid.

[11] During his research, Hazel explored various local theories about the origins of the Dimery Settlement's origins, including the idea that community members might have been the descendants of the historic Waccamaw people, a foreign population of Spaniards or Portuguese, an amalgamation of Civil War deserters, runaway slaves, and Native Americans who settled near Gunter's Island, or an offshoot of the Lumbee people of Robeson County, North Carolina, who were also referred to as "croatan" by locals.

[11] Hazel noted the possibility of indigenous people inhabiting the Dog Bluff area at the time Dimery's arrival, given the nearby late Woodland Period village site near Jordanville, with excavated pottery shards dating to the 17th century.

[11] Members of the Dimery Settlement, as evidenced in historical records from the 19th century, led lives comparable to their neighbors, showing no distinctive indigenous customs or language, and were to some limited extent integrated into the local rural society.

[11] Following the work of Forest Hazel, researchers into the 21st Century have continued to emphasize the fluidity of movement among racially mixed populations across Horry, Marlboro, Dillon, and neighboring Robeson County, North Carolina.

S. Pony Hill has noted that comprehensive genealogical research has proven that members of the Waccamaw Indian People are often closely related, within one or two generations, to families such as the Ammons, Coopers, Dimerys, Hatchers, and Turners in the McColl, Clio, Maxton, and Pembroke areas.

[16] Hill highlights that John Dimery Sr. lived near Drowning Creek, in present-day Robeson County, from at least 1780 to 1795, where he was taxed and listed on census schedules as a Free Person of Color.

[16] Despite extensive research over the past thirty years failing to validate the Dimery Settlement's descent from the historic Waccamaw people, it has been noted by Hill that the tribe currently emphasizes this claim while deemphasizing documented connections to the Lumbee.

[19] As of December of 2023, the office of U.S. Representative Russell Fry has been actively engaged in discussions and collaborative efforts with both the Waccamaw Indian People, supporting their pursuit of federal recognition.