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The Creek are an American Indian people originally from the southeastern United States, also known by their original name Muscogee (or Muskogee), the name they use to identify themselves today. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. Modern Muscogees live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Their language, Mvskoke, is a member of the Creek branch of the Muskogean language family. The Seminole are close kin to the Muscogee and speak a Creek language as well. The Creeks are one of the Five Civilized Tribes.
Early history The early historic Creeks were probably descendants of the mound builders of the Mississippian culture, and possibly related to the Utinahica of southern Georgia. More of a loose confederacy than a single tribe, the Muscogee lived in autonomous villages in river valleys throughout what are today the states of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama and consisted of many ethnic groups speaking several distinct languages, such as the Hitchiti, Alabama, and Coushatta. Those who lived along the Ocmulgee River were called "Creek Indians" by British traders from South Carolina; eventually the name was applied to all of the various natives of the region. Pathogens tranferred to North America from the Eastern Hemisphere in the 16th and 17th centuries decimated the Mississippian population throughout the South, which opened the headwaters of the Tennessee River to Cherokee expansion to the south, resulting the Battle of Taliwa in 1755. Starting in the 17th century, the Creeks increasingly engaged in trade with their new British neighbors, receiving European trade goods in exchange for deerskins and Indian slaves captured in Florida and elsewhere. In the eighteenth century, Creeks began to intermarry with British traders as well as runaway African slaves. Geographical distances and differences in interaction with Europeans eventually led to the Creek towns becoming increasingly divided between the Lower Towns of the Georgia frontier on the Chattahoochee River, Ocmulgee River, and Flint River and the Upper Towns of the Alabama River Valley. The Lower Towns included Coweta, Kasihta (Cusseta, Cofitachiqui), Upper Chehaw (Chiaha), Hitchiti, Oconee, Ocmulgee, Okawaigi, Apalachee, Yamasee (Altamaha), Ocfuskee, Sawokli, and Tamali. The Upper Towns included Tuckabatchee, Abhika, Coosa (Kusa; the dominant people of East Tennessee and North Georgia during the Spanish explorations), Itawa (original inhabitants of the Etowah Indian Mounds), Hothliwahi (Ullibahali), Hilibi, Eufaula, Wakokai, Atasi, Alibamu, Coushatta (Koasati; they had absorbed the Kaski/Casqui and the Tali), and Tuskegee ("Napochi" in the de Luna chronicles). Revolutionary era Like many Native American groups east of the Mississippi River, the Creeks were divided over which side to take in the American Revolutionary War. The Lower Creeks remained neutral; the Upper Creeks allied with the British and fought the colonial rebels. sketch by John Trumbull shows Creek leader Hopothle Mico, probably at the time of the signing of the Treaty of New York in 1790. http://www.library.fordham.edu/trumbull/trumbulldetail.asp?imageID=3 (more) After the rebellion officially ended in 1783, the Creeks discovered Great Britain had ceded Creek lands to the new United States. The State of Georgia began to expand into Creek territory. Creek statesman Alexander McGillivray rose to prominence as he organized pan-Indian resistance to this encroachment and received arms from the Spanish in Florida to fight trespassing Georgians. McGillivray worked to create a sense of Creek nationalism and to centralize Creek authority, struggling against village leaders who individually sold land to the United States. With the Treaty of New York in 1790, McGillivray ceded a significant portion of Creek lands to the United States under the administration of George Washington in exchange for federal recognition of Creek sovereignty within the remaining territory. However, McGillivray died in 1793 and Georgia continued to expand into Creek territory. Red Stick War The Creek War of 1813-1814, also known as the Red Stick War, began as a civil war within the Creek Nation, only to become enmeshed within the War of 1812. Inspired by the fiery eloquence of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and their own religious leaders, Creeks from the Upper Towns, known to the Americans as Red Sticks, sought to aggressively resist white immigration and the "civilizing programs" administered by U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins. Red Stick leaders William Weatherford (Red Eagle), Peter McQueen and Menawa violently clashed with the Lower Creeks led by William McIntosh, who were allied with the Americans. On August 30, 1813, Red Sticks led by Red Eagle attacked the American outpost of Fort Mims near Mobile, Alabama, where white Americans and their Indian allies had gathered. The Red Sticks took the fort and a bloody clash ensued, as prisoners — including women and children — were killed. Nearly 250 people were killed, spreading panic throughout the American southwestern frontier. In response to the massacre at Fort Mims, Tennessee, Georgia, and the Mississippi Territory sent armies deep into Creek country. Outnumbered and poorly armed, the Red Sticks put up a desperate fight from their wilderness strongholds. On March 27, 1814, General Andrew Jackson's Tennessee militia, aided by the 39th U. S. Infantry Regiment and Cherokee and Creek allies, finally crushed Red Stick resistance at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River. Though the Red Sticks had been crushed — altogether, about 3,000 Upper Creeks died in the war — the remnants of the Upper Creek resistance held out for several months. In August of 1814, exhausted and starving, they surrendered to Jackson at Wetumpka (near the present city of Montgomery, Alabama). On August 9, 1814, the Creeks were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which ended the conflict and required them to cede some 20 million acres (81,000 km²) of land - more than half of their ancestral territorial holdings - to the United States. Even those Creek who had fought alongside Jackson were compelled to cede territory, as Jackson held them responsible for allowing the Red Sticks to rise up. The State of Alabama was carved out of this domain and admitted to the United States in 1819. Removal to the West
Muscogees today Most Muscogees were removed to Indian Territory, although some remained behind. There are a number of Muscogees in Alabama living near Poarch Creek Reservation in Atmore (northeast of Mobile), as well as a number of Creeks in essentially undocumented ethnic towns in Florida. The Alabama reservation includes a bingo hall and holds an annual powwow on Thanksgiving. Additionally, Muscogee descendants of varying degrees of acculturation live throughout the southeastern United States. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma operates a modern government from its capital complex in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. As of February 22, 2006, the Nation reports a service population exceeding 60,882 enrolled tribal members. The tribal govenrment operates a budget in excess of $106 million, has over 2,400 employees, and maintains tribal facilities and programs in eight administrative districts. The Nation operates several significant tribal enterprises, including the Muscogee Document Imaging Company; travel plazas in Okmulgee, Muskogee and Cromwell, Oklahoma; construction, technology and staffing services; and major casinos in Tulsa and Okmulgee. The tribal population is fully integrated into the larger culture and economy of Oklahoma, with Muscogee Nation citizens making significant contributions in every field of endeavor, while continuing to preserve and share a vibrant tribal identity through events such as annual festivals, ball-games, and language classes. The Nation's historic old Council House, built in 1878 and located in downtown Okmulgee, was completely restored in the 1990's and now serves as a museum of tribal history. Famous Creek Cytherea, Adult Film Actress. Jim Pepper was a jazz musician who combined elements of Native American music and jazz. Will Sampson, an actor most notable for his performance in Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Greg T. Walker, bassist and vocalist for Southern rock band Blackfoot. See also Notes | ||||||||||
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