CREEK INDIAN

BEFORE 1500 A.D. THEY GOT THEIR NAME FROM A CREEK IN GEORGIA. THEY BEGAN TO IDENTIFY WITH THE NAME MUSKOGEE. THESE INDIANS ARE ORIGINAL RESIDENTS OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHEAST - GEORGIA, ALABAMA, FLORIDA, AND NORTH CAROLINA. IN THE 1800'S THEY WERE FORCED TO MOVE TO OKLAHOMA LIKE OTHER SOUTHERN TRIBES. TODAY THEIR ARE 20,000 MUSKOGEE CREEK IN OKLAHOMA TODAY. OTHERS HAVE JOINED THE SEMINOLE IN FLORIDA.

THEY ARE ORGANIZED BY 2 TRIBES. THE POARCH CREEKS LIVE IN ALABAMA ON A RESERVATION THAT IS UNDER CONTROL. THEY ALSO MUST OBEY AMERICAN LAWS. THE OKLAHOMA CREEKS LIVE ON TRUST LAND. THEY HAD IN THE PAST A CHIEF CALLED MIKO WHO WAS SELECTED BY A TRIBAL COUNCIL. THESE CHIEFS WERE MALE - TODAY THEY ARE ELECTED AND CAN BE MALE OR FEMALE.

THE MUSCOGEE NATION ANCESTORS ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED EARTHEN PYRAMIDS ALONG THE RIVERS OF THE REGION. THEY OCCUPIED THE TOWNS OF COOSA AND TALLAPOOSA RIVERS, UPPER CREEKS, IN THE SOUTHEAST.

IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY THE MUSCOGEE LEADERSHIP EXCHANGED AND THEIR TRIBES WERE MOVED BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. IN 1832 THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCHANGED THE LAST OF ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS FOR NEW LAND IN OKLAHOMA. MANY PEOPLE FELT VERY UNCOMFORTABLE LIVING AWAY FROM THEIR HOMELAND. IN 1836 THE ARMY MOVED 20,000 TO INDIAN TERRITORIES. THE NEW NATION WAS ON THE ARKANSAS RIVER . THEY REESTABLISHED FARMS AND PLANTATIONS AND SENT REPRESENTATIVES TO A NATIONAL COUNCIL WHICH MET NEAR HIGH SPRINGS.

THE CIVIL WAR WAS DISASTROUS FOR THE CREEK AS THEY DESIRED NEUTRALITY. EVENTUALLY THEY FOUGHT BOTH THE UNION AND THE CONFEDERATES. THEIR NATION MAINTAINED A PRINCIPAL CHIEF THROUGHOUT THIS PERIOD.

















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