MUSKOGEE INDIANS IN GEORGIA

THE MUSKOGEE ARE ALSO KNOWN AS THE CREEK AND ARE NATIVE TO FLORIDA AND GEORGIA.. THEIR LANGUAGE IS MVSKOKE, A MEMBER OF THE MUSKOGEAN LANGUAGE FAMILY. MVSKOKE IS THEIR TRADITIONAL NAME. THEY WERE DESCENDANTS OF THE MISSISSIPPIAN CULTURE PEOPLES WHO BUILT EARTHWORK MOUNDS AT THEIR CHIEFDOM. THE EARLY SPANISH EXPLORERS ENCOUNTERED MUSKOGEE ANCESTORS IN MISSISSIPPI.

UNDER GEORGE WASHINGTON THEY WERE THE 1ST NATIVE AMERICANS TO BE CIVILIZED. IN 1811 THE SHAWNEE LEADER, TECUMSEH, CONVINCED THEM TO RESIST EFFORTS OF CIVILIZATION. DURING 1830, THE INDIAN REMOVAL TIME, MOST OF THEM MOVED TO INDIAN TERRITORY.

12,000 YEARS AGO THE PALEOLITHIC INDIANS WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS HERE. THEY HUNTED MEGAFAUNA. THE WOODLAND PERIOD WAS FROM 1000 B.C. TO 1000 A.D. AND THE EASTERN AGRICULTURAL COMPLEX WAS MARKED BY POTTERY DEVELOPMENT.

THE MISSISSIPPIAN CULTURE AROSE AS THE MESOAMERICAN CROPS OF CORN AND BEANS LED TO POPULATION GROWTH. THIS LED TO A URBAN CENTERS AND CHIEFDOMS - CAHOKIA IN ILLINOIS WAS THE GREATEST SETTLEMENT OF THIS ERA FROM 800 TO 1500 A.D. LAST MISSISSIPPI CULTURE IS WHAT THE EARLIEST SPANISH EXPLORERS FOUND IN 1513 WITH PONCE DE LEON LANDING IN FLORIDA.

A SPANISH EXPEDITION IN THE 1500'S BY HERNANDO DE SOTO EXPLORED FLORIDA AND GEORGIA, AS WELL AS ALABAMA ANS MISSISSIPPI. THESE AREAS WERE LATER THE TERRITORY OF THE MUSCOGEE INDIANS. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A WELL EQUIPPED ARMY. THE NATIVES DECIDED TO DEFEND THEIR TERRITORY. THE BATTLE OF MABILEQ WAS A TURNING POINT FOR DE SOTO AND THE EXPEDITION NEVER RECOVERED.

HIS EXPEDITION CARRIED NEW DISEASES TO THE INDIGENOUS FOLKS, WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE COLLAPSE OF MISSISSIPPI CULTURE. THE SURVIVORS REGROUPED INTO THE CREEK CONFEDERACY. THEY FORMED A LOOSE ALLIANCE OF MUSCOGEE SPEAKING FOLKS. THEY LIVED THROUGHOUT PRESENT DAY TENNESSEE, GEORGIA AND ALABAMA.

HITACHI SPEAKERS WERE THE FIRST TO BE DISPLACED BY WHITE SETTLERS, AND THE LANGUAGE DIED OUT. THE BASIC SOCIAL UNIT WAS THE TOWN. THERE ARE FOUR MOTHER UNITS OF THE MUSKOGEE CONFEDERACY. ABHIKA, COOSA, CUSETTA, AND COWETA. THE MOST IMPORTANT LEADER WAS THE MICO OR VILLAGE CHIEF. MICOS LED WARRIORS IN BATTLE AND MADE DECISIONS. THEY RULED WITH LESSER CHIEFS AND VILLAGE ELDERS, AND MILITARY LEADERS. THE MEDICINE MEN ADMINISTERED AT VARIOUS RITUALS. THE CLAN WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT SOCIAL UNIT. THEY ORGANIZED HUNTS, DISTRIBUTED LAND AND ARRANGED MARRIAGES AND HAD AUTHORITY TO PUNISH LAWBREAKERS. CLAN MEMBERSHIP WAS MATRILINEAL

BRITISH, FRANCE AND SPAIN ESTABLISHED COLONIES IN THE SOUTHEAST U.S. SPAIN BUILT MISSIONS TO CONTROL NATIVES. IN THE 1700'S THE CAROLINA GOVERNOR LED SOLDIERS AND INDIANS TO DESTROY MISSIONS. SOME CAPTURED NATIVES WERE SOLD INTO SLAVERY. THE MISCOGEE DECLARED THEY WERE NEUTRAL. SAVANNAH GEORGIA WAS CREATED IN 1732 WHERE THERE WAS A FUR TRADING POST. THERE WERE INTERMARRIAGES, ONCE THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR ENDED IN 1763, FRANCE LOST ITS EMPIRE AND BRITISH AMERICAN SETTLERS MOVED INLAND. SOME INDIANS RAIDED BACKCOUNTRY SETTLERS AND THE PERCEPTION OF THE GOVERNMENT FAVORED INDIANS. AFTER THE WAR THE BRITISH CEDED THEIR LANDS TO INDEPENDENT U.S. THE MUSCOGEE HAD 20 CLANS. IN 1814 THEY WERE FORCED TO SIGN THE TREATY TO CEDE OVER 1/2 OF THEIR LAND TO THE GOVERNMENT. SOME FOLKS FLED TO FLORIDA.

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