Tuesday, July 5, 2011
FRIDAY NIGHT OLD TOWN FESTIVAL
LAST FRIDAY I WALKED AROUND OLD TOWN RAILROAD SQUARE IN SANTA ROSA WHERE THEY HAD TWO BANDS. ONE WAS A COUNTRY WESTERN FIDDLE AND GUITAR BAND AND ANOTHER WAS A MIDDLE EASTERN GREEK TYPE. IT HAD A VERY DIFFERENT FEEL TO IT - SORT OF LIKE CLASSICAL MIXED WITH NEW AGE. THE OTHER PART OF THIS FESTIVAL WAS EATING AND WATCHING ARTISTS WHO MADE STEEL SCULPTURES FROM RECYCLED METAL, A JEWELER, AND POTTERY. I WENT INTO A STORE CALLED TREASURE HUNT AND THE OWNER LIKED MY INFORMATION ABOUT HIKING AND LEARNING ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS. THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE AND I DANCED AROUND THE AREA.
COPPER CANYON TRAIN RIDE
WHEN I WAS ABOUT 18 I TRAVELLED TO THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS IN MEXICO. I TOOK A BUS FROM OHIO TO TIJUANA, MEXICO AND THEN ANOTHER BUS TO THE FIELD SCHOOL. IT WAS THREE MONTHS LONG. THE NEXT YEAR I TRAVELLED THROUGHOUT MEXICO . I TOOK THIS UNUSUAL TRAIN TRIP FROM CHIHUAHUA TO LOS MOCHIS. IT TOOK 90 YEARS TO COMPLETE AND COST $90 MILLION DOLLARS. AT THE TIME I TOOK THIS RIDE IT HAD NO AIR CONDITIONING AND THE RIDE COST ABOUT $10. IT COVERS OVER 390 MILES IN LENGTH AND CROSSES 39 BRIDGES AND 86 TUNNELS. I REMEMBER THE TRAIN BUMPED A COW OFF THE TRACK!
MANY CHILDREN WERE RIDING ON THE TRAIN. I BROUGHT SOME FOOD AND SHARED IT WITH SOME OF THEM. THEY HAD NO FOOD ON THE TRAIN. IT TOOK 14 HOURS. IT STOPS AT 7 VILLAGES WHERE WOMEN SELL HOMEMADE TACOS, BURRITOS, ETC. NOW THEY HAVE AIR CONDITIONED DINING CAR AND A LOUNGE TRAIN CAR. ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL TRIBE WE MET WERE THE TARAHUMARA INDIANS. THEY LIVE RECLUSIVE AND SOLITARY LIVES IN THIS WILDERNESS. THEY LIVE CAVES IN THE WINTER AND LOG CABINS IN THE SUMMER. OTHER TRIBES LIVE IN OLD TRAIN CARS LOCATED OFF THE TRACK. THIS TRIP IS A LIFETIME MEMORY FOR YOU AS YOU WILL REMEMBER THIS THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
MANY CHILDREN WERE RIDING ON THE TRAIN. I BROUGHT SOME FOOD AND SHARED IT WITH SOME OF THEM. THEY HAD NO FOOD ON THE TRAIN. IT TOOK 14 HOURS. IT STOPS AT 7 VILLAGES WHERE WOMEN SELL HOMEMADE TACOS, BURRITOS, ETC. NOW THEY HAVE AIR CONDITIONED DINING CAR AND A LOUNGE TRAIN CAR. ONE OF THE MOST UNUSUAL TRIBE WE MET WERE THE TARAHUMARA INDIANS. THEY LIVE RECLUSIVE AND SOLITARY LIVES IN THIS WILDERNESS. THEY LIVE CAVES IN THE WINTER AND LOG CABINS IN THE SUMMER. OTHER TRIBES LIVE IN OLD TRAIN CARS LOCATED OFF THE TRACK. THIS TRIP IS A LIFETIME MEMORY FOR YOU AS YOU WILL REMEMBER THIS THRILLING EXPERIENCE.
Friday, July 1, 2011
CREEKS IN ALABAMA
A NUMBER OF CULT GROUP KNOWN AS THE MUSCOGEAN NATION WERE IMPORTANT IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS. IN 1775 THE CREEK WERE MORE POWERFUL THAN ANY NATION AS JAMES ACLAIR SAID. EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE PARTNERS WITH COLONIAL ANGLOS, THEY WERE FORCED FROM THEIR LANDS BY 1830'S. THEIR CULTURE IS KEPT ALIVE IN ALABAMA AMONG THE CREEK BAND OF ESCAMBIA COUNTY.
THE CREEK INDIANS ALONG WITH OTHER SOUTHEAST TRIBES SUCH AS CHEROKEE DESCENDED FROM THE MISSSIPPI PERIOD OF 800 TO 1500. BY 1600 THE COLONISTS BROUGHT EPIDEMICS AND WARFARE AND VIOLENCE TO THE SOUTHEAST AND INDIGENOUS FOLKS SCATTERED. BY THE 1700'S THEY JOINED TOGETHER AND HAD VILLAGES ALONG CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AND CENTRAL COOSA RIVER. A VARIETY OF SETTLEMENTS WERE BUILT ALONG THE CHATTAHOOCHIE RIVER AND COOSA RIVER IN WHAT IS NOW EASTERN ALABAMA. FOR 200 YEARS THIS BECAME THE HEART OF CREEK COUNTRY, AND THESE NEW TOWNS WERE DEVOID OF PLATFORM MOUNDS OF MISSISSIPPI VILLA
FROM 9000 PEOPLE IN 1600'S THEY GREW TO 20,000 PEOPLE BY THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. THE CREEK NATION WAS MULTIETHNIC AND INCLUDED INDIAN PEOPLE FROM SPANISH MISSIONS IN GEORGIA AND FLORIDA - YUCHI, SHAWNEE, CHICKASAW, AND NATCHEZ REFUGEES. THEY ESCAPED INTERTRIBAL WARFARE.
THE CREEK NATION COMPRISED BETWEEN30 AND 60 TOWNS. THEY VIEWED THEMSELVES AS A CONFEDERACY OF THREE PROVINCIAL GROUPS. THE CREEKS ARE RELATED TO OTHER SOUTHEAST TRIBES. THEY GREW CORN, BEANS AND OTHER CROPS. THEY HUNTED FOR SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED GAME AND GATHERED NATIVE PLANTS. THE CREEK HAVE A CEREMONY CALLED BUSK CEREMONY OR PASKITA AND THEY SHARE MANY ASPECTS OF THE GREEN CORN CEREMONY PRACTICED THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHEAST. IT INVOLVED 4 - 8 DAYS OF FASTING, DANCING, AND FEASTING IN SUMMER. DURING POSKITA CEREMONIES THE ELDERS REMIND THE YOUNG OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES. IT WAS AT THIS TIME WHEN WAR AND CIVIL LEADERS RECEIVED DIFFERENT STATUS. THE REASON FOR THIS RITUAL WAS GROUP HARMONY.
THE CREEK HAD TRADE RELATIONSHIPS WITH SPANISH. THEY EXCHANGED CLOTH GUNS, STEEL TOOLS FOR SKINNING AND INDIAN SLAVES IN WARFARE. AT OCMULGEE AND OCONEE RIVERS IN CENTRAL GEORGIA THE ENGLISH BUILT A PERMANENT TRADING POST, THAT HAS BEEN EXCAVATED. THEY HAVE A NATIONAL MONUMENT WITH ARTIFACTS IN MACON, GEORGIA. THE CREEK WERE IMMERSED IN THE TRADE OF DEERSKINS AND INDIAN SLAVES. THE CREEKS BEGAN TO ASSIST IN WAR PARTIES IN THE EARLY 1700'S THAT COMPROMISED THEIR ECONOMIC WELL BEING AND CULTURAL INTEGRITY. IN THE 1800'S THE CREEKS CEDED MUCH LAND IN GEORGIA TO THE GOVERNMENT AND THEIR ECONOMY WAS SIMILAR TO THE CIVILIZED ANGLOS. THEY FARMED COMMERCIALLY, SPUN CLOTHING AND BECAME CHRISTIANS. AFTER THEY RELOCATED IN ALABAMA IN 1832 THE GOVERNMENT SENT THEM TO OKLAHOMA DURING THE INDIAN REMOVAL ACT. BY MARCH OF THAT YEAR THE CREEKS AGREED TO THE TREATY OF CUSSETTA, WHICH SET FORTH THE CONDITIONS OF THEIR REMOVAL. IT INCLUDED LAND GRANTS FOR THE CHIEFS.
THE CREEK INDIANS ALONG WITH OTHER SOUTHEAST TRIBES SUCH AS CHEROKEE DESCENDED FROM THE MISSSIPPI PERIOD OF 800 TO 1500. BY 1600 THE COLONISTS BROUGHT EPIDEMICS AND WARFARE AND VIOLENCE TO THE SOUTHEAST AND INDIGENOUS FOLKS SCATTERED. BY THE 1700'S THEY JOINED TOGETHER AND HAD VILLAGES ALONG CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AND CENTRAL COOSA RIVER. A VARIETY OF SETTLEMENTS WERE BUILT ALONG THE CHATTAHOOCHIE RIVER AND COOSA RIVER IN WHAT IS NOW EASTERN ALABAMA. FOR 200 YEARS THIS BECAME THE HEART OF CREEK COUNTRY, AND THESE NEW TOWNS WERE DEVOID OF PLATFORM MOUNDS OF MISSISSIPPI VILLA
FROM 9000 PEOPLE IN 1600'S THEY GREW TO 20,000 PEOPLE BY THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. THE CREEK NATION WAS MULTIETHNIC AND INCLUDED INDIAN PEOPLE FROM SPANISH MISSIONS IN GEORGIA AND FLORIDA - YUCHI, SHAWNEE, CHICKASAW, AND NATCHEZ REFUGEES. THEY ESCAPED INTERTRIBAL WARFARE.
THE CREEK NATION COMPRISED BETWEEN30 AND 60 TOWNS. THEY VIEWED THEMSELVES AS A CONFEDERACY OF THREE PROVINCIAL GROUPS. THE CREEKS ARE RELATED TO OTHER SOUTHEAST TRIBES. THEY GREW CORN, BEANS AND OTHER CROPS. THEY HUNTED FOR SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED GAME AND GATHERED NATIVE PLANTS. THE CREEK HAVE A CEREMONY CALLED BUSK CEREMONY OR PASKITA AND THEY SHARE MANY ASPECTS OF THE GREEN CORN CEREMONY PRACTICED THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHEAST. IT INVOLVED 4 - 8 DAYS OF FASTING, DANCING, AND FEASTING IN SUMMER. DURING POSKITA CEREMONIES THE ELDERS REMIND THE YOUNG OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES. IT WAS AT THIS TIME WHEN WAR AND CIVIL LEADERS RECEIVED DIFFERENT STATUS. THE REASON FOR THIS RITUAL WAS GROUP HARMONY.
THE CREEK HAD TRADE RELATIONSHIPS WITH SPANISH. THEY EXCHANGED CLOTH GUNS, STEEL TOOLS FOR SKINNING AND INDIAN SLAVES IN WARFARE. AT OCMULGEE AND OCONEE RIVERS IN CENTRAL GEORGIA THE ENGLISH BUILT A PERMANENT TRADING POST, THAT HAS BEEN EXCAVATED. THEY HAVE A NATIONAL MONUMENT WITH ARTIFACTS IN MACON, GEORGIA. THE CREEK WERE IMMERSED IN THE TRADE OF DEERSKINS AND INDIAN SLAVES. THE CREEKS BEGAN TO ASSIST IN WAR PARTIES IN THE EARLY 1700'S THAT COMPROMISED THEIR ECONOMIC WELL BEING AND CULTURAL INTEGRITY. IN THE 1800'S THE CREEKS CEDED MUCH LAND IN GEORGIA TO THE GOVERNMENT AND THEIR ECONOMY WAS SIMILAR TO THE CIVILIZED ANGLOS. THEY FARMED COMMERCIALLY, SPUN CLOTHING AND BECAME CHRISTIANS. AFTER THEY RELOCATED IN ALABAMA IN 1832 THE GOVERNMENT SENT THEM TO OKLAHOMA DURING THE INDIAN REMOVAL ACT. BY MARCH OF THAT YEAR THE CREEKS AGREED TO THE TREATY OF CUSSETTA, WHICH SET FORTH THE CONDITIONS OF THEIR REMOVAL. IT INCLUDED LAND GRANTS FOR THE CHIEFS.
EUFAULA INDIANS IN ALABAMA
EUFAULA IS A CITY IN BARBOUR COUNTY, ALABAMA. FROM 1540 TO 1700 THE EUFAULA INDIANS LIVED IN BARBOUR COUNTY. IN 1733 THE SITE ALONG THE CHATTAHOOCHE IS NOW MODERN DAY EUFAULA AND IT WAS OCCUPIED BY THREE CREEK TRIBES AND MUSKOGEANS. THE MOST DOMINANT OF THE THREE TRIBES WAS THE EUFAULA (A SUBTRIBE OF THE CREEKS). THE FAMILIES WERE LOOKING FOR FERTILE LAND. THEY ESTABLISHED A SETTLEMENT ON HIGH BLUFFS AND ADOPTED A CREEK VILLAGE NAME. EUFAULA WAS RENAMED IRWINTON. WHITE SETTLERS SWARMED IN DUE TO THE TREATY OF CUSSETTA IN 1832. THE CREEKS WERE FORCED TO ABANDON THEIR LAND RIGHTS IN THE AREA AND MOVE TO THE MUSCOGEE NATIONAL PARK. IN UPPER FLORIDA, LEAVING THEIR NATIVE LAND FOREVER.
THEN IN 1834 ARMY CAPTAIN RENAMED THE OLDEST PART OF THE CITY EUFAULA. THE TOWN BECAME A MAJOR SHIPPING AND TRADING POINT. THE ANGLOS BUILT A FORT AND ARMED IT WITH CALVARY AND INFANTRY. THE ENTIRE MILITIA OF THE COUNTY WAS PLACED ON WAR FOOTING. THEY HAD HEARD OF IN EARLY SPRING IN 1836 THAT THE INDIANS WERE ADVANCING. THEIR BELLS WERE RUNG AND DRUM BEATS WERE ASSEMBLED TO COMPLETE THIS FORT. BY NIGHTFALL THEY WERE ALL READY FOR AN ATTACK. HOWEVER THE INDIANS NEVER CAME AND THE PLACE WAS NEVER ATTACKED.
ALOABAMAPIONEERS.COM
WIKIPEDIA.COM
THEN IN 1834 ARMY CAPTAIN RENAMED THE OLDEST PART OF THE CITY EUFAULA. THE TOWN BECAME A MAJOR SHIPPING AND TRADING POINT. THE ANGLOS BUILT A FORT AND ARMED IT WITH CALVARY AND INFANTRY. THE ENTIRE MILITIA OF THE COUNTY WAS PLACED ON WAR FOOTING. THEY HAD HEARD OF IN EARLY SPRING IN 1836 THAT THE INDIANS WERE ADVANCING. THEIR BELLS WERE RUNG AND DRUM BEATS WERE ASSEMBLED TO COMPLETE THIS FORT. BY NIGHTFALL THEY WERE ALL READY FOR AN ATTACK. HOWEVER THE INDIANS NEVER CAME AND THE PLACE WAS NEVER ATTACKED.
ALOABAMAPIONEERS.COM
WIKIPEDIA.COM
TOHOME INDIANS IN ALABAMA
THE TOHOME SPOKE CHOCTAW AND WERE OF THE WESTERN MUSKHOGEAN STOCK. THEY WERE SEDENTARY HUNTER AND FARMER TRIBES. THEY WERE LOCATED ON THE WEST BANK OF THE TOMBIGBEE RIVER, ABOVE ITS JUNCTION WITH THE ALABAMA. RECORDS FROM 1560 STATE THEY WERE ON THE TOMBIGEE RIVER. IN 1700 THEY HAD 300 MEMBERS AND TODAY THEY ARE EXTINCT.
FOURDIRECTIONS.COM
FOURDIRECTIONS.COM
TAENSA INDIANS IN ALABAMA
THE TAENSA WERE ORIGINALLY FROM NORTHEAST LOUISIANA. THEY NUMBERED 1200 PEOPLE IN SEVERAL VILLAGES. THE PLAQUEMINE CULTURES ARE CONSIDERED ANCESTRAL TO THE TAENSA. THE FRENCH CATHOLICS MISSIONARIES CONTACTED THEM AROUND 1700 AND SETTLED AMONG THEM. THEY LIVED ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, SOUTH OF TUNICA. THEY WERE FORCED SOUTH BY THE CHICKASAW SLAVE RAIDS, AFTER WHICH THEY LIVED WITH THE BAYOGOULA. THEY ATTACKED AND BURNED THIS VILLAGE DOWN. THEY SETTLED DOWN ON THE TENSAW RIVER NEAR MOBILE BAY IN 1715 WITH THE APALACHEE, PAKALANA AND MERGED WITH OTHERS IN ALABAMA.
THEY WERE AGRICULTURAL AND CANOE BUILDERS AND LIVED IN LARGE HOUSES NOW WITH WALLS OF EARTH. THEY USED LOGS PLASTERED WITH CLAY AND ROOFED WITH MATS OF WOVEN CANE. THEIR CHIEFS HAD GREAT RESPECT. THIS WAS UNLIKE THE TRIBES ON THE NORTH. THE MISSIONARIES SAW THEY HAD A COMPLEX RELIGION. THEY HAD CHIEFDOMS SIMILAR TO THE NATCHEZ PEOPLE OF SACRIFICE AND HIERARCHICAL SOCIAL CLASSES. THEIR DEITIES WERE THE SUN AND THE SERPENT. THEY HAD A DOME SHAPED TEMPLE. THE WALLS AND ROOF WERE OF CANE MATS, PAINTED RED. IT HAD A PERPETUAL CAMPFIRE. WHEN A CHIEFDOM DIED HIS WIFE WAS KILLED AS WELL SO BOTH SPIRITS WENT TO THE OTHER WORLD.
BY 1700, THE FRENCH MISSIONARY SAID THAT SMALL POX HIT THEIR VILLAGES. THE CHICKASAW ATTACKED THEM AND OTHERS FOR SLAVE RAIDS TO SELL TO THE BRITISH IN SOUTH CAROLINA. DURING THE NATCHEZ WAR IN 1729, THE TAENSA MIGRATED TO LOUISIANA. THE LAST APPEARANCE OF THIS TRIBE IN HISTORICAL RECORDS WAS THAT THEY MOVED TO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. APPARENTLY THEY SPOKE NATCHEZ. BOTH FRENCH AND SPANISH MISSIONARIES LEARNED NATCHEZ LANGUAGE. IN 1881 A FRENCH STUDENT PUBLISHED A GRAMMATICAL SKETCH OF THEIR LANGUAGE.
WIKIPEDIA.COM
THEY WERE AGRICULTURAL AND CANOE BUILDERS AND LIVED IN LARGE HOUSES NOW WITH WALLS OF EARTH. THEY USED LOGS PLASTERED WITH CLAY AND ROOFED WITH MATS OF WOVEN CANE. THEIR CHIEFS HAD GREAT RESPECT. THIS WAS UNLIKE THE TRIBES ON THE NORTH. THE MISSIONARIES SAW THEY HAD A COMPLEX RELIGION. THEY HAD CHIEFDOMS SIMILAR TO THE NATCHEZ PEOPLE OF SACRIFICE AND HIERARCHICAL SOCIAL CLASSES. THEIR DEITIES WERE THE SUN AND THE SERPENT. THEY HAD A DOME SHAPED TEMPLE. THE WALLS AND ROOF WERE OF CANE MATS, PAINTED RED. IT HAD A PERPETUAL CAMPFIRE. WHEN A CHIEFDOM DIED HIS WIFE WAS KILLED AS WELL SO BOTH SPIRITS WENT TO THE OTHER WORLD.
BY 1700, THE FRENCH MISSIONARY SAID THAT SMALL POX HIT THEIR VILLAGES. THE CHICKASAW ATTACKED THEM AND OTHERS FOR SLAVE RAIDS TO SELL TO THE BRITISH IN SOUTH CAROLINA. DURING THE NATCHEZ WAR IN 1729, THE TAENSA MIGRATED TO LOUISIANA. THE LAST APPEARANCE OF THIS TRIBE IN HISTORICAL RECORDS WAS THAT THEY MOVED TO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. APPARENTLY THEY SPOKE NATCHEZ. BOTH FRENCH AND SPANISH MISSIONARIES LEARNED NATCHEZ LANGUAGE. IN 1881 A FRENCH STUDENT PUBLISHED A GRAMMATICAL SKETCH OF THEIR LANGUAGE.
WIKIPEDIA.COM
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