Creek people

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Creek people

The Muscogee (or Muskogee), their original name they use to identify themselves today, also known as the Creek, are an American Indian people originally from the southeastern United States

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. Modern Muscogees live primarily in Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, and Florida

Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
. Their language, Mvskoke
Creek language

The Creek language, also known as Muscogee , is a Muskogean language spoken by the Creek , Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Kialegee Tribal Town, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and other Muscogeean peoples....
, is a member of the Muscogee branch of the Muscogean language family

Muskogean languages

Muskogean is an indigenous language family of the Southeastern United States. The Muskogean languages are generally divided into two rough branches, Eastern and Western, though these distinctions are the subject of some debate....
. The Seminole are close kin to the Muscogee and speak a Muscogee language as well.

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Southern United States

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
, Alabama

Alabama

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, and Florida

Florida

Muskogean languages

Five Civilized Tribes

The Five Civilized Tribes is the term applied to five Native Americans in the United States nations, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek , and Seminole, considered civilized by white settlers during that time period because they adopted many of the colonists' customs and had generally good relations with their neighbors....
. The Muscogee were a confederacy of tribes consisting of Yuchi, Koasati, Alabama, Coosa, Tuskeegee, Coweta, Cusseata, Chehaw (Chiaha), Hitchiti, Tuckabatchee, Oakfuskee, and many others.

History

The early historic Muscogee were probably descendants of the mound builder

Mound builder

Mound builder may refer to:* Mound builder , Native American people who built mounds* Moundbuilders , school mascot* Megapode, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders...
s of the Mississippian culture

Mississippian culture

The Mississippian culture was a Mound builder Native Americans in the United States culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Eastern United States, and Southeastern United States United States from approximately 800 Common Era to 1500 Common Era, varying regionally....
along the Tennessee River

Tennessee River

The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the Southern United States in the Tennessee Valley....
in modern Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States United States. In 1796, it became the sixteenth state to join the United States....
and Alabama, and possibly related to the Utinahica

Utinahica

The Utinahica were a tribe of Native Americans in the United States living, in the 17th century, in what would someday be known as Georgia , in the southern United States....
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

Hitchiti

The Hitchiti was a Muskogean tribe formerly residing chiefly in a town of the same name on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, 4 miles below Chiaha, and possessing a narrow strip of good land bordering on the river, in west Georgia ....
, Alabama, and Coushatta

Coushatta

The Coushatta are a Native Americans in the United States people living primarily in the United States state of Louisiana. Most Coushatta live in Allen Parish, Louisiana, just north of the town of Elton, Louisiana, Louisiana, though a smaller number share a reservation near Livingston, Texas, Texas with the Alabama ....
. Those who lived along the Ocmulgee River

Ocmulgee River

The Ocmulgee River is a tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi long, in the U.S. state of Georgia . Noted for its relatively unspoiled and gentle current, it provides the principal drainage for a large section of the Piedmont and coastal plain of central Georgia....
were called "Creek Indians" by British traders from South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a U.S. state in the Southern United States of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north....
. Eventually the name was applied to all of the various inhabitants of Muscogee towns, which were divided into the Lower Towns of the Georgia frontier on the Chattahoochee River

Chattahoochee River

The Chattahoochee River runs from the Chattahoochee Spring in the Appalachian Mountains of northeastern Georgia , near the Carolinas, to the southwestward to Atlanta and through its suburbs....
, Ocmulgee River, and Flint River

Flint River (Georgia)

The Flint River is an approximately long river, in the U.S. state of Georgia . The river drains 8,460 sq mi of western Georgia, flowing south from the upper Piedmont region south of Atlanta, Georgia to the wetlands of the coastal plain in the southwestern corner of the state....
, and the Upper Towns of the Alabama River

Alabama River

The Alabama River, in the United States state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River and Coosa River rivers, which unite about six miles above Montgomery, Alabama....
Valley.

The Lower Towns included Coweta, Cusseta (Kasihta, Cofitachiqui

Cofitachequi

Cofitachequi was a Paramount chief encountered by the Hernando de Soto Expedition in South Carolina. The expeditions first encounter with the Chiefdom of Cofitachequi was in April of 1540, at the Mulberry Site, a large Platform mound site at the junction of Pine Tree Creek and the Wateree River, near present-day Camden, South Carolina....
), Upper Chehaw (Chiaha

Chiaha

Chiaha was a Native Americans in the United States chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley in modern East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States....
), Hitchiti

Hitchiti

Apalachee

The Apalachee are an Native Americans in the United States that lived in Apalachee Province, Florida, until the tribe was largely destroyed and dispersed in the 18th century....
, Yamasee

Yamasee

The Yamasee were a Native Americans in the United States tribe that lived in coastal region of present-day northern Florida and southern Georgia near the Savannah River....
(Altamaha), Ocfuskee, Sawokli, and Tamali. The Upper Towns included Tuckabatchee, Abhika

Abihka

The Abihka were a division of the Upper Creek people. Their main place of residence was in what is now Talladega County, Alabama. At times their name is used for all of the Upper Creeks....
, Coosa

Coosa chiefdom

The Coosa chiefdom was a powerful Native Americans in the United States chiefdom near what is now Gordon County, Georgia and Murray County, Georgia counties in Georgia , in the United States....
(Kusa; the dominant people of East Tennessee

East Tennessee

East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions defined in state law....
and North Georgia

North Georgia

North Georgia is the hilly to mountainous northern region of the United States state of Georgia . At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee....
during the Spanish explorations), Itawa (original inhabitants of the Etowah Indian Mounds

Etowah Indian Mounds

Etowah Indian Mounds is an archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia south of Cartersville, Georgia in the United States. The site sits on the north shore of the Etowah River....
), Hothliwahi (Ullibahali), Hilibi, Eufaula, Wakokai, Atasi, Alibamu, Coushatta

Coushatta

Toqua (Tennessee)

Toqua is a prehistoric and historic Native Americans in the United States site in Monroe County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States....
), and Tuskegee ("Napochi" in the de Luna chronicles).

Cusseta (Kasihta) and Coweta are still the two principal towns of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Traditionally, the Cusseta and Coweta bands are considered the earliest members of the Muscogee Nation.

Revolutionary War era

Like many Native American groups east of the Mississippi

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
and Louisiana Rivers, the Muscogee were divided in the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
. The Lower Muscogee remained neutral; the Upper Muscogee allied with the British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a country in North-West Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801....
and fought the American Patriot

Patriot

A patriot is someone who thinks, feels or voices expressions of patriotism, support for their country.Patriot or Patriots may also refer to:...
s, frequently alongside the Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native Americans in the United States people orginally from the Southeastern United States . They are linguistically connected to speakers of the Iroquoian language....
warriors of Dragging Canoe

Dragging Canoe

Tsiyugunsini, "He is dragging his canoe", known to whites as Dragging Canoe, was an American Indians in the United States war leader who led a dissident band of Cherokee , against the United States in the American Revolutionary War and a decade afterwards, a series of conflicts known as the Chickamauga wars, becoming the pre-eminent wa...
, but just as frequently alone.

After the war ended in 1783, the Muscogee discovered that Britain had ceded Muscogee lands to the now independent United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. Georgia began to expand into Muscogee territory. Muscogee statesman Alexander McGillivray

Alexander McGillivray

Alexander McGillivray was a leader of the Creek American Indians in the United States during and after the American Revolution who worked to establish a Creek national identity and centralized leadership as a means of resisting American expansion onto Creek territory....
rose to prominence as he helped organize pan-Indian resistance to this encroachment and received arms from the Spanish in Florida

Spanish Florida

Spanish Florida refers to the Spain colony of Florida. The Spanish first landed on the peninsula in 1513, and laid claim to the land from 1565 to 1763 and again from 1784 to 1821....
to fight trespassers. McGillivray worked to create a sense of Muscogee nationalism and centralize Muscogee authority. He struggled against village leaders who individually sold land to the United States. By the Treaty of New York

Treaty of New York

The Treaty of New York is one of several treaties signed between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, conducted in the city of New York City....
in 1790, McGillivray ceded a significant portion of the Muscogee lands to the United States under President George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
in return for federal recognition of Muscogee sovereignty within the remainder. McGillivray died in 1793, however, and Georgia continued to expand into Muscogee territory.

In 1799 English adventurer William Augustus Bowles was elected director general of the State of Muskogee by a congress of Muscogee and Seminole. As both Spain and the USA claimed the land, Bowles hoped to be able to create an independent Muscogee nation, the State of Muskogee

State of Muskogee

The State of Muskogee was a proposed sovereign nation located in Florida.English adventurer William Augustus Bowles was elected director general of the State of Muskogee by a congress of Creek people and Seminoles in 1799....
.

First to Civilize

George Washington

Henry Knox

Henry Knox was an United States bookseller from Boston, Massachusetts who became the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army and later the nation's first United States Secretary of War....
, the first U.S. Secretary of War, proposed a cultural transformation of the Native Americans. Washington believed that Native Americans were equals, but that their society was inferior. He formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process, and it was continued under President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
. Noted historian Robert Remini wrote "they presumed that once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans." Washington's six-point plan included impartial justice toward Indians; regulated buying of Indian lands; promotion of commerce; promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Indian society; presidential authority to give presents; and punishing those who violated Indian rights. The Muscogee would be the first Native Americans to be civilized under Washington's six-point plan. The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole would follow the Muscogee's efforts to benefit under Washington's new policy of civilization.

In 1796, Washington appointed Benjamin Hawkins

Benjamin Hawkins

Benjamin Hawkins , usually known as Colonel Hawkins, was an United States farmer, statesman, and Indian agent from North Carolina. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States Senate, as well as a long term diplomat and agent to the Creek ....
as General Superintendent of Indian Affairs dealing with all tribes south of the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States....
. He personally assumed the role of principal agent to the Muscogee. He moved to the area that is now Crawford County

Crawford County, Georgia

Crawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia . As of 2000, the population was 12,495. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 12,483 ....
in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
. He began to teach agricultural practices to the tribe, starting a farm at his home on the Flint River. In time, he brought in slaves and workers, cleared several hundred acres and established mills and a trading post as well as his farm.

For years, he would meet with chiefs on his porch and discuss matters. He was responsible for the longest period of peace between the settlers and the tribe, overseeing 19 years of peace. When a fort was built, in 1806, to protect expanding settlements, just east of modern Macon, Georgia

Macon, Georgia

Macon is a city located in central Georgia , USA. It is among the largest metropolitan areas in Georgia, and the county seat of Bibb County, Georgia....
, it was named Fort Benjamin Hawkins

Fort Benjamin Hawkins

Fort Benjamin Hawkins was a fort, built in 1806 by the United States government under the administration of President Thomas Jefferson. It overlooked the ancient Indian mounds of the Ocmulgee Old Fields, as well as, the future site of Macon, Georgia, across the river....
.

Hawkins was dis-heartened and shocked with the Creek War which destroyed his life work of improving Muscogee quality of life. Hawkins saw much of his work toward building a peace destroyed in 1812. A group of Muscogee, led by Tecumseh

Tecumseh

Tecumseh , also Tecumtha or Tekamthi, was a famous Native Americans in the United States leader of the Shawnee. He spent much of his life attempting to rally various native American tribes in a mutual defense of their lands, which eventually led to his death in the War of 1812....
were encouraged by British agents to resistance against increasing settlement by whites. Although he personally was never attacked, he was forced to watch an internal civil war among the Muscogee, the war with a faction known as the Red Sticks, and their eventual defeat by Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . He was List of governors of Florida of Florida , commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans , and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy....
.

Red Stick War

The Creek War

Creek War

The Creek War , also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a civil war within the Creek people nation. It is sometimes considered to be part of the War of 1812....
of 1813-1814, also known as the Red Stick War, began as a civil war

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups to take control of a nation or region, or to change government policies. It is high-intensity conflict, often involving Regular Army, that is sustained, organized and large-scale....
within the Muscogee Nation, only to become enmeshed within the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , was fought from 1812 to 1815.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S....
. Inspired by the fiery eloquence of the Shawnee

Shawnee

The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are a people native to North America. They originally inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania....
leader Tecumseh

Tecumseh

Red Sticks

Red Sticks is the English term for a traditionalist faction of Creek people who led a resistance movement which culminated in the outbreak of the Creek War in 1813....
, sought to aggressively resist white immigration and the "civilizing programs" administered by U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins

Benjamin Hawkins

Benjamin Hawkins , usually known as Colonel Hawkins, was an United States farmer, statesman, and Indian agent from North Carolina. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States Senate, as well as a long term diplomat and agent to the Creek ....
. Red Stick leaders William Weatherford (Red Eagle)

William Weatherford

William "Red Eagle" Weatherford, , was a Creek Indian in the United States who led the Creek War offensive against the United States. William Weatherford, like many of the high-ranking members of the Creek nation, was a mixture of Scottish and Creek Indian....
, Peter McQueen

Peter McQueen

Peter McQueen was the son of a Scottish trader and a Creek woman. He was known for playing a set of bagpipes during each battle that he fought....
and Menawa

Menawa

Menawa, was born about 1765 at the village of Oakfuskee located on or near the Tallapoosa River, the site is now covered by the lower part of Lake Martin....
violently clashed with the Lower Creeks led by William McIntosh

William McIntosh

William McIntosh , also known as "White Warrior," was the son of Captain William McIntosh, a member of a prominent Savannah, Georgia family sent into the Creek Nation to recruit them to fight for the British during the Revolutionary War ....
, who were allied with the Americans.

On August 30, 1813, Red Sticks led by Red Eagle attacked the American outpost of Fort Mims

Fort Mims massacre

The Fort Mims massacre occurred on 30 August, 1813, when a force of Creek people, belonging to the "Red Sticks" faction under the command of Peter McQueen and William Weatherford "Red Eagle", his cousin by marriage, killed hundreds of settlers, mixed-blood Creeks, and militia in Fort Mims....
near Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern United States United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama....
, where white settlers and their Indian allies had gathered. The Red Sticks captured the fort by surprise, and a massacre

Massacre

Massacre may refer to:*...
ensued, as prisoners — including women and children — were killed. Nearly 250 died, and panic spread across the American southwestern frontier.

Tennessee, Georgia, and the Mississippi Territory

Mississippi Territory

Mississippi Territory was a historic, organized territory of the United States from April 7, 1798, and expanded twice , until it extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the southern border of Tennessee....
sent militia units deep into Muscogee territory. Although outnumbered and poorly armed, the Red Sticks put up a desperate fight from their strongholds. On March 27, 1814, General Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service....
, aided by the 39th U. S. Infantry

Infantry

Infantry are soldiers who are primarily trained for the role of fighting on foot. A soldier in the infantry is known as an infantryman. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, and place a greater emphasis on fitness, physical strength and aggression....
Regiment plus Cherokee

Cherokee

Battle of Horseshoe Bend

The Battle of Horseshoe Bend was fought during the War of 1812 in central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Native Americans in the United States allies under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Sticks, a part of the Creek people Indian tribe inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, effectively ending the Creek War....
on the Tallapoosa River

Tallapoosa River

The Tallapoosa River runs from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia , in the United States, southward and westward into Alabama....
.

Though the Red Sticks had been soundly defeated and about 3,000 Upper Muscogee died in the war, the remnants held out several months longer. In August 1814, exhausted and starving, they surrendered to Jackson at Wetumpka

Wetumpka, Alabama

Wetumpka is a city in Elmore County, Alabama, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 5,726. The city is the county seat of Elmore County, Alabama, the third fastest growing county in the state....
(near the present city of Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery is the Capital , second most populous city, and the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the Southern United States United States state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County, Alabama....
). On August 9, 1814, the Muscogee nation was forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson

Treaty of Fort Jackson

The Treaty of Fort Jackson was signed on August 9, 1814 at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka, Alabama following the defeat of the Red Stick resistance by United States forces at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on the banks of the Tallapoosa River near the present city of Alexander City, Alabama....
, which ended the war 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 who had fought alongside Jackson were compelled to cede land, since Jackson held them responsible for allowing the Red Sticks to revolt. The state of Alabama was carved largely out of their domain and was admitted to the United States in 1819.

Many Muscogee refused to surrender and escaped to Florida. Some allied themselves with Florida Indians (who eventually become collectively called the Seminole) and the British against the Americans. They were involved on both sides of the Seminole War in Florida.

Present

Most Muscogee were removed to Indian Territory during the Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears was the relocation and movement of Native Americans in the United States in the United States from their homelands to Indian Territory in the Western United States....
in 1834, although some remained behind. There are Muscogee in Alabama living near Poarch Creek Reservation in Atmore

Atmore, Alabama

Atmore is a city in Escambia County, Alabama, Alabama, United States. At the United States Census, 2000 the population was 7,676. According to the 2005 U.S....
(northeast of Mobile

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern United States United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama....
), as well as Muscogee in essentially undocumented ethnic towns in Florida. The Alabama reservation includes a casino and 16 story hotel and holds an annual powwow on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October....
. Additionally, Muscogee descendants of varying degrees of acculturation live throughout the southeastern United States.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is the largest federally recognized Muscogee tribe. Their headquarters is in Okmulgee, Oklahoma

Okmulgee, Oklahoma

Okmulgee is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 13,022 at the 2000 United States Census. It is the county seat of Okmulgee County, Oklahoma....
and their current Principal Chief is A. D. Ellis. The tribal government 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

Native American gambling enterprises

Indian Gaming enterprises comprise gambling businesses operated on Indian reservations or tribal land. Indian tribes have limited sovereignty over these businesses and therefore are granted the ability to establish gambling enterprises outside of direct state regulation....
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. The Nation's historic old Council House, built in 1878 and located in downtown Okmulgee, was completely restored in the 1990s and now serves as a museum of tribal history.

Three Muscogee tribal towns are federally recognized tribes: Alabama-Quassarte, Kialegee, and Thlopthlocco. Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town

Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town

The Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town is both a Federally recognized tribes and a traditional township of Creek . The town's traditional languages include Alabama language, Koasati language, and Creek language....
is headquartered is Wetumka, Oklahoma

Wetumka, Oklahoma

Wetumka is a city in Hughes County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,451 at the 2000 United States Census. It is the headquarters for two federally recognized tribes, the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town and the Kialegee Tribal Town....
and its chief is Tarpie Yargee. Kialegee Tribal Town

Kialegee Tribal Town

The Kialegee Tribal Town is a Federally recognized tribes, as well as a traditional township within the Creek . Tribal members pride themselves on retaining their traditions and many speak their tribal language, Creek language or Creek....
is also headquartered in Wetumka, and Jennie Lillard is the current mekko or chief. The Thlopthlocco Tribal Town

Thlopthlocco Tribal Town

The Thlopthlocco Tribal Town is both a Federally recognized tribes and a traditional township of Creek . The tribe's native language is Creek language, also called Creek....
is headquartered in Okemah, Oklahoma

Okemah, Oklahoma

Okemah is a city in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,038 at the 2000 United States Census. It is the county seat of Okfuskee County, Oklahoma....
. Vernon Yarholar is the tribe's mekko. The Coushatta

Coushatta

Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
are another tribe of Muscogee, descended from the Koasati.

Muscogee people continue to preserve and share a vibrant tribal identity through events such as annual festivals, stick ball games, and language classes. The Stomp Dance and Green Corn Ceremony are both highly revered gatherings and rituals that have largely remained closed to non-tribal members and thus have maintained their traditional integrity.

The Muscogee Nation has recently founded a tribal college

Tribal colleges and universities

Tribal colleges and universities are a Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education of higher education, Minority Serving Institution in the United States....
, College of the Muscogee Nation, in Okmulgee. CMN is a two-year institution, offering associate degrees in Gaming, Tribal Services, Police Science, and Native American Studies. They offer Mvskoke language classes as well. In 2007, 137 students enrolled and the college has plans for expansion.

Famous Creek People

Acee Blue Eagle
Acee Blue Eagle

Acee Blue Eagle , also called Alex McIntosh; Chebon Ah Bu Lah, Laughing Boy; and Lumhee Holattee, Blue Eagle, was a Creek people-Pawnee artist....
, (Muscogee-Pawnee) artist and author
Lt. Col. Ernest Childers
Ernest Childers

Ernest Childers was a United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his valorous actions in World War II....
, first American Indian to receive World War II Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest Awards and decorations of the United States military awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action...
Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates

Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. , better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician. He is currently the lead guitarist for heavy metal music band Avenged Sevenfold....
, lead guitar player from the band Avenged sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold is an American rock music band from Orange County, California, formed in 1999. The band has achieved mainstream success with their 2005 album City of Evil, which included singles such as "Burn It Down ", "Bat Country," "Beast and the Harlot" and "Seize the Day ." The band's success followed with their Avenged Sevenfold...
has Creek ancestry
Joy Harjo
Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo is an United States poet, musician, and author of Native Americans in the United States Canadian ancestry. Known primarily as a poet, Harjo has also taught at the college level, played tenor saxophone with a band called Poetic Justice, edited literary journals, and written screenplays....
, (Muscogee-Cherokee) Native American poet and jazz musician
Suzan Shown Harjo
Suzan Shown Harjo

Suzan Shown Harjo is a Hodulgee Creek /Cheyenne Native American and well-known Native American activist. She is a poet, writer and lecturer....
, (Muscogee-Cheyenne) activist and author
Joan Hill
Joan Hill

Joan Hill , also known as Che-se-quah, is a Creek people artist of Cherokee ancestry. She is one of the most awarded women artists in the Native Americans in the United States art world....
, (Muscogee-Cherokee) artist
Jack Jacobs
Jack Jacobs

"Indian" Jack Jacobs was an American football and Canadian football player in the National Football League and Canadian Football League. He was a charter member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963....
, football player
William Harjo LoneFight
William Harjo LoneFight

Dr. William Harjo LoneFight, , is President and CEO of American Native Services, a consulting firm in Bismarck, North Dakota. An alumnus of Dartmouth College, Oklahoma City University, and Stanford University, LoneFight has served on the Board of Directors of the American Indian College Fund, American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and T...
, author, entrepreneur, and nationally known expert in the revitalization of Native American languages and cultural traditions
James McHenry
James McHenry

James McHenry was an early United States statesman. McHenry was a signer of the United States Constitution from Maryland and the namesake of Fort McHenry, the bombardment of which inspired the American national anthem Star-Spangled Banner....
, Confederate Major, Methodist minister, and important Creek leader
William McIntosh
William McIntosh

William McIntosh , also known as "White Warrior," was the son of Captain William McIntosh, a member of a prominent Savannah, Georgia family sent into the Creek Nation to recruit them to fight for the British during the Revolutionary War ....
, Lower Creek Mico
Jim Pepper
Jim Pepper

Jim Pepper was an United States jazz saxophonist, composer, and singer of Native Americans in the United States ancestry....
, jazz musician
Will Sampson
Will Sampson

Will Sampson was an United States actor and artist.Sampson, a Native Americans in the United States Creek people, was born in Hitchita, Oklahoma....
, film actor, noted for his performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is an Cinema of the United States drama film film director by Milo? Forman. The film is an adaptation of the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey....
(1975)
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynthia Leitich Smith is an author of fiction for children and young adults. A member of the Creek people, she writes fiction for children centered on the lives of modern-day American Indians....
, children's book author noted for Jingle Dancer
James Treat, author and professor of Native American studies, University of Illinois
France Winddance Twine
France Winddance Twine

France Winddance Twine is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California -Santa Barbara, where she is an Affiliate in the Departments of Black Studies and Feminist Studies....
, American sociologist, feminist and race theorist
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood

Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country pop singer and songwriter. She rose to fame as the winner of the American Idol of American Idol, and has become a Music recording sales certification#List of international sales certification thresholds recording artist and a multiple Grammy Award winner....
, country singer
Micah Ian Wright, film, television and video game writer, chair of the Writers Guild of America's American Indian Writers Committee

Suggested Media

First Frontier, Docu-drama, Auburn University Educational Television, 1987. The docu-drama covers the encounter with Hernando DeSoto to the era of Indian Removal; the film focuses on the Creek peoples.
Creek Country: The Creek Indians and Their World. Robbie Ethridge, 2003, The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807854956

Creek people

History

Revolutionary War era

First to Civilize

Red Stick War

Present

Famous Creek People

See also

Suggested Media

External links