ALABAMA

The name of the Alabama people has been passed to the state. Also spelled Alibamu, it probably means “I clear the thicket” or “weed gatherers,” although some linguists give the meaning as “to camp.” The Alabama share ancestry, culture, and language—similar dialects of the Muskogean language family—with the CREEK, CHOCTAW, and MOBILE. They were allied with the Creek in what is called the Creek Confederacy. All four peoples are classified as SOUTHEAST INDIANS, that is, part of the Southeast Culture Area.

For most of their history, the Alabama had villages and fields of crops situated along the upper Alabama River in what now is the center of the state bearing their name. The villages typically were surrounded with wood and mud palisades.

When the Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto encountered them in 1540, they might have been living farther to the north. In the 18th century, the Alabama became allies of the French, who founded Mobile on Mobile Bay in 1710 and, three years later, built Fort Toulouse in Alabama territory. When France lost its holdings in North America in 1763 to Britain, after the French and Indian War, many Alabama left their homeland. Some joined the SEMINOLE in Florida. Others resettled north of New Orleans on the banks of the Mississippi River and eventually moved to western Louisiana. The majority of this same band eventually moved to Texas, where they were later granted state reservation lands along with the COUSHATTA. Those who stayed behind in Alabama fought alongside the Creek in the Creek War of 1813—14. In the 1830s, some Alabama bands were resettled in the Indian Territory along with their Creek allies.

The Alabama and Coushatta currently maintain tribal identity as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe on a shared reservation in east Texas near Livingston. Both the Alabama and Coushatta dialects of Muskogean are still spoken. Tourism is important to the reservation’s economy: The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe maintains a museum and camping facilities and sponsors summer powwows. Alabama and Coushatta in Oklahoma, near Weleetka, although having administrative ties to the Muskogee Creek Nation, maintain their identity as the Alabama-Quassarte Tribe of Oklahoma.