SEVERAL Native American nations called the southeastern United States home, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and the Creek (Muscogee). They shared similar ways of adapting to a European lifestyle, such as permanent homes and farming. While some may have migrated from other parts of the United States, others, such as the Creek, may have been descended from the prehistoric Mississip-pian Culture Etowah Mounds people who lived in the area until the early 1500s. The Etowah archeological site covers 52 acres with three large mounds and several smaller ones.
The southeastern Native Americans first had contact with European explorers. A trade relationship developed by exchanging furs for manufactured goods—guns and farming and cooking equipment. The Spanish had settlements in Florida, the British in Virginia, and the French in Louisiana. The growth of the fur trade caused animals to become scarcer, and many native people turned to farming. As in other parts of the United States, the people of the Southeast also suffered from exposure to European diseases such as smallpox.
When southeastern native groups supported the losing side during a European conflict, they were often punished through the taking of their land. Yet for the most part, the early U. S. government adopted a paternalistic attitude toward the native people of the South. The U. S. government often sent Indian agents to live among specific Native American nations to dispense supplies and keep an eye on things. It was just a matter of time before the white settlers began moving onto tribal lands and claiming them for their own.
Like many Native American groups, the Creek received the name they became known as from people outside their communities. Since some of the Creek lived near Ochese Creek, the British tradesmen shortened it to Creek. Actually these people shared the same Muskogean language and referred to themselves as Muscogee. The Muscogee people established confederacies with other Muskogean towns and villages for protection against northern enemies.
The towns were laid out around a pascova, or plaza, where ceremonies, dancing, games, and festivals such as the Green Corn Festival were held. Plazas also included a rotunda for council meetings and an open-air summer council house. Smaller villages were aligned with a specific town, governed by a chief called a mico. When a village grew to 400 to 600 people, it would split and form a new nearby village.
By the beginning of the i8th century, Muscogee towns began to spread out with acres of crops for corn, rice, and potatoes. Many people raised livestock as well. Log homes starting replacing traditional huts with wood or grass roofs. Some Muscogee became quite successful by the time the Colony of Georgia was founded in 1732. In fact, the richest woman was the daughter of a English trader and a Muscogee woman. Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth was a prosperous landowner with several trading posts and sometimes served as an interpreter for the British.
World History
