Early History of the Creek Indians Collections – Page 2 of 4

Sawokli Tribe

The earliest home of the Sawokli of which we have any indication was upon or near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, probably in the neighborhood of Choctawhatchee Bay. Thus Barcia refers to “the Provinces of Pancacola, Sabacola, and others, upon the ports and bays of the Gulf of Mexico,” and the position above given agrees very well with that assigned to them, under the name “Sowoolla,” upon the Lamhatty map. In a letter written in the year 1680 Gov. Cabrera of Florida says: The Cazique Saucola, distant forty leagues from Apalache, came [to the Apalache missions] and three … Read more

Population of the Southeastern Indians

The population of an Indian tribe at any early period in its history can not be determined with exactness. In the case of the Creeks we have to consider not only the Muskogee or Creeks proper, but a number of tribes afterwards permanently or temporarily incorporated with them, and the problem is proportionately complicated. Fortunately we are helped out by a considerable nmnber of censuses, some of which were taken with more than usual care. The Cusabo tribes were always small, even at the time of their first intercourse with the Spaniards and French, but we have no data regarding … Read more

Pensacola Indian Tribe

Immediately west of the Sawokli, the Spanish “Province of Sabacola,” lived anciently the Pensacola. Their name, properly Paⁿshi okla, “Bread People,” is Choctaw or from a closely related tongue, but we know next to nothing regarding the people themselves. Our earliest information of value concerning any of the people of this coast is contained in the relation of Cabeza de Vaca, who encountered them in 1528 on his way westward from the Apalachee country by sea with the remains of the Narvaez expedition. Although none of the tribes which the explorers met is mentioned by name there is every reason … Read more

Pakana Tribe

We now come to peoples incorporated in the Muskhogean confederation which were probably distinct bodies and yet not certainly possessed of a peculiar dialect like the Hitchiti, Alabama, and other tribes of foreign origin already considered. The Pakana are given by Adair as one of those people which the Muskogee had “artfully” induced to incorporate with them, and he is confirmed as to the main fact by Stiggins, whose account of them is as follows: The Puccunnas at this day are only known by tradition to have been a distinct people and their ancient town or habitation is called Puccun … Read more

Other Muskogee Towns and Villages

Besides the recognized tribes or towns of major importance and such of their offshoots as can be identified, the literature of this region contains many names of towns or villages which can not be definitely connected with any of those given. In some cases it may be that we have to deal with ancient divisions in process of decline which were never connected with the rest, but in at least nine-tenths of the cases they are nothing more than temporary offshoots of the larger bodies. Opilłåko (“Big Swamp”) seems to have been one of the most ancient and important of … Read more

Osochi Tribe

I have registered my belief that the origin of the Osochi is to be sought in that Florida “province” through which De Soto passed shortly before reaching the Apalachee. The name is given variously as Uçachile, Uzachil, Veachile, and Ossachile. Since the Timucua chief Uriutina speaks of the Uçachile as “of our nation,” while the chief of Uçachile is said to be “kinsman of the chief of Caliquen,” it may be inferred that the tribe then spoke a Timucua dialect. If this were really the case it is strange that, instead of retiring farther into Florida with the rest of the … Read more

Okmulgee Tribe

Okchai Tribe

Like the Pakana, Adair includes the Okchai among those tribes which had been ”artfully decoyed” to unite with the Muskogee, and Milfort says that the Okchai and Tuskegee had sought the protection of the Muskogee after having suffered severely at the hands of hostile Indians. He adds that the former “mounted ten leagues toward the north [of the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers] and fixed their dwelling in a beautiful plain on the bank of a little river.” Among some of the living Okchai there seems to be a tradition of this foreign origin, but nowhere do we … Read more

Oconee Tribe

In addition to two groups of Muskhogean people bearing this name it should be noticed that it was popularly applied by the whites to a Cherokee town, properly called Ukwû‛nû (or Ukwû‛nĭ), but the similarity may be merely a coincidence. Of the two Creek groups mentioned one seems to be associated exclusively with the Florida tribes, while the second, when we first hear of it, was on the Georgia river which still bears its name. The first reference to either appears to be in a report of the Timucua missionary, Fareja, dated 1602. He mentions the “Ocony,” three days’ journey … Read more

Natchez Indian Tribe

The Natchez having been made the subject of a special study by the writer, no extended notice need be given here. Their earliest known home was on St. Catharines Creek, Mississippi, close to the present city which bears their name. After Louisiana was colonized by the French the latter established a post among them, which was in a very flourishing condition when, in the year 1729, it was suddenly cut off by a native uprising. Subsequently the French attacked these Indians, killed many, captured some, whom they sent to Santo Domingo as slaves, and forced the rest to abandon their … Read more

Muskogee Tribes

The dominant people of the Creek Confederacy called themselves and their language in later times by a name which has become conventionalized into Muscogee or Muskogee.

Muklasa Tribe

Still another town in this neighborhood not speaking Muskogee was Muklasa. The name means “friends” or “people of one nation” in Alabama, Koasati, or Choctaw, therefore it is probable that the town was Alabama or Koasati, the Choctaw being at a considerable distance. According to the list of 1761 it was then estimated to contain 30 hunters. William Trewin and James Germany were the traders. In 1797 the trader was Michael Elhart, “an industrious, honest man; a Dutchman.” Bartram visited it in 1777, and in 1799 Hawkins gives the following account of it: Mook-lau-sau is a small town one mile below Sau-va-noo-gee, … Read more

Mobile Tribe and Tohome Tribe

So far as our information goes, the first white men to have dealings with the Indians of Mobile Bay were probably the Spaniards under Pinedo. Pinedo was sent out by Garay, governor of Jamaica, in the year 1519, to explore toward the north, and he appears to have coasted along the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico from the peninsula of Florida to Panuco. In the description of this voyage in the Letters Patent we read that after having covered the entire distance “they then turned back with the said ships, and entered a river which was found to … Read more

Kolomi Tribe

The earliest mention of Kolomi town is contained in a letter of the Spanish lieutenant at Apalachee, Antonio Mateos, in 1686. A translation of this has been given in considering the history of the Kasihta. The town was then probably on Ocmulgee River, where it appears on some of the very early maps, placed close to Atasi. From the failure of Mateos to mention Atasi it is possible that that town was not yet in existence. From later maps we learn that after the Yamasee war the Kolomi settled on the Chattahoochee. The maps show them in what is now Stewart … Read more

Koasati Indian Tribe

The Koasati Indians, as shown by their language, are closely related to the Alabama. There were at one time two branches of this tribe – one close to the Alabama, near what is now Coosada station, Elmore County, Ala., the other on the Tennessee River north of Langston, Jackson County. These latter appear but a few times in history, and the name was considerably garbled by early writers. There is reason to believe, however, that it has the honor of an appearance in the De Soto chronicles, as the Coste of Ranjel, the Coste or Acoste of Elvas, the Costehe … Read more

Kealedji Tribe

According to native tradition this was a branch of Tukabahchee, but, if so, it must have separated at a very early date. Gatschet says that the name appears to refer to a warrior’s headdress, containing the words ika, his head, and a verb meaning to kill (iłäidshäs, I kill). This seems probable. At any rate the name evidently is not old enough to be worn down much by age and suggests a comparatively recent origin for the group. This is also confirmed to a considerable extent by the absence of its name from the earliest documents. Probably it is the … Read more

Kasihta Tribe

The honorary name of this tribe in the Creek Confederacy was Kasihta lako, “Big Kasihta.” According to the earliest form of the Creek migration legend that is available – that related to Governor Oglethorpe by Chikilli in 1735 – the Kasihta and Coweta came from the west “as one people,” but in time those dwelling toward the east came to be called Kasihta and those to the west Coweta. This ancient unity of origin appears to have been generally admitted down to the present time. According to John Goat, an aged Tulsa Indian, they were at first one town, and … Read more

Kan-hatki Tribe

The history of the Kan-hatki or Ikan-hatki (“White ground”) is parallel with that of the Fus-hatchee. They appear on the De Crenay map, in the lists of 1738, 1750, 1760, and 1761, and in those of Bartram, Swan, and Hawkins. In 1761 their officially recognized traders were Crook & Co. Swan gives Kan-hatki as one of two towns occupied by Shawnee refugees, but this statement was probably due to the presence of some Shawnee from the neighboring settlement of Sawanogi. In September, 1797, Hawkins states that the trader here was a man named Copinger. He gives the following account of the … Read more

Holiwahali Tribe

The first of all red or war towns among the Upper Creeks to appear in history is Liwahali, or, in the ancient form of the word, Holiwahali, a name which signifies ”to share out or divide war” (holi, war, awahali, to divide out). The explanation of this is given below. At the present time some Creeks say that Hohwahali, Atasi, and Kealedji separated from Tukabahchee in the order given, but this story rather typifies the terms of friendship between them than explains their real origin, though there may be more substantial grounds for the belief in a common origin in … Read more

History of Florida Indians

Most of the tribes considered hitherto had had very intimate relations with the Creek Confederacy, the central object of our investigation. We now come to peoples who remained for the most part distinct from the Creeks, but whose history nevertheless occupies an important place in the background of this study – first, because they were near neighbors and had dealings with them, usually of a hostile character, for a long period, and, secondly, because their country was later the home of the Seminole, an important Creek offshoot which must presently receive consideration. These were the ancient inhabitants of Florida. I … Read more