Some Eufaula lived along the Chattahoochee River in what became the state of Georgia. The Lower Creek Eufaula settled there by 1733, and quite possibly earlier than that. With more frequent contact with Europeans and later Americans, they had trade and adopted some European-style customs.
The Creek Indian trailhead in Eufaula, named after Yoholo-Micco
In 1832, theirs was the only Upper Creek town listed on the census. In 1825 their chief Yoholo Micco traveled to Washington, D.C. in an attempt to renegotiate the Treaty of Indian Springs (1821).[2] They were unsuccessful, and the very disadvantageous Treaty of Indian Springs (1825) was enacted which forced them to move across the river in Eufaula, Alabama, where a bike trail commemorates their story.[3]
In 1836 they were forced further west again, during the Trail of Tears. Their people were the only Upper Creek town that moved to Indian Territory; they settled near what developed as Eufaula, Oklahoma, named for them and their towns.[1]
Namesakes
Their name is preserved in the modern cities of Eufaula, Alabama and Eufaula, Oklahoma; and also with lakes, specifically Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma and Lake Eufaula in Alabama.
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy, are a group of related indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands in the United States of America. Their original homelands are in what now comprises southern Tennessee, much of Alabama, western Georgia and parts of northern Florida.
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign independent state. In general, the tribes ceded land they occupied in exchange for land grants in 1803. The concept of an Indian Territory was an outcome of the US federal government's 18th- and 19th-century policy of Indian removal. After the American Civil War (1861–1865), the policy of the US government was one of assimilation.
The Trail of Tears was part of the Indian removal, an ethnic cleansing and series of forced displacements of approximately 60,000 Native Americans of the Five Civilized Tribes between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. Removal for this event was gradual, occurring over a period of nearly a decade. Members of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes—the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations —were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to areas to the west of the Mississippi River that had been designated Indian Territory. The forced relocations were carried out by government authorities after the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The Cherokee removal in 1838 was brought on by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega, Georgia, in 1828, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush.
McIntosh County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,252. Its county seat is Eufaula. The county is named for an influential Muscogee Creek family, whose members led the migration of the Lower Towns to Indian Territory and served as leaders for generations.
Creek mythology is related to a Muscogee tribe who are originally from the southeastern United States, also known by their original name Mvskoke, the name they use to identify themselves today. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. Modern Muscogees live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Their language, Mvskoke, is a member of the Eastern branch of the Muskogean language family. The Seminole are close kin to the Mvskoke and speak an Eastern Muskogean language as well. The Muscogee were considered one of the Five Civilized Tribes. After the Creek War many of the Muscogee escaped to Florida to create the Seminole.
Eufaula is a city and county seat of McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,813 at the 2010 census, an increase of 6.6 percent from 2,639 in 2000. Eufaula is in the southern part of the county, 30 miles (48 km) north of McAlester and 32 miles (51 km) south of Muskogee.
The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by European Americans in the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole. Americans of European descent classified them as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of the Anglo-American culture. Examples of such colonial attributes adopted by these five tribes, included Christianity, centralized governments, literacy in English, market participation, written constitutions, intermarriage with white Americans, and chattel slavery practices, including purchase of enslaved African Americans. For a period, the Five Civilized Tribes tended to maintain stable political relations with the European Americans, before the United States promoted Indian Removal of these tribes from the Southeast.
The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century, they lived in Pennsylvania and in the 18th century, they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, with some bands in Kentucky and Alabama. By the 19th century, they were forcibly removed to Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and ultimately Indian Territory, which became Oklahoma, under the 1830 Indian Removal Act.
The Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma were in the center of the lands ceded to the United States by the Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole Indians following the Civil War and on which no other tribes had been settled. By 1883 it was bounded by the Cherokee Outlet on the north, several relocated Indian reservations on the east, the Chickasaw lands on the south, and the Cheyenne-Arapaho reserve on the west. The area amounted to 1,887,796.47 acres.
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 allied forces at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. It occurred on the banks of the Tallapoosa River near the present city of Alexander City, Alabama. The U.S. force, led by General Andrew Jackson, consisted mainly of the West Tennessee Militia and 39th United States Infantry, allied with several groups of Cherokee and Lower Creek friendly to the American side. The Upper Creek were led by Chief Menawa, who fled with hundreds of survivors into Florida, where they allied with the Seminole. The surrender ended the Creek War, which the United States was fighting simultaneously with the War of 1812.
John Ridge, born Skah-tle-loh-skee, was from a prominent family of the Cherokee Nation, then located in present-day Georgia. He went to Cornwall, Connecticut, to study at the Foreign Mission School. He met Sarah Bird Northup, of a New England Yankee family, and they married in 1824. Soon after their return to New Echota in 1825, Ridge was chosen for the Cherokee National Council and became a leader in the tribe.
Opothleyahola, also spelled Opothle Yohola, Opothleyoholo, Hu-pui-hilth Yahola, Hopoeitheyohola, and Hopere Yahvlv was a Muscogee Creek Indian chief, noted as a brilliant orator. He was a Speaker of the Upper Creek Council and supported traditional culture.
Menawa, first called Hothlepoya, was a Muscogee (Creek) chief and military leader. He was of mixed race, with a Creek mother and a fur trader father of mostly Scots ancestry. As the Creek had a matrilineal system of descent and leadership, his status came from his mother's clan.
William McIntosh, was also commonly known as Tustunnuggee Hutke, was one of the most prominent chiefs of the Creek Nation between the turn of the nineteenth century and his execution in 1825. He was a chief of Coweta town and commander of a mounted police force. He became a large-scale planter, built and managed a successful inn, and operated a commercial ferry business. Early American historians attributed McIntosh's achievements and influence to his mixed race Scots/European ancestry. Since the late 20th century, historians have argued much of McIntosh's political influence stemmed more from his Creek upbringing and cultural standing, particularly his mother's prominent Wind Clan in the Creek matrilineal system, and to other aspects of Creek culture.
The Coushatta are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Black Fox, also called Enola, was a Cherokee leader during the Cherokee–American wars. He was a signatory of the Holston Treaty, and later became a Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
The Tawakoni are a Southern Plains Native American tribe, closely related to the Wichitas. They historically spoke a Wichita language of the Caddoan language family. Currently, they are enrolled in the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, a federally recognized tribe.
The Kialegee Tribal Town is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma, as well as a traditional township within the former Muscogee Creek Confederacy in the American Southeast. Tribal members pride themselves on retaining their traditions and many still speak the Muscogee language. The name "Kialegee" comes from the Muscogee word, eka-lache, meaning "head left."
The Alabama–Quassarte Tribal Town is both a federally recognized Native American tribe and a traditional township of Muskogean-speaking Alabama and Coushatta peoples. Their traditional languages include Alabama, Koasati, and Mvskoke. As of 2014, the tribe includes 369 enrolled members, who live within the state of Oklahoma as well as Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona.
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