List of Alabama placenames of Native American origin

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Many places throughout Alabama take their names from the languages of the indigenous Native American/American Indian tribes. The following list includes settlements, geographic features, and political subdivisions whose names are derived from these indigenous languages. The primary Native American peoples present in Alabama during historical times included the Alibamu, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Koasati, and the lower and upper Muscogee (Creeks). [1]

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With the exception of the Cherokee, all of the historical Alabama tribes speak Muskogean languages. There are competing classification systems, but the traditionally accepted usage divides the dialects into Eastern Muskogean (Alibamu, Koasatia, and Muscogee) and Western Muskogean (Chickasaw and Choctaw). [2] The Cherokee language belongs to the separate Iroquoian language family. [3]

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Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscogee</span> Indigenous people from Southeastern Woodlands

The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy, are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands in the United States. Their historical homelands are in what now comprises southern Tennessee, much of Alabama, western Georgia and parts of northern Florida.

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Muscogee 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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Civilized Tribes</span> Native American grouping

The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminoles. White Americans classified them as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of the Anglo-American culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creek War</span> 1813–14 US Indian War

The Creek War, was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within the tribes of the Muscogee, but the United States quickly became involved. British traders and Spanish colonial officials in Florida supplied the Red Sticks with weapons and equipment due to their shared interest in preventing the expansion of the United States into regions under their control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tombigbee River</span> River in Alabama and Mississippi, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etowah Indian Mounds</span> Archaeological site in Georgia, U.S.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscogee language</span> Indigenous American language

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Muskogean is a Native American language family spoken in different areas of the Southeastern United States. Though the debate concerning their interrelationships is ongoing, the Muskogean languages are generally divided into two branches, Eastern Muskogean and Western Muskogean. Typologically, Muskogean languages are agglutinative. One documented language, Apalachee, is extinct and the remaining languages are critically endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coosa chiefdom</span> Paramount chiefdom of Native Americans

The Coosa chiefdom was a powerful Native American paramount chiefdom in what are now Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia, in the United States. It was inhabited from about 1400 until about 1600, and dominated several smaller chiefdoms. The total population of Coosa's area of influence, reaching into present-day Tennessee and Alabama, has been estimated at 50,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee–American wars</span> Indian wars in the Old Southwest

The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American settlers on the frontier. Most of the events took place in the Upper South region. While the fighting stretched across the entire period, there were extended periods with little or no action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cusabo</span> Group of American Indian tribes

The Cusabo were a group of American Indian tribes who lived along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in what is now South Carolina, approximately between present-day Charleston and south to the Savannah River, at the time of European colonization. English colonists often referred to them as one of the Settlement Indians of South Carolina, tribes who "settled" among the colonists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallapoosas</span> Muscogee Creek Native Americans

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Hickory Ground, also known as Otciapofa is an historic Upper Muscogee Creek tribal town and an archaeological site in Elmore County, Alabama near Wetumpka. It is known as Oce Vpofa in the Muscogee language; the name derives from oche-ub,"hickory" and po-fau, "among". It is best known for serving as the last capital of the National Council of the Creek Nation, prior to the tribe being moved to the Indian Territory in the 1830s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 10, 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillabee</span>

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Chinnabee, also spelled Chinneby or Chinnibee, is an unincorporated community in Talladega County, Alabama, United States.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 William A. Read (1994). "Southeastern Indian Place Names in what is now Alabama" (PDF). Indian Place Names in Alabama. Alabama Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  2. Hardy, Heather; Scancarelli, Janine (2005). Native Languages of the Southeastern United States. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 69–71.
  3. Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-23228-7.
  4. "Alabama: The State Name". Alabama Department of Archives and History. Archived from the original on 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  5. Bright (2004), p. 29.
  6. Owen & Owen (1921), p. 77.
  7. Gannett (1902), p. 70.
  8. 1 2 Gannett (1902), p. 73.
  9. Bright (2004), p. 118.
  10. Bright (2004), p. 120.
  11. Bright (2004), p. 148.
  12. Bright (2004), p. 291.
  13. 1 2 Owen & Owen (1921), p. 1291.
  14. Hudson, Charles M. (1997). Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun . University of Georgia Press. pp.  230–232.
  15. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Arbacoochee
  16. Bright (2004), p. 68-69.
  17. Bright (2004), p. 70.
  18. Owen & Owen (1921), p. 189.
  19. Read (1984), p. 15.
  20. Gannett (1902), p. 71.
  21. Bright (2004), p. 129.
  22. Read (1984), p. 31.
  23. Bright (2004), p. 149.
  24. Read (1984), p. 42.
  25. Owen & Owen (1921), p. 1066.
  26. Read (1984), p. 47.
  27. Bright (2004), p. 344.
  28. Bright (2004), p. 352.
  29. Bright (2004), p. 368.
  30. Foscue, Virginia (1989). Place Names in Alabama. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. p. 112. ISBN   0-8173-0410-X.
  31. Bright (2004), p. 468.
  32. Bright (2004), p. 475.
  33. Bright (2004), p. 488.
  34. Read (1984), p. 67.
  35. Bright (2004), p. 525.
  36. Read (1984), p. 74.
  37. Bright (2004), p. 559.
  38. Read (1984), p. 77.
  39. Bright (2004), p. 74.
  40. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Chattahoochee River
  41. Bright (2004), p. 90.
  42. Bright (2004), p. 257.
  43. Byington, Cyrus (1909). Choctaw Language Dictionary. Global Bible Society.
  44. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sea Warrior Creek
  45. Bright (2004), p. 431.
  46. Bright (2004), p. 463.
  47. Rufus Ward (February 27, 2010). "Tombigbee River: What does it mean?". The Commercial Dispatch. The Columbus Lowndes Public Library. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  48. Bright (2004), p. 558.

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