After

The Muscogee people survived the difficulties of removal because of their strong culture and will to live.

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Creek Council Oak Tree, 2002, by Mike Larsen. Courtesy Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc., and the artist.

This modern painting shows leaders from one Muscogee village meeting in Indian Territory to reorganize their community. This site, known as the Council Oak Tree, is located in what is now the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We started getting our councils back together.

Upon reaching an unfamiliar new land, the Muscogee had to build new homes, reestablish their towns and government, and find ways to survive.

Muscogee Lands in Indian Territory

After being forcibly removed from their homelands in Alabama and Georgia, Muscogee people began the task of rebuilding their lives and communities on new lands west of the Mississippi. Although an 1832 treaty promised that these new lands were “solemnly guarantied [sic]” to the Muscogee Nation, their territories were later reduced by the United States and reassigned to other tribes newly removed to Indian Territory.

“If you don’t cooperate with this force then we’re all gonna die.”

“…one of the first things they did when our people came here was to have a prayer for those that made the journey…”

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Muscogee House, 1901. Courtesy of the Research Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society, W. P. Campbell Collection, 1982.106.

Upon arriving in Indian Territory, the Muscogee people built new homes similar to this log home photographed in 1901.

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Muscogee (Creek) Bowl and spoon, n.d., Oklahoma. National Museum of the American Indian, 16/9458, 3/2707.

In Indian Territory, the Muscogee people continued making everyday items they needed, such as this wooden spoon and bowl, from the materials that were available to them.

Muscogee diplomacy helped the many Indian Nations in Indian Territory learn to live together.

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Delegations from 34 tribes at the Creek Council House, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, ca. 1875. Photo by Jack Hillers, courtesy National Archives, 75-IP-1-49.

In 1875, leaders from 34 different American Indian Nations living in Indian Territory met at the Muscogee Council House to talk about important issues of the day.

After removal, the Muscogee faced many other challenges, such as holding on to their new lands and keeping their language, religion, and culture alive.

“Later on they wanted to take the Indian out of us so they developed these boarding schools.”

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Nuyaka Boarding School, 2014. Photo by Doug McMains, National Museum of the American Indian.

Boarding schools, such as this one in the Muscogee community of Nuyaka, separated Indian children from their families, and tried to erase the Muscogee language and culture.

Through many difficulties, including further land lost to the United States, the Muscogee Nation remained together and is still in Oklahoma today.

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Muscogee Creek Tribal Capitol Complex, Mound Building. Courtesy Mvskoke Media.

The Tribal Capitol Complex of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is located in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. It is the seat of a tribal government with its own courts, laws, and services for its citizens.

Discussion Questions • After Removal

The word assimilate means conforming or adjusting to the customs, attitudes, etc., of another group. How did the U.S. government try to force the Muscogee to assimilate? In other words, how did the government try to make the Muscogee more “American”?
How was Muscogee culture affected by forced assimilation?
How was the Muscogee community able to stay strong and continue once they established their new homes in Oklahoma?

Reflections