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Before

 

The Muscogee people lived in what are now the states of Georgia and Alabama for many centuries before Europeans arrived in the Western Hemisphere.

Traditional Muscogee Nation Lands

Prior to removal, the Muscogee Nation included large sections of the modern states of Georgia and Alabama.

 
 

“We are descendants of the Mississippian mound-building culture and society.”

 
 

“I wanted to see
what our people saw
back in the old homeland.”

 
 

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Ocmulgee Port of Entrance, 2015, by Richard Thornton. Courtesy of the artist.

Ocmulgee Port of Entrance, 2015, by Richard Thornton. Courtesy of the artist.

 

This is a digital reproduction of a historical site in Georgia known as Okmulgee. Today’s Muscogee people say their ancestors built large earthen mounds at Okmulgee and lived there long before Europeans arrived in North America.

 
 

“This is where we used
to have our ceremonies,
in this big house.”

 
 

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Creek House, 1855. Photo by J.C. Tidball. Courtesy Library of Congress, LC-USZ26-60814.

Creek House, 1855. Photo by J.C. Tidball. Courtesy Library of Congress, LC-USZ26-60814.

 

Around 1600, the Muscogee people abandoned their mound villages and lived in smaller villages with log homes.

 

The Muscogee people were generally prosperous before Europeans and Americans began to take their lands. They were successful farmers who traded with other nations, and there was plenty of game to hunt.

 
 

“Our ceremonies,
our traditions talk about
working with the land…”

 
 

The English called the Muscogee “Creek” Indians because of all the rivers and streams in their lands.

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Cherokee Ridge, 2013. Photo by Shackleford Photography, istockphoto, 27127244.

Cherokee Ridge, 2013. Photo by Shackleford Photography, istockphoto, 27127244.

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Dauphin Island, 2014. Photo by Peeter Viisimaa, istockphoto, 38644640.

Dauphin Island, 2014. Photo by Peeter Viisimaa, istockphoto, 38644640.

Traditional lands of the Muscogee in present-day Alabama.

 
 

“You can see why
our ancestors didn’t
want to give it up.”

 
 

“And when I do go there,
I can just feel the spirits”

 
 

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Audience Given by the Trustees of Georgia to a Delegation of Creek Indians, 1734–35, by William Verelst. Courtesy Winterthur Museum, 1956.0567.

Audience Given by the Trustees of Georgia to a Delegation of Creek Indians, 1734–35, by William Verelst. Courtesy Winterthur Museum, 1956.0567.

 

The Muscogee worked very hard to retain their lands and live peacefully with Americans. Muscogee delegates traveled to England in the early 1700s to make peace with the colony of Georgia.

The British government gave this combination pipe and tomahawk to a Muscogee leader.

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Pipe tomahawk, ca. 1788−1800, Georgia. National Museum of the American Indian, 12/9426.

Pipe tomahawk, ca. 1788–1800, Georgia. National Museum of the American Indian, 12/9426.

Such objects were often given as tokens of good will and peace.

 

In the 1800s, the Muscogee faced increasing pressure from the United States to give up their lands and move west.

“Brothers! I have listened to a great many talks from our great father. But they always began and ended with this—‘Get a little further; you are too near me.’”

—Speckled Snake (Creek), ca. 1829. Niles Weekly Register, June 20, 1829.

 
 

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Aerial View of Horseshoe Bend, ca. 2007. Courtesy National Park Service.

Aerial View of Horseshoe Bend, ca. 2007. Courtesy National Park Service.

 

War, violence, poverty, land loss through treaties, and Congress’ American Indian Removal Act drastically changed the Muscogee way of life.

In 1814 the Muscogee fought a war with United States to try to keep their lands. One battle took place at a location known as Horseshoe Bend. Around 800 Muscogee warriors died in this battle.

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Muscogee bandolier bag, ca. 1814, Alabama. National Museum of the American Indian, 24/4150.

Muscogee bandolier bag, ca. 1814, Alabama. National Museum of the American Indian, 24/4150.

 

This beautifully made Muscogee bag was found at the site of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814.

 
 

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 Transcript

Muscogee (Creek) Treaty, 1832. Courtesy National Archives, Washington, DC.

Muscogee (Creek) Treaty, 1832. Courtesy National Archives, Washington, DC.

 

In the Treaty of 1832, the Muscogee finally ceded (gave up) all their remaining beloved homelands east of the Mississippi River in exchange for lands in Indian Territory.

 

Many Muscogee people tried to take advantage of a treaty provision that allowed them to avoid removal if they accepted small pieces of land. Whites were outraged and did everything they could to drive the Muscogees out, including stealing their individual homesteads.

 
“They had not only taken the Indians’ land from them, and burnt and destroyed their houses and corn, but used violence to their persons.”

—Letter from Robert L. Crawford to Lewis Cass, August 31, 1832. U.S. Senate Document No. 512, 23rd Congress, 1st session, “Indian Removal,” 75.

 
“I have never seen corruption carried on to such proportions in all of my life before. A number of the land purchasers think it rather an honor than a dishonor to defraud the Indian out of his land.”

—Letter from Crawford to Poinsett, May 11, 1838, U.S. House Document No. 452, 25th Congress, 2nd session, 10.

 
“How the Indians are to subsist the present year, I cannot imagine. Some of them are sustaining themselves upon roots. They have, apparently, very little corn, and scarcely any stock. The game is gone, and what they are to do, God only knows. Nothing can preserve their property, or their existence, other than their immediate removal to the country designed for them.”

—Letter from Enoch Parsons to Lewis Cass, January 13, 1833. U.S. Senate Document No. 512, v. IV, 23rd Congress, 1st session, “Indian Removal,” 75.

Discussion Questions • Before Removal

 
  1. What was the environment like in the Muscogees’ traditional lands?
  2. Why do you think the Muscogee tried so hard to keep their traditional lands and live in peace with the Americans?
  3. What actions by the American government and citizens made it difficult for the Muscogee to stay on their traditional lands?