Creek Indians
The Creek Indians is the term used for a large group of Native Americans that resided in a large part of the Southeastern United States prior to the 18th century. The Creeks, or Muscogee Indians, were actually a group of tribes that banded together for defense and shared a common culture. Smaller tribes would join and leave the larger group all the time, so the size of the Creek Indians constantly changed. They were given the name 'Creek' because of where they lived. They were eventually driven west to Alabama and Oklahoma by the Cherokee and the white settlers.
The Creek Way of Life
Contrary to other ways of Native American life, the Creek Indians were not nomadic hunter-gatherers. They were sedentary Natives, setting down roots by setting up whole towns. They were a completely self sufficient group of people, establishing their own land ownership and tribal councils to settle disputes and make laws. Their towns had ceremonial shrines that served as their town center, and the rest of town consisted of thatched huts that people lived in scattered around the center of town.
While many Natives were aggressive toward the white settlers, this was not the case with the Creeks. They did their best to keep the peace with the white settlers, but to no avail. War eventually broke out and the Creeks were divided; whereas some of them fought against the white man to preserve their way of life, others fought with the white man as allies. The nation was divided.
A few months after the War of 1812, a treaty was eventually signed. The Treaty of Fort Jackson ended the war and gave about 20 million acres of land to the United States-this was more than half o f their land. Even those who fought with them were forced to give up some of their land.
As is the story with many Indian tribes, the Creek people do still have roots around the United States. The arrival of the European settlers changed their way of life forever.
