Soma
Resources => Other Cultures [Public] => Topic started by: dc_chance on November 18, 2008, 12:27:58 PM
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Very recently I began learning a little about Creek Indians or as some would call them, the Muscogee Confederation. The Ocmulgee Indian Mounds (and other similar mounds/cities) are believed to have been built by Creeks.
I was born in Macon, Georgia USA and as a child, I sometimes played around the Ocmulgee Mounds. I recall a particular night when an old man who worked there treated my older sister and me to a visit to a room full of artifacts including the skeleton of a young Indian woman. I recall wondering why they did not let her remain buried.
Until last week, I'd always thought of the Cherokee tribe as the dominant tribe in old Georgia. I knew the Creek and Cherokee fought several large battles over control of tribal lands and I frequently visit places both tribes felt held power. I knew I had a bit of Cherokee blood and until last week my efforts at learning Indian culture have been focused on Cherokee.
A few weeks ago, I found I have a measure of Creek blood as well. At the end of last week I began efforts to learn more of that culture.
What struck me quickly is their traditional teaching tells that they migrated to the southeastern US from Meso-America. They came from a place beside the "tan mountains".
Their artwork is very elaborate and is similar to Mayan/Aztec artifacts. They were a very organized culture and were the dominant group in the southeastern US for many years. I read of their legend of a feathered serpent. They lived in thatched huts instead of tipi's and were known as the mound builders.
From the text and pictures I will post in this thread of posts, you may see the similarities to other things Aztec/Mayan that I do..... some of the things I've read made me think of Toltec teachings as well.
Since I lived within walking distance of the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds as a child, it seems a fitting place to start the study. I read today that the layout of the site is amazingly accurate from an astrological perspective. Some portions of the site six miles distant are in perfect alignment. The mound builders showed skills that the white man didn't possess for centuries and even today it would be difficult to align the structures with the accuracy they acheived. I'll include information on that in a later post.
I copied the following from a State of GA website.
The Ocmulgee Mounds are located beside the Ocmulgee River near downtown Macon and consist of seven mounds and associated plazas.
The Great Temple Mound was built atop the Macon Plateau and rises 56 feet high from the surface of the plateau. Yet because the mound was ingeniously constructed on the edge of the plateau and the plateau itself was terraced and clay fill added to match the angle of the Temple Mound, the mound rises an impressive 90 feet from the river bank below. It was this imposing view that most visitors to Ocmulgee saw in prehistoric times since most trade and travel was conducted by dugout canoes along the river.
Due to its ingenious construction, the top of the Great Temple Mound is significantly higher than the surrounding tree line thus enabling anyone standing here to have a commanding view of the countryside for miles and miles around as well as an unobstructed view of the entire sky dome for astronomical observations.
From here one could easily see signal fires or smoke signals from outlying villages warning of invaders or other trouble. Likewise signal fires could be lit atop the Great Temple Mound and these could be seen for many miles around the site.
As its name suggests the Great Temple Mound was also home to a large temple which likely doubled as the Chief Priest's home. Here he kept a perpetual fire burning which was an important element of their religion and myths.
The site has been occupied for 12,000 years as evidenced by the Clovis spear point found during excavations. Around 2000 B.C., the same time period as the Sapelo Shell Rings, the first small shell mounds were constructed at the site but it wasn't until 900 A.D. that the monumental constructions began. At this time newcomers arrived in the region and brought with them corn agriculture, a new style of pottery, new types of arrowheads and a more complex economic, religious and political system.
It is thought that these were Muskogean speakers who later were called Creek Indians by Europeans. Creek migration legends tell how they originated in a place much farther west, a place where the earth would occasionally open up and swallow their children (thought to be a reference to earthquakes). Part of their tribe decided to leave this place and began an eastward migration in order to find where the sun rises. On their journey they came to a mountain that thundered and had red smoke coming from its summit which they later discovered was actually fire (a possible reference to a volcano.) Here they decided to settle down after meeting people from three nations (Chickasaws, Atilamas, & Obikaws) who taught them about herbs and "many other things." From these references one can assume that these people migrated from Mexico which is west of Georgia and has both earthquakes and active volcanoes. Mexico is also the birthplace of corn agriculture, a defining characteristic of these newcomers who archaeologists call the Mississippians.
It is also in Mexico where we find cities consisting of flat-topped pyramid mounds arranged around open plazas which is the most noticeable feature of Mississippian town planning at Ocmulgee. Also, the type of tobacco grown in the southeast by the Muskogeans has been shown to have its origins in Central America (part of the extensive trade network of the central Mexican metropolis of Teotihuacan).
Additionally, the Muscogean language belongs to the Hokan family which reads like a who's who of the Mississippian languages. This language family has its origin in Mexico and Central America where the Chontal and Yuman group are still spoken in western Mexico. The Yumans also constructed earth lodges which is another feature of the Ocmulgee site.
In fact, according to one version of the migration legend, the first structure they built upon arriving was "a mound with a central chamber" where the warriors could gather-- a clear reference to an earth lodge. .
Another intriguing clue is a similar type of clothing shared between a west- Mexican tribe called the Chontal and historic Muskogee-Creek Indians. Chontal stone carvings show them wearing a very unique form of headdress and shoulder sash. In 1834, George Catlin painted a portrait of Steeh-tcha-ko-me-co, a Muskogee-Creek chief. He wears a similar wrap-around headdress and shoulder sash.
The Chontal civilization disappears from the archaeological record in western Mexico sometime around 600 AD. Usually people don't "disappear" but instead migrate away. Archaeologists have also noted that by 600 AD Chontal artifacts had become increasingly influenced by the Teotihuacan art style. Thus it is probable that the Chontal simply migrated closer to Teotihuacan to be near this important center of trade.
The Chontal are also noted for the creation of portable stone human sculptures used as part of a complex funerary practice. Similar funerary sculptures will be found at another site in Georgia, Etowah Mounds.
Thus, after piecing together all of the above clues, it is possible to speculate that these immigrants originated in western Mexico, migrated into central Mexico around 600 AD where they undoubtedly came under the influence of Teotihuacan, possibly at Xochitecatl near Cholula, and met the three other tribes including the Chickasaws.
Both Cholula (which has the largest pyramid on earth by volume) and Xochitecatl are located directly in the shadow of the volcano Popocatepetl. In fact, Popocatepetl had one of its biggest and most violent eruptions ever sometime between 675 - 800 A.D. which is very near the time of the fall of Teotihuacan and a massive depopulation of Cholula. The migration legend states that it was here that they learned about herbs (including rattle-snake root, red root, sowatchko, and little tobacco) along with "many other things" which likely included religion, political organization, and pyramid building.
Since this is where they met the Chickasaws, it should be noted that the Chickasaws built one of the most impressive pyramid mound sites in America at Moundville in Alabama just due west of Ocmulgee Mounds.
Thus we know they were master pyramid builders. Also, the site plan for Xochitecatl is very similar to Ocmulgee. Xochitecatl features a great temple pyramid, Pyramid of Flowers, approximately 98 feet tall and a lesser pyramid, Building of the Serpent, both constructed on top of a hill that was terraced and flattened to create a plaza. Across the plaza from the Pyramid of Flowers is a spiral pyramid similar to the one at the Lamar Mound Village site that was constructed near Ocmulgee after it was abandoned. There are only three spiral pyramids in the Americas: one in west Mexico, one in Central Mexico, and one at Lamar Mounds near Ocmulgee. These just happen to match the migration route suggested by the Creek Migration Legend.
Another piece of evidence is that Xochitecatl had been abandoned for centuries but was re-inhabited around 650 AD, only fifty years after the Chontal disappeared from west Mexico.The legend then goes on to say that after living here for some time they had a war/competition to determine which of the four tribes would rule over the other three. The Cussitaws, i.e., Muscogees, won the competition by collecting the most scalps of their enemies. After this war they then restarted their eastward migration arriving at Ocmulgee, archaeologists believe, around A.D. 900. It is not known when the first of these migrations started (perhaps 600 A.D.) but we do find evidence in east Texas and northwest Louisiana of the first traces of Mississippian culture around A.D. 800, only 50 years after the collapse of Teotihuacan. Obviously people would not have migrated eastward continuously but would have had to stop long enough to grow some crops before moving on. Thus it is understandable that the migration would have taken generations, perhaps 150 - 200 years to complete. (By comparison, the migration legend of the Aztec tells how they departed their homeland of Aztlan in 830 AD and traveled south to modern Mexico City, a trip which took 302 years.)
It also is understandable that due to the great length of time and distance covered no obviously Mexican artifacts would have survived the journey. Only political and religious ideas and those things required for survival, such as corn for food and tobacco for medicine, would survive the journey.
They would name their final resting place Ocmulgee which in Muscogean means "where they sat down." The migration legend also tells how they would always have scouts about two days ahead of the main group. Interestingly, Ocmulgee is located on the Ocmulgee River which flows into the Altamaha River which flows into the Atlantic Ocean just south of Sapelo Island. It is about a two day journey from Ocmulgee to the coast by dugout canoe. Thus as the main group rested at Ocmulgee the scouts would have realized that their journey had ended. They could go no further east. They would return and tell the others about their discovery. Ocmulgee thus became the logical place for a permanent settlement. It truly is where they finally "sat down."
Yet the area they chose for their town was already occupied by the people who had built such places as Kolomoki, Rock Eagle and Fort Mountain. These people had been in Georgia for thousands of years thus this Muscogean invasion would be met, like all invasions, by fierce resistance from the local population. In fact, the migration legend tells how the Ocmulgee site was originally inhabited by a group of "flat head" Indians, i.e., Indians who practiced cranial deformation. The legend states that the Cussitaw-Muscogee scouts climbed a high hill (possibly nearby Brown's Mount) and saw a town into which they shot white arrows (signifying peace) but the flat heads shot back red arrows (signifying war). Thus the Cussitaws (Muscogees) became angry, "and determined to attack the town, and each one have a house when it was captured." They proceeded to kill all the inhabitants except for two who escaped. They found a white dog and killed it also.The archaeological evidence seems to support the legend once again. Early explorer C. C. Jones, Jr. from Savannah visited the Ocmulgee site in the late 1800s when the Central of Georgia Railroad was cutting a trail through the site. They cut through the burial mound and Mr. Jones noted that a skull from the lowest part of the mound, thus the oldest part, exhibited cranial deformation giving it a flattened appearance.
The Ocmulgee Mounds site is characterized by defensive ditches and palisade walls which protected three sides of the new Muscogean colony from attacks by their neighbors. The Ocmulgee River provided natural protection on the fourth side. (When another group of invaders showed up in Georgia many centuries later-- the British-- they also followed a similar pattern and located their colony of Frederica near a river and then surrounded the other three sides with a defensive ditch and palisade wall.)
One characteristic of these Mississippians is that they built structures on top of their mounds which served as temples and also residences of an elite class of people. (Watch Animation) These people inherited their status as opposed to earning it. This fact undoubtedly caused much suspicion on the side of the indigenous Woodland people who were an egalitarian society where status was earned. Even as late as the historic period when Spanish explorers came into contact with these societies there is evidence that this inherited status was looked upon with great disdain by many Native Americans in the region and was the source of many conflicts. This seems to be a very human and natural reaction to inherited power that cuts across all cultures thus it must be assumed that this animosity probably existed from the beginning of Mississippian influence and grew as their influence grew.
The most unique structure at Ocmulgee is the Earth Lodge. Although at first it appears to be a conical mound, it is, in fact, a building covered with earth. It seems to have been a council house where important discussions took place.
Forty-seven seats on a low clay bench were arranged around the interior wall. A central opening in the roof admitted light and emitted smoke from the council fire. A bird-shaped platform west of the central fire pit contained three elevated seats (bringing the total number of seats to 50.) This bird effigy featured the earliest instance of a symbol that would become increasingly prevalent in Mississippian culture: the forked eye motif. This motif is thought to have been inspired by the appearance in the night sky of a two tailed comet sometime around 1000 A.D. The Chinese have records of such a comet appearing on August 4, 1018 AD.
The Earth Lodge has been radio carbon dated to 1019 AD. The Chinese records indicated that the comet's tail stretched nearly 44 feet across the sky! Perhaps the appearance of this comet inspired the construction of this Earth Lodge and the bird effigy was meant to represent this other being in the sky just as the eagle was often used to represent the sun. This is the largest Earth Lodge at Ocmulgee and certainly the appearance of such a strange phenomenon in the night sky would require countless tribal discussions with all the head men and priests of surrounding tribes to decide what it all meant; thus, the need for such a large structure.
It is very likely that this event also influenced the beginnings of the Southern Death Cult or Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, a religious cult that spread across the southeast producing a variety of symbols including numerous "bird man/hawk man" or "falcon man" images. The peregrine falcon has markings around its eyes that are very similar to this forked eye motif and thus it's logical that this bird became the symbol for this event and all the priests would dress up like this bird to appease the gods.
The appearance of the winged-serpent/ feathered-serpent imagery could also represent this comet, a long bright object that moved across the sky each night like a cosmic serpent.There wasn't just one earth lodge but four which indicates the need for such meeting places. Interestingly, this coincides with the number of original tribes in the migration legend.
It may be that each tribe had their own earth lodge for important discussions. Discussions of trade and war probably dominated these meetings. In one version of the Creek migration legend the leaders were frustrated by the constant warfare since their arrival and were deciding what to do about their hostile neighbors. At first they saw no other solution than to completely annihilate them but calmer heads prevailed and they decided to befriend them instead. It is not known from the text of the migration legend how long it took for them to come to this decision but the archaeological record does seem to reflect this situation.
At first, the Muscogean pottery was completely alien from that produced by the indigenous people of Georgia but later the two styles seem to have merged. Also, the languages seemed to merge at some point in history. Linguists have noted that Hitchiti may have been one of the original languages of the Woodland people. Traditionally classified as a Muscogean dialect, it is now thought that the similarities instead come from extensive borrowing of Muscogean words by Hitchiti speakers. For instance, there is no word for "mountain" in Hitchiti which is not surprising if they were the original inhabitants of middle and south Georgia where no mountains exist.
Also, it appears that the Muscogean word for "corn" was borrowed by Hitchiti speakers once they became familiar with this new crop. In fact, linguists have ways of dating when words were likely introduced into a language and have settled upon the date of 900 BC for the Muscogean word for corn. This has perplexed linguists since the archaeological data suggests corn has only been in the southeast since around 700 AD.
But if the Muscogeans did, in fact, migrate from Mexico then the early origin of a word for corn no longer presents a problem since corn originated in Mexico and had been cultivated there for thousands of years. Thus the lack of words for both corn and mountain suggests that the Hitchiti speakers were native to Georgia and did not migrate from Mexico. Once again, the migration legend seems to support the idea that Hitchiti is one of the original southeastern languages and only resembles Muscogean as a result of extensive borrowing.
In the legend, it states that the historic figure Tomochichi, who spoke Hitchiti, was actually descended from the original inhabitants of the area. Also, since the migration legend states that four tribes migrated east and we know of many more Muscogean dialects it stands to reason that many of these were simply local languages that borrowed extensively from their new trading partners once relative peace had been established. (This phenomenon is happening today the world over with extensive borrowing of English words into local dialects. For instance, in Singapore so many English words have been borrowed that they now jokingly refer to their language as "Singlish.")
Yet this seems to have been a fragile peace. For hundreds of years Mississippian people invested enormous energy in digging defensive ditches and erecting palisade walls around their towns. Either they were paranoid, bored and had nothing better to do, or they were responding to legitimate threats. Modern scholars do not think that large scale warfare was a part of Mississippian culture but real hostility does appear to have existed. The hostility may not have erupted into full scale warfare such as existed in Europe but may have been something more akin to the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict where small scale attacks are avenged by similar small scale attacks with no real attempt to conquer or annihilate the enemy.
After 200 years of habitation, the Ocmulgee site was abandoned. The inhabitants at Ocmulgee seem to have given up and moved away. Perhaps their agricultural practices had exhausted the land or maybe the constant attacks had made the site too expensive to defend. Whatever the reason, Ocmulgee would slowly become overgrown with weeds and trees and fade into the mists of time.
By the historic period the Creek Indians could not even tell the new British immigrants who had built the mounds. Although the site remained an important place to them, they had somehow forgotten that it was their own ancestors who had built the mounds. Ocmulgee was not the last nor even the greatest of the accomplishments of the Mississippians. Ocmulgee was just the beginning. Their culture would reach the height of its existence at our next site: Etowah.
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:)
Will we get to see some pictures? ;D
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Creek Food & Cooking
Near by each dwelling, the Creek women maintained a small garden plot for their family. Their main food supply, however, was grown in a much larger field which belonged to the entire town. Corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, and melons were plentiful. Wild fruits were also available for their use.
They dried meat, corn, pumpkin, peaches and apples. When beef dried, they sliced the meat into very thin slices and placed it on clean cloths in the hot sun on the roof of the house. They turned this jerked meat over several times a day.
Hickory nuts and acorn were pounded and the mashed nut meat was placed into boiling water. The oil was then skimmed off the top and used in much of their cooking, especially in preparing hominy and corn cakes.
Deer was the main meat eaten, but they also fished. Sweet corn was preserved by boiling it until tender. Then the kernels were cut off the cob. This, too, was processed in the same manner as the meat and fruit. The corn was cooked with lye or mixed with ashes and beaten to make hominy grits or meal. Their most important food was sofkey which was beaten corn cooked with water and lye. This would even be consumed after setting two or three days and turning sour.
Another Creek dish was "blue dumplings" which was made of beaten corn and with bluish burned shells of the field pea added. Abuske or "cold flour" was a drink enjoyed by the Creeks.
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Creek Festivities
The cultural activities of the Creek people were held on sacred ceremonial grounds known as "stomp dance grounds." Stomp dances were held to celebrate various occasions, such as planting time, the coming of the medicine man, marriage, and hunting seasons.
There were also songs and dances that served as prayers to the animals since the Creeks believed all creations and life beings were attributes from the "Master-of-Breath."
To begin a stomp dance, a leader walked around the fire moving in a counter-clockwise direction. The dancers sang in a continual chant directed by the leader. The rhythm of the feet sound like a stomp on the ground.
The women wore turtle shells tied together and filled with small pebbles strapped to their legs. By shuffling their feet, the women created the rhythm.
The circle of dancers was made up of a man, woman, man, woman and so on.
Because corn, or maize, was the most important food to the Creeks and had a great significance for the life of the tribe, it was natural that many ceremonies were connected with it. The most festive occasion for the Creeks was the Green Corn Ceremony. This was the celebration of the first ripening of the corn in summer and served as the tribe's new year. The complex rites of the Green Corn Ceremony lasted for about eight days. Songs, dances and games were played during the week. The circle and the camp sites were cleaned.
A specially appointed fire-maker would arrange four logs crosswise and build a new fire. The fire was considered to have considerable sacred power. The men and women drank a black herb mixture that cleaned and purified their bodies. They then fasted before the new corn was tasted for the first time. After the purification process, preparation for the dances was made and feasting began.
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Ribbon Dance
The women had their own dance called the "Ribbon Dance." The Green Corn Ceremony of the Creeks is an old tradition celebrated long before their removal to Oklahoma. This was the time of year set aside for rejoicing and giving thanks to He-sa-ke-tv-me-se "Master of Life" for blessing them with an abundant crop. The Creeks have retained this ceremony to the present day.
The Green Corn Ceremony is divided into day and night activities. one of the main day dances of the Green Corn Ceremony is the Ribbon Dance performed by the women.
The Ribbon Dance is one of the most colorful and impressive dances of the Creeks. The dance is named for the ribbons worn by the women dancers. It is usually performed midday on Friday of the Green Corn Festival and lasts about three hours.
Three or four women are appointed for life to conduce and lead the dance. Men singers for the dance are also selected. They fast until after the dance.
The only instrument used is the gourd. Rattles and terrapin shells are worn by the women. Ten to twelve shells are fastened in a semi-circular form on the hide and worn below the knee. Some women use tin cans instead of terrapin shells. The women leaders were chosen from the elders first and they carried sticks painted red on the ends. These were waved in rhythm. Sometimes the sticks were replaced by knives also painted red. The women dance four rounds or make sixteen rounds of the grounds. They dance single file in a counter-clockwise circle. They dance for two rounds, rest, and dance two more rounds.
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Creek Religion
The religious ceremonials centered around the celebration of the corn harvest. The cultivation of corn was one of their chief occupations, so Creek religious activities were highly concerned with this important product. The Creek people sing and dance around a fire seasonally for their sacred ceremonies. These people were known as Stomp Dancers. The native Creek beliefs were that all creations and nearly all reasons for being alive were simply attributed to the "Master of Breath" or "Hesaketvmese." They believed a good life would be rewarded.
They also had prophets who they believed conferred with the supernatural in diagnosing disease and predicting the future. The Creeks highly regarded the prophets because they believed their special powers came from the One above.
In the 1700's the Stomp Dancers would not let the Creeks convert to Christianity. The early Christian Indians had to hide or be punished for the new religion and life they had accepted. Many of them broke away from much of the Creek culture. Today the Creek people in Oklahoma still belong to the two factions: the traditional and those professing Christianity. The later are predominantly Methodists and Baptists.
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Creek Funerals
The burial customs of the Creeks were simple but very meaningful to them. Funerals were sometimes held in the homes since the family burial grounds were near the home site. The body of the deceased was kept for four days before being taken to the burial ground. The body was never left unattended.
On the eve of the funeral day, an all night wake service was held. On the morning of the funeral, grave diggers would begin very early. Family members would put the individual's favorite clothes and small amounts of food and tobacco with the body.
Creek parents would rub their hands over the face of the deceased and then rub the faces of their children in order to keep them from grieving.
At the end of four days, the body was taken to Creek burial grounds and lowered into the grave. A fire was built at the head of the grave and tended for four days by relatives until the soul was believed to have reached the passage to the sky.
After the burial, the family always washed themselves with an herbal medicine from the medicine man. The Creeks believed this washing helped relieve the pain of their loss and cleansed the grave area.
After four days, women would go and clean the deceased home. The men would build a little house over the grave.
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Creek Games
The Indian Stick Ball Game is played during the last dance of the season or during the stomp ground's winter dance in late September or October when the weather is cool.
The game is commonly played on or adjacent to the stomp dance grounds. There are two types of stick ball games. One is the social game or fun game putting men against women.
Each man uses two ball sticks about 3 ½ feet long with one end shaped like a cup or pocket. The sticks are usually hand carved from hickory wood. The hard, tough ball is smaller than a tennis ball and was made by the medicine men using rolled up animal skin.
The women used their hands, but the men were never allowed to touch the ball with their hands.
The goal was usually a cow's skull on a tall pole. Some stomp grounds used the image of a fish on the pole. Points were scored by hitting the cow's skull (or fish).
Played before or after the Stomp Dance the game looked like a wild scramble as the men and women competed for the ball. The team with the most points won. Two people kept score.
The Match Game was played by opposing clans or opposing Stomp Dance groups. One team represented the Rising Sun or the East, and the other represented the Setting Sun or West. The number of players sometimes totaled 30 on each side. The ball field resembled a football field in size with two goal posts.
The goals were two upright poles about 7 to 8 feet tall placed 3 to 4 feet apart with a cross bar, placed at opposite ends of the player area. The object of the game was to send the ball between the goals either by throwing it with the sticks or by carrying it in the sticks pocket to score a point. Each point was scored by sticking a peg in the ground. Rules of the game called for penalties if the ball was touched by the hands. The ball was often difficult to get off the ground. The game was played with the man-to-man defense.
Wrestling was an outstanding feature of the stick ball game. If one man on the opposing team was hurt, the other team member who was guarding him had to leave the game. Spectators usually joined in the game without sticks but with much gusto cheering for the East or West. They never called out a person's name. The first team to reach a certain number of points was declared the winner. The winner got to sing the victory song. They formed rings around their goal and sang and knocked their sticks together in victory.
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Creek Clans
In the early history of the Creek Nation, their entire population was divided into clans. The clan functioned as a social and political unit because the tribal organization was built around families.
According to the Creeks, the Master-of-Breath created the clans, and the animal identity was given as each passed before him. They believed that man and wild animals could speak with each other and be understood.
The names of various clans were taken from totem animals such as Bear, Panther, Wind, Deer, Bird, Fox, Snake, Beaver, Mink, Alligator, Skunk, Buzzard, Rabbit and Raccoon.
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Creek Language
The Creek language belongs to the Muskhogean language family. Other languages in this group include the Chickasaw, Chocktaw, Tuskegee, Alabama, Natches, Miccosukee and Seminole.
People speaking a dialect of the Creek language in one area may have difficulty understanding Creeks in another.
About 1840, missionaries devised a writing system for the Creek language. The language had not been recorded before this time. The first publications were the Bible and other religious works.
Four forms of communication were spoken: language, silence (body language), picture writing and symbols. The early Creek words were peculiar in that they appeared in the bilingual dictionaries with few vowels.
The Creeks used one word to express several English words.
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The Story Teller
In the early days, the Creeks maintained and developed the highly skilled story telling technique for recording their history because they had no written language. The storyteller was one of the most important men in the village. He was so highly respected for his knowledge that he was very seldom allowed to go into battle for fear of his death would mean the loss of a village historian.
Each generation in every village had a youth selected to become the future storyteller. He was usually chosen from the young men who had the best memory and who liked to tell of the things which had happened to them. He was trained by the old storyteller and he would memorize the history of his people so that he could instruct the young people in the village.
When he grew old, he would train another youth and so on. In this manner, the history of the people was never forgotten. The storyteller also served as the village entertainer on many occasions. If he was very good, he could keep the village amused with the colorful tales and the many legends which existed about the animals of the forest. In many ways, this was how the young men and women learned of the marvels of the earth and its bounty.
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How the Clans Came to Be
In the beginning, the Muscogee people were born out of the earth itself. They crawled up out of the ground through a hole like ants. In those days, they lived in a far western land beside tan mountains that reached the sky. They called the mountains the backbone of the earth.
Then a thick fog descended upon the earth, sent by the Master of Breath, Esakitaummesee. The Muscogee people could not see. They wandered around blindly, calling out to one another in fear. They drifted apart and became lost. The whole people were separated into small groups, and these groups stayed close to one another in fear of being entirely alone.
Finally, the Master had mercy on them. From the eastern edge of the world, where the sun rises, he began to blow away the fog. He blew and blew until the fog was completely gone. The people were joyful and sang a hymn of thanksgiving to the Master of Breath.
And in each of the groups, the people turned to one another and swore eternal brotherhood. They said that from then on these groups would be like large families. The members of each group would be as close to each other as brother and sister, father and son. The group that was farthest east and first to see the sun, praised the wind that had blown the fog away.
They called themselves the Wind Family, or Wind Clan. As the fog moved away from the other groups, they, too, gave themselves names.
Each group chose the name of the first animal it saw. So they became the Bear, Deer, Alligator, Raccoon, and Bird Clans. However, the Wind Clan was always considered the first clan and the aristocracy of all the clans.
The Master-of-Breath spoke to them: "You are the beginning of each one of your families and clans. Live up to your name. Never eat of your own clan, for it is your brother. You must never marry into your own clan. This will destroy your clan if you do. When an Indian brave marries, he must always move with his wife to her clan. There he must live and raise his family. The children will become members of their mother's clan. Follow these ways and the Muskhogeans will always be a powerful force. When you forget, your clans will die as people."
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How the Earth was Made
At last the excitement had died down. The news that Crawfish had brought back to the Council from the new lands below was important.
Birds, he explained, could live on the new lands; animals could find their food for their survival.
The mighty Eagle walked to the center of the fire and began to speak: "We are all filled with joy in our hearts to find that we cannot only send fish, but also birds and animals. Now we must prepare the lands for the coming of the new creatures, for they cannot live on the lands as they are now. I have an idea. I will ask permission from the Great Council to help create better land below."
"Yes, yes," the Council cried, "It is our wish that the lands be a good place to live."
The Eagle walked to the Crawfish and took the wet soil from between his claws. Round and round he rolled the soil between his powerful legs. Then, with a mighty flapping of his huge wings, he soared high above the Council.
"What is he doing with the earth in his legs?" Does he intend to steal it?" they cried.
Then, with a mighty swish, he hurled the red ball of soil earthward. The soil traveled so fast that it looked like a shooting star falling from the sky.
A mighty roar sounded when the ball hit the oceans, making a large wave that parted the water. The red soil spread out and flattened so much that the earth was made in one move.
At first, the lands were very wet, so the Eagle flew over them and dried them with his mighty wings. Soon the lands were dry enough to let the animal migration begin.
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The Thunder Helper
Once there was a boy who had no mother or father. All day long he would take long walks and play by himself. One day as the boy was walking along the creek, he heard a noise like Thunder. When he looked up, he saw a Tie-snake and the Thunder having a fight.
The Tie-snake called to the boy saying, "Kill the Thunder, and I will tell you everything I know. I know all the things that are under the earth."
Just as the boy was putting an arrow to his bow, he heard a loud noise. It was the Thunder speaking to him, "Boy, boy, don't pay any attention to the Tie-snake, I, Thunder, can help you to be brave, strong and wise. Shoot your arrow at the Tie-snake."
The boy shot at the Tie-Snake, killed him, and the Tie-snake fell into the creek. Now the Thunder made the boy strong and wise, but the Thunder told the boy that he must never, never tell anyone that the Thunder had made him strong, brave and wise.
The boy became the best hunter in the village. He was good and kind to all of the people. When he talked, the people listened. In the cold time, the people were very hungry, for there was no food and very little corn. Many days passed, and the boy stood before them and said, "Last night the owl in the tree talked to me. The owl told me to come to his tree. He told me there was a bear sleeping in a hole in the ground."
The young men of the village laughed at him for saying the owl talked to him, but the old men did not laugh for they knew the boy was wise. One of the young men did not laugh. He told the boy he would go hunt the bear with him. He knew the people were hungry.
The young man and boy went to the tree with the owl in it. By the tree, in a hole in the ground, they found the bear sleeping. They killed the bear and took it back to the village. The people were happy to have so much meat to eat.
Now, when the boy said something, the people found what he said was true. The time came when the men of the village went to fight. Many men were killed. The women were so afraid; they knew the enemy would come and burn the village. The boy stood before the women and said, "Do not be afraid. I will go and kill the enemy. They will not burn our village."
The boy went into the woods and found the men of the village. He said to them, "Stay where you are. I will go to meet the enemy and kill them. Never again will the enemy try to burn our village." The men watched the boy as he went to meet the enemy.
They saw the Thunder and the Lightening. The Thunder and Lightening came down upon the enemy. All the enemy were killed. The men waited in the woods for a long time. The boy never came back. No one in the village ever saw him again.
When the old men hear the Thunder and see the Lightening, they know what to think. They are now wise in many things. They are sure that they hear the boy call in the Thunder, and when the Lightening illuminates the sky, the old men are sure they can see the face of the boy.
"The Thunder Helper laughs," the old men say, and then they go to sleep unafraid.
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How the Indian Got the Medicine
Now it came to pass that the first Indian who became ill did so after he killed the deer. The spirit of the deer was angry.
The Deer Spirit told the Indian, "I gave you the first sickness for killing me. I also have the cure for this disease. Bring your wisest brave to me, and I will tell him how to cure the deer sickness."
A search was made of all the Indians. They sought the Indian with the greatest mind.
The Council took the chosen one to the place in the dark forest where the Deer Spirit spoke, "Only the man selected to receive the secret of the medicine may stay."
The Deer Spirit told the brave that he would have to go deep into the forests and must remain alone. He must not eat for many moons. He must not speak to any man.
'When this is done," the spirit ordered, "return to me."
After days of starvation in the forests, the man heard a voice speaking to him. "You have been chosen to keep the medicine for all your brothers. You will be their Medicine Man.
The spirit spoke the following words, "For each animal will give a man a disease, and each animal has a cure for that disease. You must find those cures. Take these secrets that you find and keep them together. This will be most powerful and valuable. You must guard it. Many will try to steal it. Bundle it up.
Each time there is a new sickness, I will give you a sign at the new fire. This sign will help you cure the new sickness. The animals will bring the cures. Each year bring this wonderful medicine back to the Green Corn Dance and open all magical cures to your people.
When you grow old, you must take a young brave and teach him how to know the cures to help his brother. Give him the tests to make sure that he will make a good medicine man. Many false men will want to get the medicine," the Deer Spirit said.
"I will give you part of my breath. Go and blow on the sick. Give them the medicine of the herbs and roots that I tell you. This will make them well." The first Medicine Man returned to the deer and cut the tip of his antler. This was the first magic object in the sacred medicine bundle of the Muskhogean.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZWyHEg9ELg
I lived near these mounds as a child... about a mile away.
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Wind Clan - interesting.
These cultural threads are so fascinating.
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I am working on posting some pictures and artwork.
I agree, all of the cultural threads are very interesting.
Check out the youtube video when you get a chance. I think you will see some of the connections with Meso-America.
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How the Indian Got the Medicine
Now it came to pass that the first Indian who became ill did so after he killed the deer. The spirit of the deer was angry.
The Deer Spirit told the Indian, "I gave you the first sickness for killing me. I also have the cure for this disease. Bring your wisest brave to me, and I will tell him how to cure the deer sickness."
A search was made of all the Indians. They sought the Indian with the greatest mind.
The Council took the chosen one to the place in the dark forest where the Deer Spirit spoke, "Only the man selected to receive the secret of the medicine may stay."
The Deer Spirit told the brave that he would have to go deep into the forests and must remain alone. He must not eat for many moons. He must not speak to any man.
'When this is done," the spirit ordered, "return to me."
After days of starvation in the forests, the man heard a voice speaking to him. "You have been chosen to keep the medicine for all your brothers. You will be their Medicine Man.
The spirit spoke the following words, "For each animal will give a man a disease, and each animal has a cure for that disease. You must find those cures. Take these secrets that you find and keep them together. This will be most powerful and valuable. You must guard it. Many will try to steal it. Bundle it up.
Each time there is a new sickness, I will give you a sign at the new fire. This sign will help you cure the new sickness. The animals will bring the cures. Each year bring this wonderful medicine back to the Green Corn Dance and open all magical cures to your people.
When you grow old, you must take a young brave and teach him how to know the cures to help his brother. Give him the tests to make sure that he will make a good medicine man. Many false men will want to get the medicine," the Deer Spirit said.
"I will give you part of my breath. Go and blow on the sick. Give them the medicine of the herbs and roots that I tell you. This will make them well." The first Medicine Man returned to the deer and cut the tip of his antler. This was the first magic object in the sacred medicine bundle of the Muskhogean.
I love this story!
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Artist's concept of village life
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Playing games
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Earspools
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Pottery
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Astronomy of the Mississippian Mound Builders at Ocmulgee National Monument
Recent findings of architect, Richard L. Thornton
As published in his book, Ocmulgee Under Five Suns
Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon, GA is one of our country’s most significant archaeological sites. It is one of the very few remnants of a once great Southeastern Mississippian Culture and a contemporary of the well-studied and preserved Cahokia on the Mississippi River. Under the protection of the Department of the Interior, at least a portion of the once vast complex has been saved from farming and urban development, though even today it is under assault by highway planners.
Richard Thornton is a native Georgian, a registered architect and city planner who takes great pride in his Creek/Yuchi heritage. Richard decided to use the tools and techniques of his profession to do an independent study of Ocmulgee. And thus began one man's journey into ‘Virtual Reality Archaeology.
Richard located accurate aerial photographs and topography maps of all the major archaeological sites in the vicinity of Ocmulgee that were compatible with his CADD program. When the maps and photos and grids all came together, what his computer screen revealed astonished him. All the structures at Ocmulgee were aligned on either a 0-90 degree or 65-25 degree axis.
There were several significant directional relationships – pointing to where the sun rose or set on the Solstices and Equinoxes; or constellations on certain days of the year.
Ocmulgee’s site plan was an enormous observatory!
CADD enables one to measure distances, angles and areas with extreme accuracy. How, he wondered, could a people with Neolithic technology produce such precision? The sort of precision he discovered, over uneven terrain, was not accomplished in our times until the mid-to-late 1800s when the need for precision railroad construction fostered the advancement of surveying and civil engineering. Merely using line of sight and a long string could not have achieved this accuracy. Only some type of optical transit combined with a knowledge of geometry, degrees and math would have made it possible.
Richard’s best guess is that the accomplishment of this feat probably involved mirrors, since many large mirrors have been found in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Whatever technology was utilized, there is a clear implication that the people of Ocmulgee also knew the basics of astronomy, had a standard unit of measurement and some graphical means of passing down complex technical knowledge from one generation to the next.
Ocmulgee’s Geometric and Spatial Relationships
Radiating out from Mound A were structures placed in straight lines which ran true North-South - Mound B and the McDougal Mound to the North and mile Track and Stubb’s Mound ten miles to the south.
There was a line of structures which ran true East-West - Earth Lodges D-1 & D-4.
Other lines of structures were on diagonal lines which aligned with the point were the sun would rise or set on the Winter Solstice, Summer Solstice, Spring Equinox or Fall Equinox.
The McDougal Mound and the Dunlop Mound were both exactly 3,424 feet from Mound A and exactly one-half that distance (1712ft.) apart from each other.
Another line of structures (Mound A, Mound D, Dunlap Mound and Fort Hawkins Hill) pointed at the setting point of the North Star. A line from Mound A through Earth Lodge D-4 points at the apogee of the North Star.
Mound E and Earth Lodge D-4 are equidistant from mound A.. Earth Lodge D-1 is exactly halfway between Mound E and Earth Lodge D-4 – possibly pointing to some constellation.
Perhaps the most astonishing discovery is that the center of Mound A, the center of the circular mound at Ochesee, (the Lamar Village site) and a mound on Brown’s Mount – a total distance of six miles – were all aligned to define the point where the sun rose at the Winter Solstice.
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Hierarchal Muskogean Societies from a Muskogee Perspective
Essay by Richard L. Thornton
The multiple architectural traditions of the Muskogeans were a manifestation of their concept of the universe, and can not really be understood, without some knowledge of their cultural traditions, political organization, and religious belief.
The ancestors of the modern day Alabama, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Koasati, Miccosukee, Muskogee, Natchez, and Seminole Tribes, were genetically different from the other indigenous groups in much of the United States and Canada (Type C MtDNA). Their closest relatives live in the Central Highlands of Mexico from where they originally immigrated. Proto-Muskogeans (probably) were the builders of the first mounds and platform villages around Poverty Point, LA.
They also were the first agricultural societies north of Mexico and began living in permanent agricultural villages as early as 500 BC. Despite all of these distinct differences, anthropologists continue to generalize cultural labels derived from the study of North American indigenous hunter-gatherer societies to the Muskogeans.
The Complex and Eclectic Nature of Muskogean Culture
Muskogeans have always been eclectic – that is, choosing aspects of foreign cultures with which they are in contact, and then incorporating those concepts into their own culture. The results were complex societies with multiple levels of traditions that often did not seem to be synonymous. During the era of town building, there was not one Muskogean culture, but several. Cultural variations even occurred within individual provinces, where people might speak several languages or dialects, produce differing styles of pottery & art, and erect different styles of buildings, yet share the same general political and religious traditions.
Unlike many Native American groups, though, Muskogean cultural traditions were never viewed as exclusive or requiring secrecy from outsiders. Participation in the cultural traditions automatically made one a member of that society, regardless of ethnicity or skin color. The invisibility of Eastern Creek & Yuchi cultural participation today is merely a response to 170 years of persecution by the European majority in the east. Small groups of Eastern Creek families continue some of their cultural heritage at family reunions and at remote locations to this day.
For example, recently, our Creek tribe was invited to showcase its achievements at a “Pioneer Days Festival” in Florida. That evening, members of the tribe and non-member relatives/friends were invited to a communal feast followed by a massive bonfire on a bluff overlooking the Choctawhatchee River. We talked, sang songs, played Creek instruments and danced Creek social dances around the fire until it was nothing, but glowing embers. This communal tradition probably dates back thousands of years to the dawn of man’s presence here.
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Muskogean Religion
At the time of European Contact, the ancestors of the Creeks, Seminoles, Miccosukee, Alabama & Koasati practiced a monotheistic religion based on the worship of a single, invisible, omnipotent Creator. It was NOT the same religion as practiced by the western Muskogeans in the Mississippi River Basin. Unlike the Natchez, Florida Arawaks and people of the Central Mississippi Valley, there was no human sacrifice or worship of idols. The de Soto Chronicles recount that the Eastern Muskogeans repeatedly explained that the many stone, ceramic and wood statues in and around public buildings were famous ancestors, not gods. However, they also were aware that neighboring societies, whom they considered pagans, did worship idols.
Major features of Southeastern monotheism included the concept of an eternal soul; a heavenly spiritual world for the righteous located somewhere to the west that was ruled by the Creator; an underground hell for evil-doers ruled by the Horned Serpent; daily ritual bathing (baptism); mandatory confession & forgiveness of sins prior to participation in rituals; the requirement that men wear turbans while inside a sacred building or space; the requirement that women live apart from men during menstruation and delivery of babies; the recognition of towns and places where no blood could be shed; seasonal religious festivals; the title of Keeper being used for all types of priests; the special spiritual significance of caves and mountaintops; and the renewal of all domestic hearths from the coals of the Sacred Fire in the temple at the beginning of the new year.
Interestingly enough, these beliefs and practices were identical to those even today, of the ancient sect of the Samaritans in Israel. For this fact, we currently have no explanation. There were only a few significant differences between the two religions. All righteous Muskogean men and women worshiped together, while both the Samaritans & Jews segregate women. Also, the Muskogean have no cultural memory of circumcision, while both the Samaritans & Jews still practice this custom. Like the Maya, the Muskogean were obsessed with the keeping of accurate time and calendars by means of monitoring the sun (as a religious obligation.) The Muskogean calendar was far more accurate than that used by the ancient Hebrews, but much more similar to the Gregorian calendar than the Maya calendar in its structure (7-day week~30 day month.)
What confuses anthropologists not familiar with the eclectic nature of Muskogean culture are the multiple levels of cultural traditions, ancient sagas and religious symbols that were attached to the monotheism of the Muskogeans. Deep inside the multiple layers of this religious “onion” was the religion that was brought by the Proto-Muskogeans from the Central Highlands of Mexico. It was the religion of Teotihuacan. It was polytheistic religion that had at its pinnacle an invisible Sun Goddess and her consort, the Moon God. Such deities as Quetzalcoatl (Venus) and Tlaloc (Rain God), a war god, a corn god/goddess, plus many other minor deities were also competing members of the pantheon. The logo glyphs in the Muskogean syllabary used for these objects in the sky were virtually identical to those written by Mesoamericans. The Muskogeans HAD a logo glyphic system of writing very similar to the original Olmec writing system. Samples of it can be seen on the pubic guards of human figures.
At some unknown point in time, the polytheism of the Proto-Muskogeans evolved into a monotheism in which the old gods became mythological humans and animals in fables. The Uncle Remus Stories are vestiges of these sagas that 18th Century enslaved Muskogeans told to their fellow African slaves. The rabbit was the “trickster” in Muskogean oral literature. As for Brer Bear? There are no bears in Africa. Quetzalcoatl bifurcated into a feathered serpent in the sky and a horned serpent in the ground, but the Mesoamerican Venus glyph remained an elite symbol, perhaps the symbol of some bureaucratic rank. Many of the minor Teotihuacano deities apparently became merely constellations in the sky associated with famous mythical people.
Evidently, the elite of the early towns such as Ocmulgee recognized the existence of a Moon God consort to the Sun Goddess. Ocmulgee has a secondary earthen pyramid adjacent to the main sun pyramid – just like Teotihuacan. However, the later towns and Historical Creek towns had bipolar plazas, anchored on one end by a temple and on the other end by a structure for communal gatherings. Whenever the Historical Period Cherokees would capture a Muskogean town in North Carolina, Georgia or Tennessee, they would destroy the temple of the Creator and the house of the Great Sun. These would be replaced by with a single communal structure.
Another fascinating eclectic feature of Muskogean religion was that the organization and names of its priests were IDENTICAL to those of the Mayas. The Eastern Muskogean and Maya had three classes of priests serving the community and one class serving the needs of individuals or families. The three communal classes were Keeper of the Day (astronomers), Keeper of the Rituals, and Keepers of the Sacred Fire. The Keepers of Medicine were folk priests, who functioned both as doctors and “agricultural extension agents.” Today, the traditional Maya only have day keepers and folk priests. Among contemporary Creeks, it is women, who typically pass the knowledge of herbal medicine down, and function as Medicine Keepers.
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Communal Societies
Most North American indigenous cultures, including those of the Muskogean, were communal – i.e. the land of the ethnic group was owned in common by the members of the ethnic group. Anthropologists some times forget this fact when projecting European political and economic concepts onto the interpretation of Native American artifacts and architecture.
The closest contemporary examples of communal societies would be the Israeli kibbutzes or the ejidos founded throughout Mexico after the 1910-1919 Revolution. Large tracts of farmland and orchards were assigned to individual clans and owned in common by the women of the clans.
The hunting and fishing lands were owned by all the men in common. Women owned all the domestic buildings as personal property on free leaseholds granted to them by the village or town council. The bodies of commoners were often buried under the floors of houses, which gave their descendants’ permanent use of the site.
The women of a clan owned special sections of a town or village reserved for them while they were menstruating or bearing children. The members of male-only societies owned the buildings in which they met. Probably, the members of the elite founding families own the special burial mounds and temple mounds.
The citizens of a town or members of clans jointly owned some warehouses, armories and granaries to store their food reserves and military equipment. During hierarchal times, the House of the Sun also owned warehouses and granaries, where provincial food & commodity reserves, plus military equipment were stored. The House of the Sun would have also owned the buildings that functioned as ossuaries for past Great Suns, museums, and treasuries.
Being in a communal society, the welfare of the whole was considered preeminent over the welfare of the individual. Even though the clans owned the farm fields and individual households were assigned specific grids of land for their own sustenance, the land was cultivated by groups of women, who went from field to field cultivating each others land. The produce of a single field, though, was owned by a single household – of course, minus a share given to the House of the Sun and the local government. It is also possible that during Hierarchal times, there were fields and orchards owned by the House of the Sun that were maintained by the community.
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The majority of Muskogean provinces existing prior to the 1600s could best be described as representative theocracies, very similar in structure to the constitutional monarchy of 16th Century England. During the Hierarchal Period, all male & female citizens theoretically voted to select clan representatives, who then elected leaders. (Convicted felons, war captives and children could not vote.) However, the choice of leaders was limited only to those members of the elite, who maintained disproportionate wealth and political power because of hereditary qualifications – namely descent from the town’s founders. The Muskogean governments were NOT chiefdoms, in any sense of the word used by contemporary anthropologists. Chiefdom is defined as a community dominated by a single man. However, the chronicles of the early Spanish explorers such as de Pardo give evidence that non-Muskogean chiefdoms with Woodland Culture lifestyles, were under the political domination of Muskogeans. After the European Disease Holocaust, Creek communities evolved to being representative democracies.
Like in Maya provinces, the Muskogean Head of State and Chief Priest, was the Great Sun – Mikko Hese’. The Hitchiti speaking peoples of southeastern Georgia actually used a Maya word for part of this title, Mako Hese’. The Great Sun could be a man or woman, and was elected by the Council of Elders from a list selected by the lower legislative body, the Council of Beloved Men and Women, from a family that was known to have been descended from the Sun Goddess (or Creator.) By the way, this is one of the reasons that ancestry among Muskogeans was matriarchal. He or she was NOT necessarily leader for life like a European king. He or she could be deposed at any time by the consensus of two councils. However, in Hierarchal Period times, the councils were dominated by (at least distant) relatives of the Great Sun, so the Head of State would have to have been found highly incompetent to have been impeached.
The Great Sun’s role in the community was virtually identical to that of the Emperor of Japan prior to World War II. In fact, the Japanese Emperor was also considered to be a direct descendant from the Sun God. The primary duty of the Great Sun was to represent the community’s interests in his constant worship of the Creator. He or she never addressed the general population directly. It was the job of the Yahoola (Speaker) to transmit his messages to them and to carry their concerns back to the Great Sun. The Great Sun could issue no order to the populace without the consensus of the two councils. He or she could not shed blood, nor participate in warfare. Once war was declared, operation of the government shifted to the Taskimikko (War Leader) and the Taskicike’ (Tas-ki-chi-kee ~ House of Warriors.)
More populous provinces such as around Ochesee (Lamar Mounds Site) and Etalwa (Etowah Mounds) would have been divided into administrative districts known as tvlofa (taw-lo-fa) A governor known simply as a miko lived in a one-mound town known as a tvlufamikko. The miko would administer clusters of smaller villages, hamlets and scattered towns known as tvlofuce’ (taw-lo-fu-chee), which in turn were administered by oratvya (see below.) The well-documented fact that Muskogean provinces were divided into a hierarchy of administrative districts, headed by officials appointed by the central government, totally negates the terms “chiefdom” and “paramount chiefdom” that are used universally by anthropologists.
Activities of the government such as storage of food reserves, maintenance and construction of public works, coordination of guardians (professional soldiers, who watched over town palisades and frontiers,) fabrication and maintenance of weapons, planning for festivals, diplomacy with neighboring provinces, preparation and protection of written records, etc. were carried out by a professional bureaucracy. During the Hierarchal Period, these bureaucrats were most likely relatives of the House of the Great Sun, or descended from the town’s original founders. Large towns, such as Etalwa. were probably occupied by the bureaucracy and the commoners, who assisted them. The professionals such as talliya (architects, town planners & construction supervisors) and coyetvya (cho-ye-taw-ya ~scribes) were members of societies or guilds, who passed their skills down from generation to generation. The word talliya can mean either “to plan or lay out a town” or “to build a town” in Archaic Hitchiti and Koasati.
Oratvya (O-ra-taw-ya ~facilitators) were middle level administrators, who were assigned to manage sections of a town, villages, or specific projects authorized by the councils or House of Warriors. Evidently, in larger towns such as Ocmulgee, Ochesee and Etalwa there were male and female artisans, who specialized in sophisticated ceramics, stone sculptures and copper work for the use of the elite. There were several other societies, whose role involved coordination of certain festivals such as Poskita (New Years), promotion of military or hunting skills, or devotion to certain religious shrines. The numerous round non-domestic structures found at Ocmulgee probably were “clubhouses” for these societies, or perhaps ritual headquarters for clans (see clans below.)
The vast majority of citizens, living in scattered villages, hamlets and farmsteads, were commoners (Cvpofv-vfasv ~ Chaw-faw-aw-fa-saw), who spent their days maintaining households, tilling fields, hunting, fishing, and participating in public works projects. It is highly likely that the ancestors of the commoners were ethnically different than the elite caste. For the elite to claim special hereditary privileges probably required that they initially, and perhaps always, looked physically different. As will be illustrated in our program, the statues of the elite generally have Mesoamerican features, or at least, facial features that are not predominant in modern day Creek Indians. At Ocmulgee and the earliest town at Etalwa, the commoners were probably of Muskogean descent, mixed in with immigrants from indigenous peoples and war captives, sikooya. However, as the Muskogean culture spread across the Southeast, the Muskogeans became the elite, and probably the indigenous people were the commoners. When the speaker translated the village names in the Carolina’s mentioned by de Pardo’s chronicler, he found that in all but one of the provinces, all political titles were Muskogean, yet the town names reflected a variety of ethnic compositions – including Yuchi, Hitchiti-Muskogean, Muskogee-Muskogean, Koasati- Muskogean, Alabamo-Muskogean, Chiska-Muskogean, Siouian, Algonquian, and possibly Proto-Cherokee.
The sikooya were the bottom of Muskogean society. Their name literally means excrement in Hitchiti and Archaic Muskogee. They performed the drudgery tasks like gathering firewood, cutting trees for public works, digging ditches, etc. They were not hereditary slaves. Over time, through marriage or achievement, they could become full citizens of the community.
An interesting correlation . . . the word Sequoyah is NOT a Cherokee word, but is, in fact, the Cherokee way of pronouncing sikooya. This strongly suggests that either Sequoyah’s mother or perhaps, the man himself, was originally a Muskogean captured by the Cherokees, when they were armed and backed by the British government in the mid-1700s.
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Laws could only be passed by a consensus of the upper and lower legislative bodies. The Great Sun and other members of the bureaucracy could only announce the laws, arrest the accused and hold trials. Evidently, apprehension of the accused was a responsibility of the clan in which an accused was a member. Punishments were carried out by members of the House of Warriors, who were also members of the convicted person's or aggrieved person's clan.
Trials involving civil cases or minor criminal offenses were held by heneha’s . The word is still used today in modern Muskogee. The heneha’s were professional circuit judges, who were knowledgeable in the laws passed by the councils, judicial precedent, and possibly, the Muskogee syllabary. They were probably members of a special society or guild that trained apprentices. They traveled around the province from village to village to hear cases. One of their primary functions was to prevent chaos erupting out in the boonies from family feuds.
Muskogean laws were a little different than contemporary American laws, since their main concern was the continued peace of the community. Since they were communal societies, the concept of theft of personal property was vague. As long as you returned a personal item that you took without asking, it was not a crime. Sexual intercourse between single adults was considered normal. Adultery was punished the first time by mutilation of the face, and the second time by execution. Divorces could be granted quickly by either the heneha or oratv, if either husband or wife wanted a permanent separation. The main requirement was that an uncle in the mother’s clan agreed to take the role of the departing father in the guidance of the children. Upon issuance of a divorce decree, the man had to immediately leave the house with his few personal possessions and live in a special bunk house for single men – or return to the house of his parents, if they still lived. However, at least during historical times, divorces were very rare, since both spouses married for love and economic security. Just like the laws of the ancient Samaritans, a Muskogean man was obligated to marry his wife’s sister, if she was widowed and could not find a husband (or lover) after one year of mourning.
Trials involving capital punishment or banishment from the province were generally held in the capital town. The jury usually consisted of the Council of Elders. Evidently, some provinces used a council composed of heneha’s for cases. Both the Great Sun and the Council of Beloved Men and Women had the right to reduce the punishment assigned by the Council of Elders, but they could not reverse the actual guilty finding. It was not uncommon for the Great Sun or the lower council to reduce the death sentence for adultery, if committed by a couple particularly well-liked in the community. The couple would be escorted to safety by soldiers to a White Town, if the clan members found suitable new spouses for the aggrieved spouses.
Execution of condemned prisoners could not be held in White towns. Since most provincial capitals were White towns, this meant that either the prisoner was escorted to Red towns or an outlying village for execution by soldiers. Execution was generally by being clubbed on the head in the town square. The bodies of traitors and those convicted of sorcery could not be claimed by relatives for burial in sacred locations and were tossed into a nearby river or swamp.
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Interesting this comparison to the Samaritan -- wonder if they will ever attempt to dig out a timeline there.
Great thread all around, DC! I was a blank slate about the Creek Nation, so you have definitely educated me! :)
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I was a blank slate regarding the Creek nation as well. Interesting connection with Mayan and possibly Toltec. I only recently found I have a bit of Creek blood. I've known since a child I had some Cherokee ancestors. I know a fair amount about the Cherokee but only started learning about Creek history last week. It has been an interesting study. I lived in Macon where the Ocmulgee mounds are and never knew they were connected to Creek or Meso-America.