Creek Indians

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Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and other agency records.



Creek Indians were also known as Muskogee.

The Creek Indians are one of the Five Civilized Tribes: Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole

Cultural area is the Southeast United States.

Linguistic group: Muskogean

Federal Status: Recognized

Clans: Wind, Bird, Alligator,and Bear

Original homeland: along the banks of the Alabama, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Flint, Ocmulgee, and Chattahoochee Rivers, In the Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee

Creek Indians trace their ancestry through the female line. The children belong to the same clan as their mother. Clan members were closely related so they had to marry someone from a different clan than his or her own.

The Creek Nation is comprised of six political districts: 1. Coweta, 2. Deep Fork, 3. Eufaula, 4. Muscogee, 5. Okmulgee, 6. Wewoka; these districts function like counties.

Tribal Headquarters
Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma P. O. Box 580 Okmulgee, Oklahoma 74447 Phone: 918-756-8700

Muskogee (Creek) Nation: http://www.muscogeenation-nsn.gov/

History
Their ancestral homeland was in Alabama and Georgia.

Brief Timeline

 * 1540: First contact Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto
 * 1703-08: Creeks were allies of the English in the Apalachee Wars.
 * 1775: Supported the British in the American Revolutionary War
 * November 25, 1785: Treaty at Hopewell, South Carolina
 * 1813-1814: Creek Wars, General Andrew Jackson, in command of some of the forces
 * 1796-1816: Benjamin Hawkins, was the federal agent to the Creeks
 * June 29, 1796: Coleraine, Georgia
 * 1805-1833: The state of Georgia holds eight lotteries to distribute land seized from the Creeks and Cherokees.
 * 1816: After the death of Benjamin Hawkins, President James Madison appointed David B. Mitchell, a former governor of Georgia. He undermined the Creeks' sovereignty and initiated acts to take all of their lands in Georgia.
 * August 9, 1814: Fort Jackson, Alabama
 * January 22, 1818: Creek agency on Flint river
 * January 8, 1821 / February 12, 1825: Treaty of Indian Springs negotiated by Creek leader William McIntosh. He was later (1825) executed by the Creek Nation for the deed.
 * January 24, 1826: Washington D.C.; Creeks would sell their land. Ratified April 22, 1826
 * March 24, 1832: Treaty that the United States would remove intruders.
 * 1836-1837: removed from Georgia and Alabama to eastern Oklahoma. Some were taken by a southern route to New Orleans and then by steamboats (Monmouth) up the Mississippi River to Arkansas. The Monmouth collided with the Trenton more than 300 Creeks drowned. During removal 3,500 died of the 15,000.
 * November 23, 1838: Ft. Gibson
 * Creek Nation formed into six districts: Coweta District, Deep Fork District, Eufaula District, Muskogee District, Okmulgee District, and Wewoka District.
 * 1842: Koweta Mission a Presbyterian institution School was established and founded by Robert M. Loughridge at Coweta. Later became Koweta Manual Labor School for boys and girls.
 * 1842: Asbury Mission (Methodist) was opened near North Fork Town.
 * 1850: Tallahassee Mission School ( Presbyterian) William S. Robertson, the principal of the Tallahassee Mission school imported a printing press and wrote the Creek First Reader, which helped Creek and Seminole children learn to read and write their own language. 
 * 1860: Not more than two hundred Seminoles were left in Florida. Most of these were Mikasuki people, a small minority Creek. The Mikasukis retreated into the fastness of the Everglades   of Lake Okeechobee.
 * 1861-1865: United States Civil War the tribe was split; some allying with the Union others with the Confederate Army
 * 1867: Tribe adopted a new constitution
 * 1887: Dawes Act
 * 1907: Oklahoma became the 46th State.
 * Creek Nation divided into eight counties: Creek, Hughes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Okfuskee,Okmaulgee, Tulsa and Wagoner
 * 1953: U.S. Congress began a new policy of termination for the Indian tribes. The policy ended the protected trust status of all Indian-owned lands. The BIA began a voluntary urban relocation program. American Indians could move from their rural tribes to a metropolitan area. Many Indians relocated to Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas and Seattle. It is estimated that 750,000 Native American migrated to the cities between 1950-1980.
 * 1968: Indian Civil Rights Act restored the right to hold popular elections.

Additional References
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Creek tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

A Migration Legend of the Creek Indians, by Albert Samuel Gatschet and Daniel Garrison Brinton. NY Kraus Reprint CO., 1969. (six fiche)

Notes on the Creek Indians, by J. N. B. Hewitt, edited by John R. Swanton. Anthropological Papers, No. 10. Bulletin 123, BAE. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1939.

A Sketch of the Creek County, in the Years 1798-1799, by Benjamin Hawkins. Spartanburg, SC. Reprint Co., 1974.

Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors, by John Reed Swanton. US Government Printing Office. 1902.

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Agencies
Creek Agency Georgia

Creek Agency Oklahoma

Union Agency

Superintendencies
Western Superintency

Southern Superintendency

Central Superintendency

Creek Indians. University of West Florida. Special Collections Department. (Census, Genealogy, and Land Tenure)

Creek Nation. Oklahoma Historical Society. Indian Archives Division. 52 films

Biographies
The Southern Indians: a Biographical Guide to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek Indians, 1700-1907

Annuity Records
1857 Payroll arranged by town then by family group. The payment was to individuals listed in the "Old Settlers Roll of 1857". Original located at the National Archives in Fort Worth, Texas. FHL 970.1 J825j Vol 12 No. 1 pages 47-58.

Census Records
Creek Census of 1832 (Upper Creeks) by Benjamin S. Parsons

Creek Census of 1832 (Lower Creeks) by Thomas J. Abbott.

1900 Creek Nation Census. by Carole Ellsworth and Sue Emler.

Census of Creeks taken by parson and Abbott in 1832, is indexed by "Index to Creek reserves" a listing originally prepared by Indian agents John J. Abert and James Bright to index land claims selected by Creeks under the provision of the 1832 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.

Enrollment Records

 * Dawes Commission Enrollment Records
 * John B. Campbell’s provides an abstract of Creek Indian Census Cards in his 1915 manuscript. This index has proven invaluable over time by providing a quick method to research family relationships within the Creek tribal rolls.
 * Creek Enrollment Cases Index 1899-1907+This database indexes the Creek Indian and Creek Freedman enrollment cases on microfilm M1301, rolls 402-414, that deal with persons applying for Creek Indian and Creek Freedman citizenship and Dawes enrollment. These are not the general Creek Dawes applications which are unfortunately lost and assume destroyed long ago.

History
Duke Indian Oral History Collection and Index. Duke University

Military

 * Some Creek Indians are listed as serving in the Second Creek War (1836) in the Indian Wars Compiled Service Records Index, 1815-1858. This index includes the soldier’s name, rank, and unit along with the name of the war or disturbance.


 * Creek Soldier Casualty Lists, Seminole War, 1836. By Larry S. Watson


 * Muster Lists of the Creek and Other Confederate Indians. by Sherman Lee Pompey

Removal
The Indian Removal Act was signed May 26, 1830 by President Andrew Jackson. The Act initiated a policy of removal of American Indians tribes living east of the Mississippi River to land west of the river.

The Creeks were the second tribe of the Five Civilized Tribes to be removed.

Before the trek began the Tribe was gathered into groups and supervised by the military in temporary forts (concentration camps) in Georgia.

Names and Claims of Creek Indians who moved at their own expense, 1830-1840. "Stidham Roll". by Larry S. Watson.

Removal was supervised by the United States Army, the Creeks were divided into groups to be removed. Dates of removal by groups:


 * 1827 seven hundred and three Creeks and eighty six Slaves with Chief William McIntosh left and traveled by Keel boats, the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers to Fort Gibson
 * 1828: 400
 * June 1829: 1,200 steam boat Virginia ran aground on the Arkansas River
 * Dec 1834 six hundred thirty- under Captain John Page, four hundred sixty nine arrived 28 Mar 1835, two men in the group: Sampson Grayon with 34 Slaves and Widow Stidham with 23 Slaves.
 * 10 July 1836: nine hundred of the Encah Emathla Band - shipped in chains
 * 1 Aug 1836 left Alabama, 2,700 leader Opthleyahola
 * 5 September 1836 1,984 Lt. J.T. Sprague (known as 5th group of Friendly Creek)
 * 1836: 2,700 arrived at Ft Gibson - (1st group Friendly Creek)
 * 18 &amp; 22 Dec 1836; (2nd group Friendly Creek)
 * March 1837: 4,000 Lt. Edward Deas, arrived 2 Jun 1837 at Little Rock, Arkansas. with 500. 3,500 still at Mobile Point
 * 29 Oct 1837 1,600 Lt. T.P. Sloan three steamboats: Monmoth 611- 311 drowned when it struck the steamboat Trenton

Trade
Superintendent of Indian Trade. Letter Book of the Creek Trading House, 1785-1816.

Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Indian Trade, Creek Factory Records, 1795-1821. 13 microfilm.

Treaties
The year link,the date of the treaty will connect to an online copy of the Treaty.


 * 1785:
 * 1790 August 7, at New York
 * 1796 June 29, at Colerain
 * 1802 June 16, at Fort Wilkinson
 * October 27, 1805,
 * 1805 November 14, at Washington
 * 1814 August 9,
 * March 22, 1816, - Cherokee
 * 1818 October 19, with the Chickasaw, Flint River
 * 1821 January 8, at Indian Spring
 * 1821
 * 1824 February 12, at Indian Spring
 * 1825: Population estimated at 20,000 for Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama, reported by T.C. McKenny - of the Indian Office
 * 1825 June 29, at Broken Arrow - unratified
 * 1826 January 24,at Washington
 * 1827 November 15, at Creek Agency
 * 1832 March 24,at Washington
 * May 9, 1832, Seminole
 * 1833 February 14, at Fort Gibson
 * March 28, 1833
 * June 18, 1833, Appalachicola Band
 * 1835August 24, at Camp Holmes, with the Comanche
 * 1838 November 23, at Fort Gibson
 * 1845 January 4,with the Seminole
 * April 1, 1850 - Wyandot
 * 1853: Population estimated at 25,000 by Commissioner of Indian Affairs at the request of the Department of Census
 * 1854 June 13,
 * 1856 August 7, at Washington
 * September 13, 1865, at Fort Smith - unratified
 * 1866 June 14, at Washington
 * 1867: Population estimated at 14,396 by Commissioner of Indian Affairs
 * 1910: Population as reported from census 6,945

Vital Records

 * Crow Creek Agency, M595, births and deaths 1924-1932, FHL|Film: 575,783

Indian Pioneer Papers
In 1936, the Oklahoma Historical Society and University of Oklahoma requested a writer's project grant from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in which interviews would be conducted with early settlers in Oklahoma who had lived on Indian land. More than 100 writers conducted over 11,000 interviews and were asked to "call upon early settlers and (record) the story of the migration to Oklahoma and their early life here." The University of Oklahoma Western History Collection has digitized the Indian Pioneer Papers which consists of approximately 80,000 indexed entries arranged alphabetically by personal name, place name, or subject. An index to the Indian Pioneer Papers may also be found at OkGenWeb Oklahoma Genealogy. A separate index of Indians interviewed, including the Creek, may be viewed at: “Indians in the Indian Pioneer Papers” Some of the surnames from the Creek tribe found in the collection are: Barnett, Beam (Stevens), Berryhill, Bond, Breeding, Canard, Coker, Fisher (Postoak), Jobe, Postoak, Sells (Jobe). Family History Library microfiche number: 6,016,865(first microfiche number)

Web Sites

 * Muscogee (Creek) Indians Wikipedia
 * Creek Native Americans http://creeknativeamericans.blogspot.com
 * Native American Research http://nativeamericanresearch.blogspot.com
 * Indian Research http://researchindians.blogspot.com

Access Genealogy http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/creek-indian-research.htm

Family History Library
The FamilySearch Catalog has over 500 titles of interest to the Creek Indians

For Further Reading

 * Anne E. Gometz, A Creek Indian Bibliography in Anne Gometz's Requisite Homepage (accessed 14 January 2014).
 * Lennon, Rachal Mills. Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes; Southeastern Indians Prior to Removal. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002..

For background information to help find American Indian ancestors see For Further Reading.