Page 10 - DeKalb Bicentennial Flipbook

White settlers began moving into the area in the 1700s,
carving out homesteads and industry, such as this grist
mill, along the area’s waterways.

INDIGENOUS CARETAKERS

OF THE LAND

If you hike up Stone Mountain, watch trains along the Norfolk Southern Railway, and
drive along Peachtree Road and Peachtree Street, you are following the original trails
blazed during the everyday travels of the indigenous caretakers of these lands.

ince before the land we now call Georgia, this is DeKalb County, and who proudly carry forward the honor
the ancestral homeland for both the Muscogee and traditions of our meaningful histories.
(Creek) Nation and Cherokee Nation. The Creek A region with just a few dialects 200
S and Cherokee, along with other Southeastern years ago has evolved into a community
tribes, descend from the peoples of the Mississippian period where more than 60 international languages
(circa AD 800-1500). are spoken today.
European settlers were increasing in presence by the
late 1700s. The Creek and Cherokee Nations were referred
to as “Civilized Tribes” as they strived to maintain peace

despite their dwindling lands and resources and under
sustained oppression.
Historical records point us to eight confirmed Georgia
land lotteries from ceded lands that the Creeks and Cherokees
were forced to relinquish: 1805, 1807, 1820, 1821, 1827, 1832
(two lotteries), and 1833. DeKalb County was established
on December 9, 1822 after the Land Lottery of 1821. In the
1830s, the “Trail of Tears” forced relocation for the remaining
native peoples here to a reservation settlement in Oklahoma.

And yet, the spirit of the Creeks and Southeastern
nations survives today among those who live and work in

8 Sp i rit o f D eK alb – B i centen n ial 1822-2022