Page 19 - Macon VG 2024
P. 19
HISTORY of the Muscogee
“I'm reminded about how (Creek) Nation
important it is for me to
honor my ancestors and The Muscogee People are descendants of
the Mississippian culture that spanned the
those who are buried here entire Mississippi River valley and floodplain.
to come back and keep Ancestral Muscogee (800-1540 CE)
telling their stories. constructed monumental earthen pyramids
“There is a Macon to along the rivers of the area as part of their
Muscogee connection, elaborate ceremonial complex extending
and understanding and regionally from the Macon plateau near
appreciating each other's present-day Macon, Georgia.
culture is so, so important Chroniclers of Spanish explorer Hernando
for us and creating a DeSoto's expedition in the 1540s wrote the
landscape for everyone to first descriptions of the ancestors of the
come and enjoy and walk historic Creek and other Southeastern people.
these trails. They noted that many of the towns featured
open plazas, earthen temple mounds, public
“Oftentimes people will say buildings and homes constructed of upright
when they walk out here logs, interwoven with vines or cane and
that it's such a powerful, plastered with clay (wattle and daub).
spiritual place. And what I
say to people is that there's Upon the arrival of Europeans, disease and
a healing here that you never warfare lead to the decimation of populations.
know that you needed.” The indigenous people scattered among
separate, related or allied "towns."
– Tracie Revis
Director of Advocacy for the Population shifts, town survivors and refugees
Ocmulgee National Park & Preserve from other tribes, pressure from slave traders,
Initiative and Citizen of the and changes in trade practices led to the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation combination of groups for stability. Member
tribes were tribal towns, numbering over
100 with a population of more than 20,000.
Within this political structure, each tribal
town, having its own leader, maintained
political autonomy and distinct land
holdings; however, the language and the
culture of the founding tribal towns became
dominant. Collectively the towns considered
themselves a confederacy consisting of
distinct provincial groups.
– by: Brian OntheHill
MUSCOGEE CONNECTION 15
