Creek Country:The Creek Indians and Their World

Description

Reconstructing the human and natural environment of the Creek Indians in frontier Georgia| Mississippi| Alabama| and Tennessee| Robbie Ethridge illuminates a time of wrenching transition.
“Creek Country” presents a compelling portrait of a culture in crisis| of its resiliency in the face of profound change| and of the forces that pushed it into decisive| destructive conflict.

Ethridge begins in 1796 with the arrival of U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins| whose tenure among the Creeks coincided with a period of increased federal intervention in tribal affairs| growing tension between Indians and non-Indians| and pronounced strife within the tribe.
In a detailed description of Creek town life| the author reveals how social structures were stretched to accommodate increased engagement with whites and blacks.
The Creek economy| long linked to the outside world through the deerskin trade| had begun to fail.
Ethridge details the Creeks’ efforts to diversify their economy| especially through experimental farming and ranching| and the ecological crisis that ensued.
Disputes within the tribe culminated in the Red Stick War| a civil war among Creeks that quickly spilled over into conflict between Indians and white settlers and was ultimately used by U.S. authorities to justify their policy of Indian removal.