Florida Guide > Florida History
The Creek Indian of Florida
The Creek Indians were the Native Americans who were so named by the first European settlers. Originally they were called Istrichata but after the first white settlers arrived, they re named themselves Muskogee.
They lived in homes arranged around the village square. They built there homes from river cane and plaster and had thatched roofs. Most villages also had a playing field and a ceremonial building. Social life was important and vital to all Native Americans.
The Creek women looked after the children and farmed the crops; Creek men hunted game such as deer and turkey and caught fish.
The language they spoke was Muskogee Creek For instance the name for snake was cetto and for fish was ruro. This language is still spoken by some of the older members today.
Creek woman wore their hair long in an up do and the men shaved theirs into a mohican. The men also sometimes wore a porcupine roach (sounds lovely doesn' t it) They also tattooed themselves and painted their faces (the womaen never did this)
The women wore a wrap round skirt that would have been made from deerskin or sometimes woven. The men wore leggings made of leather or breech cloths. Both men and women wore ponchos in the winter and moccasins on their feet all year round.
They fashioned canoes from the wood from cypress trees and used dogs as pack animals. They made shields to protect themselves in battles and their weapons were tomahawks and a truncheon like item to defend themselves.
Although most Creek women were known to be of small stature, the men were taller than their European counterparts. The men were strong and arrogant in battle.
They were particularly keen on decorating themselves and enjoyed music and ball games in their leisure time. Adultery by the women would be severly punished by the husbands relatives.
One interesting custom was to bury the dead under their bed; a square pit was dug to achieve this.
Once a year they would hold a Puskita, this was a religious ceremony where a fire was lit and black tea was drunk.
In the infamous and disgraceful evacuation of the Native Americans in the 19th century they were forcibally marched to Oklahoma. Like some other Native American tribes, some of the Creek people became Seminoles. Seminoles are people from various Indian groups including Miccosukee, Hitchiti and Oconee tribes
You may be surprised to learn that there are around 20000 Creek Indians survivng today in Oklahoma.
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