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People of One Fire
A national alliance of Muskogean scholars and their longtime friends
Creek – Seminole – Choctaw – Chickasaw – Alabama – Koasati – Apalachee –
Yuchi – Houma – Natchez - Shawnee
PeopleofOneFire@aol.com
www.peopleofonefire.com
Native American Brain Food No. 9
September 10, 2012
A lady living in Knoxville recently wrote us with a
question. She grew up thinking that the Cherokees had always lived in
Tennessee. She accompanied her child’s classroom to the McClung Museum
on the UT campus. She was surprised to learn that the Cherokees were the
last of several indigenous groups that had lived in the region. She
asked us what other tribes had also lived in Eastern Tennessee.
The more advanced indigenous peoples of the Southeast were organized
into provinces defined by capital towns. What we are finding in going
through the French eye-witness descriptions is that most of these
provinces were defined by a language, dialect or specific geographical
area. That is the tradition of the Creek and Seminole People – tribal
towns that had continuities covering several centuries.
The anthropological concept of a “chiefdom” was borrowed from Africa,
where political units were defined by “big men” rather than territory.
The names of contemporary federally recognized tribes really are not
applicable to the description of indigenous peoples living in East
Tennessee 4-500 years ago.
There is no certain way of determining genetic ethnicity from
pre-European potsherds and tools, but we can translate the names of
towns and political titles, recorded by European explorers to learn what
languages Native people spoke in Eastern Tennessee from 1540 onward. It
is highly probable that plagues in the late 1500s radically changed the
number and locations of towns between 1540 and 1684. We use the official
dictionaries adopted by tribal governments for translating Native
American words!
Names of the Tennessee River
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The original name recorded for the Tennessee
River was Kalli-mako (Callimaco.) It is a Itza Maya – Putan Maya
agglutination that means “house of the king” or perhaps “throne of
the king.”
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The original name of the Little Tennessee River
was Talasi. It is an Itsate (Hitchiti) word meaning “offspring of
the town of Tali.”
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After French explorers paddled up the Tennessee
and Little Tennessee Rivers in the late 1600s, their maps labeled
the Tennessee River above Hiwassee Island as being the
Casquinamponagou and later, Caskenampo River. That is Koasati for
“many warriors.” The Middle Tennessee River remained “Calimaco.” See
Franquelin 1684 map.
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The first English map to show the Tennessee River
(Herbert-1725) labeled it as the Mississippi River! This was also
the first official British map to use a word like Cherokee to label
the Indians of the Southern Highlands. Obviously, the British didn’t
have a clue what was beyond the mountains, while the French had
already mapped it. They were somewhat familiar with the Little
Tennessee River and name it the Big Tellico River.
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The 1745 Kitchens Map, adopted by the British,
named the Upper Tennessee “the Cherokee or Hogeloge River.” The
Hogeloge were a branch of the Yuchi. The British were still very
confused because they labeled still labeled the Little Tennessee
River the Big Tellico, but showed it and the Hiwassee River joining
together and then flowing directly into the Mississippi River. The
French maps were fairly accurate from the 1680s onward.
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The 1755 John Mitchell map was the first British
map to be a reasonably accurate description of the State of
Tennessee’s Rivers. All of the Tennessee River was labeled “the
Hogeloge or Callamaco River.” The Little Tennessee River was labeled
the “Tanassee or Satico River.”
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This will surprise you! The first official map of
the United States, printed in 1784, labeled all of the Tennessee
River as the Callimaco or Hogeloge River! The Little Tennessee River
was labeled the Tannessee River.
Maps based on Hernando de Soto Expedition (1554 –
1684)
Initially, only the town of Chisca was shown, roughly where Tullahoma,
TN is now. By 1600s the towns of Chisca and Chicasa were shown in close
proximity. The de Soto town locations danced across the map through the
decades, although the Chalaque were consistently in South Carolina.
Meanings of the towns were:
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Tasqui - (Itsati) – means Pilated Woodpecker
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Tali – (Alabama, Itsate or Koasati) – means
“stone” but if actually Talli, meant “planned town.”
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Casqui – (Koasati) – means “warrior”
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Tanasqui – (Muskogee) – means “Tanasa People.”
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Cholahuma – (Alabama) – means “Red Fox.”
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Chisca – (Archaic Chickasaw or Muskogee) – means
“Chickasaw in Archaic Chickasaw or “base of tree” in Muskogee
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Chicasa – (Itsate and Muskogee) – their word for
the Chickasaw People.
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Apalache – (Itsate) Mostly in northern Georgia,
but also along the Hiwasee River in North Carolina and Tennessee.
British map produced by Johann Lederer in 1670
Lederer showed the Rickohockens occupying the Blue Ridge Mountains in SW
Virginia, the northeastern corner of Tennessee and in northwestern North
Carolina. No other Tennessee Tribes were labeled.
French maps from 1684 to 1717
French maps showed a French fort and trading post located on Hiwassee
Island, TN until mid-1720s. Only the very last French maps during this
period showed the Rickohockens being northeast of present day Knoxville,
TN. During this period the Chalaqui were shown as being in north-central
South Carolina
Tiemahita (Totonac-Itza Maya) – means Tamahiti (Tomahitans) or “Merchant
People” – They occupied all of SW Virginia west of the Clinch River and
NE Tennessee north of the Holston River - later moved to Georgia and
joined the Creek Confederacy
Apequi (Muskogee) means “Cornstalk People” – located near confluence of
Holston and French Broad Rivers - later moved to Alabama and called
Abeika Creeks.
Apalache – (Itsate) Mostly in northern Georgia, but also along the
Hiwassee River in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Chouenon (Shawnee) – the Shawnee occupied most of western North Carolina
and north central Tennessee .
Taskequi – (Muskogee) – means Pilated Woodpecker People – they occupied
the Little Tennessee Basin near Fontana Lake and Snowbird Mountains.
Talasee – (Itsate) means “Offspring of Tali” – They occupied Little
Tennessee River west of the Smokies.
Casquinampo (Koasati) – means “many warriors” – located below confluence
of Tennessee and Little Tennessee Rivers.
Hogleloge (Yuchi?) – branch of the Yuchi’s – located around Hiwassee
Island and lower Hiwassee River.
Chikasa – (Chickasaw) – They were shown to occupy most eastern Tennessee
north of the Tennessee River and downstream from present day
Chattanooga.
Coushate (Itsate-Creek) – means Kusa People – located from Hiwassee
Island downstream to just north of present day Chattanooga.
Cofachi – Replaced Apalache in 1701 DeLisle map.
1718 French map by
DeLisle
There was no mention of the word “Cherokee” until after the end of the
Yamasee War in 1717. At that time all territory in NE Tennessee and SW
Virginia labeled as Rickohocken was changed to Cherokee. The 1718 French
map showed the Rickohocken villages in NE Tennessee to now be “Charaqui
villages.” Apeque had moved from NE Tennessee to NE Alabama. The
Tamahiti are not mentioned on the map. Cheraqui’s are shown to occupy
all of northeastern Tennessee down to the Little Tennessee River, but
Muskogean towns such as Tali and Tasqui are still on the Little
Tennessee. The Hogeloge still occupy Hiwassee Island, but there is no
fort shown on the island. Western North Carolina is left blank. No
longer are the Apalachee shown to occupy the Upper Hiwassee Valley and
northern Georgia. Instead the Cousheta (Kusa Creeks) and Cohuita (Koweta
Creeks) occupy northern Georgia and southeastern Tennessee south of the
Hiwassee River. The Charaqui are also concentrated along the tributaries
of the Savannah River. However, now the Chalaqui were located in
southeastern Georgia, near the Okefenokee Swamp. The Chalaqui and
Charaqui were considered to be different people during that era.
1725 Kitchens Map of the Cherokee Nation
This map only portrays extreme Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina
and the headwaters of the Savannah River. The map shows that by 1725 the
Cherokees had occupied the entire Little Tennessee River. Cherokee
villages were concentrated in a narrow band from NW South Carolina,
along the Little Tennessee and Rivers, then up into the original
Rickohocken territory of SW Virginia and NW North Carolina. The map
shows the mountains west of the Hiwassee River to be Cherokee Territory.
1732 Map of Georgia and the Carolinas
This was the first map to display the boundaries of the new Colony of
Georgia. The boundaries of the Cherokee Nation in the future state of
Tennessee were the same as in 1725. There were no Cherokee villages in
Georgia. The northeastern tip of Georgia was occupied by the Apalachee.
The remainder of northern Georgia and southeastern Tennessee were
occupied by branches of the Creek Confederacy.
1746 Map of
the Cherokee Nation
In Tennessee the Hiwassee River remained the southwestern boundary of
the Cherokee Nation, while the Upper Creeks occupied SE Tennessee.
Cherokees now occupied the northeastern tip of Georgia, westward to the
eastern flank of Brasstown Bald Mountain and the Chattahoochee River.
This boundary would remain the same until 1785. Some of the Yuchi
villages along the Lower Hiwassee River were now part of the Cherokee
Nation and marked its frontier.
The actual ethnic composition of the Overhill Cherokees is confusing
though. The majority of Overhill Towns had Muskogean names, such as
Tamatli, Jocasee, Talasee,Taskegi, Itsate (Chote), Mialako, Talako and
Tanasee. Were these towns ethnically Creek populations, allied to the
Cherokees, or had the Cherokees kept the towns’ original Muskogean
names, while repopulating them with non-Muskogeans? The question might
never be answered.
Whatever, the ethnic composition of the Overhill Cherokees, one thing is
very clear. Southeastern Tennessee and most of northern Georgia were
Upper Creek Territories until after the American Revolution.
1754 Treaty
with Cherokee Nation
The British government was desperate in 1754. France was using its
Native American allies to devastate the frontiers of Virginia,
Pennsylvania and New York. British officials in Charleston “gave” the
Cherokees all the lands of the Shawnee, Chickasaw and Upper Creek allies
of the French in Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Alabama in return for
the Cherokees furnishing over 200 warriors to fight Indian allies of the
French in the Ohio Valley, Pennsylvania and New York.
Several of the leaders of the Overhill Cherokees were pro-French. None
of the Shawnee, Chickasaw and Upper Creek villages in what was now
“Cherokee territory” relocated. In fact, several new villages were
established close to the Overhill Towns to act as bases for striking
pro-English Cherokee settlements. In reality, Cherokee occupation of
Tennessee was always limited to a corridor of land along the Tennessee
River to the North Carolina border. The remainder of the land was
reserved for hunting, but contained few villages. By 1757 the Cherokees
had become enemies of the British also, but it was too late to change
the course of the war. The British won most of North America.
1755 map
of North America by John Mitchell
With the phrase “Deserted Cherokee Settlements” boldly drawn across the
map, Mitchell acknowledged a catastrophic defeat dealt the Cherokee
Nation by the army of a single Creek town, Koweta. All other Creek towns
had signed a peace treaty with the Cherokees in 1754. The Cherokees lost
all of their territory in Georgia and North Carolina gained since 1714,
and all their territory in Tennessee gained since 1718. The Upper Creeks
reoccupied the land between the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee River.
This prompted the Cherokees to send a delegation to Charleston to
request a British garrison on the Little Tennessee River to protect them
from the Upper Creeks.
1763 Map of the
Carolinas and Georgia
This was a map drawn at the close of the French and Indian War. The
Cherokees and Creeks lost all of their land in North Carolina east of
the 84th Meridian. Only the section of contemporary North Carolina from
present day Murphy, NC was still in their territory. At this point, the
Cherokees became primarily a Tennessee tribe, although at that time,
Tennessee was, of course, a part of North Carolina.
The Upper Creeks gave up southeastern Tennessee in 1763 in return for a
massive tract of land in Alabama that had formerly belonged to the
Alabama’s, Indian allies of the French. The Upper Creeks continued to
occupy all of Northern Georgia west of the Chattahoochee River.
American Revolution
In 1776 the Cherokees signed a treaty with the British to fight the
Patriots in the Southern colonies. It turned out to be a very foolish
move by both parties. The Cherokees attacked the Carolina and Virginia
frontiers, without warning. Terrible atrocities were committed against
British and Native American families on the South Carolina frontier, who
didn’t even know that the Cherokees were on the war path. The Cherokees
could not easily attack the Georgia frontier because their arch-enemies
the Koweta Creeks were located in between. The Patriot militias
eventually counter-attacked and burned many Cherokee towns in North
Carolina and Tennessee.
When the majority of Cherokees sued for peace, a renegade faction
relocated to a band of Chickasaws, known as the Chickamaugas, who
remained on land that the British had given to the Cherokees. The hybrid
Chickamauga’s continued to fight American frontiersmen until defeated in
1793. During that period most of the Chickamauga’s attacks were against
settlers in Tennessee. As often as not, non-belligerent Cherokees in
Tennessee were attacked in retribution for the acts of the hostiles.
1794 Map of the Cherokee Nation
In 1785 the Cherokees had been given northwestern Georgia as hunting
lands, but at the same time gave up most of their land in northeastern
Georgia. Already Cherokees were moving into the region, but the
migration accelerated as more and more land in Tennessee was ceded to
the United States. By 1805 the majority of Cherokees lived in
northwestern Georgia and northeastern Alabama. All of their lands in
east-central and northeastern Tennessee had been ceded. Their only
territory in Tennessee was the tract ceded by the Upper Creeks in 1763.
Treaty of New Echota – 1836
In the Treaty of New Echota, Cherokee signers agreed to renounce all
claims to land east of the Mississippi and remove their people to the
Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. Because Georgia had passed
laws forbidding Cherokees to hold meetings in their state, the last
meeting of the Cherokee National Council was immediately north of the
Georgia state line in Red Clay, Tennessee.
By autumn of 1838 all Cherokees in Tennessee had “officially” been
rounded up and were on the march to the Indian Territory. In actuality,
many wealthy Georgia Cherokees “hid out” in Tennessee while the soldiers
were looking for them in Georgia. Some traditional Tennessee Cherokees
were able to hide in the Smoky Mountains, while the soldiers were
searching for them. Many of the descendants of these Cherokees, who
avoided capture, still live in Tennessee today.
Little bit different story than what the tourist brochures say, isn’t
it?
Richard Thornton, Editor
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