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PERDIDO BAY TRIBE SOUTHEASTERN LOWER MUSCOGEE CREEK INDIANS, INC.
Native Paths Muscogee Creek Cultural Heritage and Resource Projects |
Alcasalica
Celebrating Our Southeastern Creek Indian Heritage
Vision & Inspiration in a Name
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As Micco Bearheart meditated on a suitable spiritual name to guide the path of Perdido Bay Tribe, a long-ago memory filled his mind. It was just a broken, old clay pot sitting on the bank of a remote South Georgia stream, discovered by a curious young boy.
Yet on that day the boy was moved to wonder about the Grandmother whose hands had made that clay pot, and to realize that this gift was a symbol of his own heritage. This childhood experience helped to define one man's life mission.
How many clay pots, seen or unseen, are waiting on the banks of how many rivers and streams throughout the Southeast for the heirs of our Creek forefathers and mothers to discover and claim?
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ALCASALICA, painting by Maribeth Lewis
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The Museums of ALCASALICA
The Bearheart Native Paths Museum Mobile Museum of Southeastern Muscogee Creek History and Culture
And the Future
The Vision of Micco Bobby Johns Bearheart ● The Mission of Perdido Bay Tribe
The People ● The Progress ● The Challenges
We invite you to learn our story, follow our progress, and consider contributing in one of our Donor Categories
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The History
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In a geographical climate and historical environment that has not been conducive to the preservation of the perishable evidence of the material culture or human achievements of Southeastern indigenous peoples, there are few remaining reminders of a once strong and thriving culture which has largely been erased from popular memory. One source of evidence we have of our heritage are the thousands of stone implements, projectile points and clay pot shards that once could be found in abundance in the fields and forests; along rivers and streams throughout the Southeast. Other, perhaps even more familiar reminders are the thousands of place names throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama and surrounding areas that have their origins in Muskogean or other Native languages. These place names and the traditions they represent are part and parcel of our Southern history and culture, and help to make our region unique and colorful. In the Southeast such familiar place names as Tallahassee, Etowah, Okefenokee, Chattahoochee, Ocmulgee and Talladega all have origins in dialects of Creek languages. |
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The Mission
Along the Ocmulgee River south of Macon, Georgia, fresh, cold springs create a vast area of pristine wetlands now protected as a National Wildlife Preserve. Five Hundred years ago, this area was populated by Muscogee People. The surrounding land was rich and fertile for farming corn, squash, beans and many other domesticated or cultivated fruits and vegetables. The springs provided year-round cold, fresh water and a cool retreat from summer’s hot temperatures. The forests abounded with game animals and the river was filled with fish. Life had been good here for many generations before the Spanish arrived and rang the first death knell for an ancient way of life. The clay pot nearly hidden in this photo is the image of an ancient Muscogean bowl, set there through the magic of modern technology. It serves to remind us of the wisdom of ALCASALICA that for too long has been overlooked. It is time to remember and honor the universal human qualities, creative talents and skills of long-ago grandfathers who hunted and fished here and grandmothers who dug the clay beneath these waters to create the artfully designed vessels we so admire even today. Everything Perdido Bay Tribe has stood for and strived for - past, present and future - is held within ALCASALICA. We are inspired to reach for the wisdom held by the Clay Pot Sitting There, however faintly, awaiting all who have the eyes to see, the will to learn and and the heart to understand the true worth of our Southeastern Creek Indian ancestors. The Vision and the Mission of Perdido Bay Tribe is to honor and share the story of our heritage. Roll up your pants legs and wade on in. The water is refreshing and the clay pot is sitting there, waiting. Photo Ochesee Swamp: Richard L. Thornton, Inserted image: Eric R. Dixon
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Perdido Bay Tribe is a
501(c)(3) Non-Profit &
509(a)(2) Public Charity
COPYRIGHTED 1999-2008 BY PERDIDO BAY TRIBE, INC., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED