Everyday Life Among The Southeastern Creeks

Part II 

Sharing A Heritage

Creek Grandmother, Sheree Yazzi assures that granddaughters, Jordan and Star will grow up

with full knowledge and understanding of their proud Creek and Navajo heritage.

Language, Literature & Stories   

The Creek Confederacy was made up of a number of different tribes who spoke several different languages or dialects. The dominant language, however, was Muscogee. Even though the Creeks had no written language,  ‘oration,’ or the skill of eloquent public speaking was greatly admired as was the gentle art of storytelling.  During periods of cold or rainy weather, children might have spent otherwise restless hours in the warmth of the chokofa , singing, dancing and listening to an elder storyteller spin magical tales. Creek stories were always entertaining, but also served to teach children proper moral behavior and conduct. Stories also served to explain the Creek view of why certain things in nature were the way they were.  

Many traditional Creek stories centered around ‘Rabbit’ as a trickster in much the same way as ‘Coyote’ and ‘Raven’  served as the trickster in the folklore of western tribal cultures.  Some historians speculate, given  the degree of interaction between the Indians and African slaves,  that the ancient Southeastern Indian trickster stories which included ‘Rabbit’ and even ‘tar baby,’  when co-mingled with rabbit stories brought over  by African slaves, could well have played a part in the inspiration for the famous Uncle Remus stories.  This possibility, or even the existence of the rich Southeastern  Indian folklore tradition is scarcely mentioned in popular representations of native life or the roots of southern culture.

Some Traditional Creek Stories

 How Night and Day Came To Be Divided

The animals held a meeting and Nokose, the Bear, presided.  The question was: How shall day and night be divided? Some desired the day to last all the time while others wanted it always to be night. After much talk, Chewthlockco, the Ground Squirrel, said, “I see that Watko, the Raccoon, has rings on his tail divided equally – first a dark color and then a light color. I think day and night should be divided like the rings on Raccoon’s tail.”

 The animals were surprised at the wisdom of Ground Squirrel. They adopted his plan and divided day and night like the rings on Raccoon’s tail – one succeeding the other in regular order. Nokosee was so envious of Chewthlockco that he scratched him and thus caused the stripes on the back of all his descendants, the ground squirrels.

 How Rabbit Brought Fire To The People

In the beginning there was no fire and the earth was cold. Then the Thunderbirds sent their lightning to a sycamore tree on an island where the Weasels lived. The Weasels were the only ones who had fire and they would not give any of it away. The people knew that there was fire on the island because they could see smoke coming from the sycamore, but the water was too deep for anyone to cross. When winter came the people suffered so much from the cold that they called a council to find some way of obtaining fire from the Weasels. They invited all the animals who could swim. "How shall we obtain fire?" the people asked. Most of the animals were afraid of the Weasels because they were bloodthirsty and ate mice and moles and fish and birds. Rabbit was the only one who was brave enough to try to steal fire from them. "I can run and swim faster than the Weasels," he said. "I am also a good dancer. Every night the Weasels build a big fire and dance around it. Tonight I will swim across and join in the dancing. I will run away with some fire."

He considered the matter for a while and then decided how he would do it. Before the sun set he rubbed his head with pine tar so as to make his hair stand up. Then, as darkness was falling, he swam across to the island. The Weasels received Rabbit gladly because they had heard of his fame as a dancer. Soon they had a big fire blazing and all began dancing around it. As the Weasels danced, they approached nearer and nearer the fire in the center of the circle. They would bow to the fire and then dance backwards away from it. When Rabbit entered the dancing circle, the Weasels shouted to him: "Lead us, Rabbit!" He danced ahead of them, coming closer and closer to the fire. He bowed to the fire, bringing his head lower and lower as if he were going to take hold of it. While the Weasels were dancing faster and faster, trying to keep up with him, Rabbit suddenly bowed very low so that the pine tar in his hair caught fire in a flash of flame.

He ran off with his head ablaze, and the angry Weasels pursued him, crying, “Catch him! Catch him! He has stolen our sacred fire! Catch him, and throw him down!” But Rabbit outran them and plunged into the water, leaving the Weasels on the shore. He swam across the water with the flames still blazing from his hair. The Weasels now called on the Thunderbirds to make it rain so as to extinguish the fire stolen by Rabbit. For three days rain poured down upon the earth, and the Weasels were sure that no fire was left burning except in their sycamore tree. Rabbit, however, had built a fire in a hollow tree, and when the rain stopped and the sun shone, he came out and gave fire to all the people. After that whenever it rained, they kept fires in their shelters, and that is how Rabbit brought fire to the people.

For John R. Swanton, 1929, Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians. . . http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/se/mtsi/index.htm 

Music, Song and Dance

Song and dance were/are a vital part of Creek life, both as social activity and a part of ceremony, as were oratory and storytelling.  An early European visitor describes the songs as simple, repetitious, and rather unmelodious, but with voices singing in unison, was not unpleasant to hear. Songs served to record the collective  memory of the people as they joyfully told of legendary events of history, heroic deeds, moral values, clever animals, friendships etc. 

Several instruments were used to beat the rhythm for dances. Most important was the drum which represented the heartbeat of the people.  In addition, there were hand-held gourd shakers and dried turtle-shells with bits of gravel inside strapped to the dancer's legs. Like the songs, a variety of dances had a story to tell and celebrate. A wide variety of dances were included in this favorite community  activity.  There were stomp dances, animal dances, war dances, peace dances and many more which were a part of everyday social activities as well as very sacred ceremonial events.

Today, flutes made of wood with their lovely mournful sounds are an integral part of contemporary American Indian music.  In the early days the Creeks made flutes from river cane. Traditionally, these were primarily made and played by young men as part of their 'courtship' of a young lady. 

 Ancient Creek Cradle Song

Down the stream

You hear the noise of her going 

That is what they say

Up the stream

Running unseen

Running unseen

Up the stream

You hear the noise of her going

That is what they say  

To the top of the bald peak

Running unseen

      Running unseen      

Outstanding Human Achievements of The Creek People

Community

The Muscogee Creek People, like many other American Indian Nations, enjoyed a lifestyle which depended on ‘community' and the cooperation of all.  Our European forefathers may have done well to pay attention and take notes. The Indian’s  life may have seemed ‘primitive' to the Europeans. They appeared to live a Spartan life, perhaps  because they were not materialistic and owning ‘things' was not so important. The Creeks worked hard together to provide for the basic needs of all, and enjoyed a personal freedom unparalleled in European society. But greater than personal freedom, the Creek people enjoyed the emotional and physical support of closely bonded family and community.

Indeed, the Indians considered the Europeans to be savages because, for instance, of the way the newcomers greedily squabbled among themselves rather than working together for the good of all. One notable example has to do with solving political differences.  In Indian council meetings, there was no shouting and arguing for only the person holding the ‘talking feather’ was allowed to speak. Just imagine how different this was from the European’s habit of holding shouting arguments to solve differences. (Actually, many modern Americans still haven’t caught on yet.)  Then there was the problem of the European’s poor personal hygiene! Unlike the newcomers who rarely bathed, thinking it was unhealthy,  the Indians practiced daily bathing, winter and summer, and cleaned their teeth regularly because it was the healthy thing to do!  As you consider the life ways of our ancestors, we hope you will come to see the Creeks were not savages at all, but enjoyed a highly organized social system with strict rules of personal conduct and respect for one another which offers many lessons for our modern age.

Survival of A Heritage

Perhaps the most significant achievement of today's Creek Indian People is that they have been able to hang on to the very essence of their cultural heritage which the forces of history systematically sought to destroy. Once a powerful nation, one of the well-known Five Civilized Tribes, the Creek culture as a dominant force in the southeast was reduced by the removal of 1836 to a bare semblance of its former glory.  

Today, a greatly reduced Nation of Muscogee Creek people live in Oklahoma and a few tribal clans survive in the southeast. But in addition, there are thousands of Americans scattered across this country who have been denied their cultural heritage because of the oppression of their ancestors. Many of these descendants are waking up to the beauty and honor of their Creek heritage.  More and more people from all walks of life are going beyond a simple statement that "My great grandmother was a Creek Indian" to saying,“I want to learn who I am; to better understand, honor and claim my heritage."

Sometimes students ask about the lives of Creek People today. The very best answer we can give is that today's Creeks are much like other Americans. 

Over time much has been lost of the diverse languages of the Creeks. Our goal is to honor the historic and cultural value of each. We know the most about the dominant  Muscogean Language. Dialects include: Alabamu, Apalachee, Apalachicola, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Hitchiti, Koasati, Mikasuki, Mobilian and Seminole. The Yuchee and Shawnee People who lived among the Creeks, spoke entirely different languages.

 Be sure to visit the links below.

  Sounds of the Mvskoke Language

         Learn and Share...

A few Friendly Muscogee Words

                                          Tempunayetv - Greetings
                            Hensci - Hi or Hello
                            Estonko? - How are you?
                            Estonkis os, centv? - Fine, and you?
                            Ecenokecvyet os - means, I Love You
                             (Just say: ee-jee-n-kay-jah-yeet-os)  
                            Mvto (ma-do) - Thank you
                            Enhessee - My friend
                            Cehecvres (gee-hee-chaw-thlee) - See you later
                            Vnokecke - Beloved
                            Nene - Path or way
                            Vnvhe - Later, my friend

Back to Everyday Life Among The Southeastern Creeks Part I