Domestic Animals & Transportation

Before the arrival of Europeans with their horses, mules and oxen, there were no large animals native to North America that could be used as sources of energy or transportation. Before the introduction of these animals, the Indians used dugout canoes or walked wherever they went and relied on their own strength, cooperation and ingenuity to accomplish tasks which animals would later perform.

Providing for food, shelter & defense was the greatest responsibility of the adults. The work was hard and cooperation essential, but in reality, food was abundant and the Creek people enjoyed far more personal freedom and relaxation time than their European counterparts.

It should be remembered that the introduction of the plow and domestic animals would have a disruptive effect on the Indian way of life and was not necessarily well received. By the mid 1700's, with the depletion of the deer population through hunting for the European market, the abundance of food could no longer be counted upon to keep the people fed. (More than 100,000 deerskins were shipped to Europe from the port of Charleston, SC between 1700 and 1750.)

Traditionally, women were the primary homemakers, gardeners and gatherers, while the men hunted, fished and defended the community—a division of labor based on cooperative effort. Once the available supply of game had been depleted, a new model was strongly encouraged by government agents to improve the food supply. It required the men to focus entirely on working independent farmsteads as was customary in Europe. The endless labor of plowing, maintaining fences and caring for domestic animals was not well received as occupations for men. This resistance to change by a people who had long enjoyed a free and relaxed communal way of life was not understood by the Europeans who often portrayed the resisting Indians as being "lazy and indolent."