FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES

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FIVECIVILIZEDTRIBES
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FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES

• Choctaw
• Chickasaw
• Creek
• Seminole
• Cherokee

• 2/3 of all Native Americans in Oklahoma come from
  the Five Civilized Tribes.

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CHICKASAW NATION SEAL
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CHOCTAW NATION SEAL
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MUSCOGEE (CREEK) NATION SEAL
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SEMINOLE NATION SEAL
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CHEROKEE NATION SEAL
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Four of the Five Civilized Tribes are thought to
have roots in Mexico.
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• The Cherokee were once found in Eastern Canada
  and upstate New York. They were a part of the
  Iroquois Confederation. They migrated south when
  Europeans entered New England. They stayed in
  the back-country of the Appalachian Mountains
  until the time of forced removal.

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KINSHIP AMONG THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES

• The Creek and the Seminole are inter-related.
• Seminole is the Creek word for runaway.
• The Chickasaw and Choctaw are inter-related.
• The cultures of the Five Civilized Tribes are
  very similar. Four of the Five Civilized Tribes
  were distant descendants of the old Caddo tribes.

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Cultural Kinship Among the Five Civilized Tribes

• Extensive barter trading between the tribes.
• Family descent is traced through the mother.
• Blood Relation was extremely important, to
  determine who was an enemy.
• Polygamy was accepted if the other wife(s)
  accepted it and the male is able to provide for
  all of them equally (i.e. a good hunter or has a
  large number of livestock etc..)

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Religion of the Five Civilized Tribes

• Tribes were very religious. One Great Spirit
  with many lesser spirits.
• The idea of harmony existed, man must be in
  harmony with all things on earth. Disharmony
  resulted in disease, war, etc..
• Upper World Heaven
• Lower World Hell
• World as we know it Earth

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Religion Continued

• Tribes believed in immortals that live in the
  high country and would fight to save the tribes
  if necessary.
• This gave the inspiration for the Ghost Dance by
  Wovoka, a Paiute holy man. The Ghost Dance is a
  Western Plains religious ceremony.

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Political Organization of the Five Civilized
Tribes

• Territory divided into Chiefdoms. Chief
  controlled at least one village.
• Tribes differed in the number of chiefs they had.
• The Cherokee had a Tribal Council in which every
  clan of the tribe was represented in the Council.
• Circles of Native American Life Immediate
  Family-Family-Clan-Tribe-All Native People.

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European Influence

• As Tribes trade with Europeans, the tribes come
  to incorporate European ways.
• Hunters become commercial hunters and become
  dependent on European traders.
• Europeans provoked warfare among the tribes to
  compete for the wealth.
• After the Treaty of Paris ended the War of 1812,
  four of the five tribes came under the
  jurisdiction of the United States and French and
  Spanish influence fell away.

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Cultural Development of the Cherokee

• More than any of the other 5 Civilized Tribes,
  the Cherokee identified with the white culture
  and mixed with them.
• The Americanization of the Cherokee led them to
  reduce their language to writing.
• Having a written language was a cultural plus
  for the Cherokee. Now they could communicate
  better with the white culture and their language
  could be taught to non-Indian people.

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Sequoyahs Syllabary

• In 1820, Sequoyah developed his alphabet for the
  Cherokee.
• The Cherokee syllabary or talking leaves had
  86 characters that stood for sounds. The
  Syllabary was perfected in 1821.
• In a year, everyone could use the syllabary, this
  spawned social and cultural development of the
  tribe. The Syllabary was used by missionaries to
  help spread the word of God.
• Sam Worcester brought a printing press to the
  Cherokee, which helped them learn English. This
  also helped them publish the Cherokee Phoenix, a
  tribal newspaper.

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Cherokee Syllabary

• The Cherokee Syllabary caused problems with the
  state of Georgia, its legislature, and its
  politicians.
• In 1827, the Cherokee drew up their own state
  constitution.
• Gold was discovered on Cherokee land and the
  state wanted to get to it.
• Georgia state law was extended over the Cherokee.
  Georgia disallowed the Cherokee constitution and
  prohibited the tribe from mining gold and forbid
  them from suing or testifying in Georgia courts.
• Missionaries had to have state-issued license to
  go onto tribal lands.
• Cherokee were stole from and ran over by settlers.

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• The Cherokee brought suit in Federal Court
• Sam Worcester represented the tribe in the
  lawsuit. It was known as Worcester vs. Georgia.
  The lawsuit was settled in 1832.
• The lawsuit denied the law of licensure in
  Georgia.
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall
  found the extension of Georgia law over the
  Cherokee to be unconstitutional.
• The language of the judgment termed the tribes as
  wards of the government which was a change in
  status. Previously, the tribes had been regarded
  as sovereign nations that were to be dealt with
  in a manner similar to that of a foreign nation.
• President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the
  Supreme Courts decision and the Cherokee were
  left with no recourse but to relocate to Indian
  Territory.

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Andrew Jackson John Marshall
Sam Worcester
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Indian Removal Act of 1830

• This act granted the executive branch the right
  to negotiate with the tribes and legally move
  them west of the Mississippi River.
• In 1834, Georgia began confiscating Cherokee land
  and parceling it to white settlers in a lottery
  system.
• Missionaries were denied licensure in Georgia.
• Indian mixed bloods were having their plantations
  taken away, and the tribe as a whole was being
  overrun by the number of settlers pouring onto
  their lands mining for gold.
• With the lack of enforcement of the decision in
  Worcester vs. Georgia, the tribes had to
  negotiate treaties with the government to sell
  their lands in the east and take parcels of land
  in Indian Territory.

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Cherokee Removal

• Treaty Party of the Cherokee comprised of
  mixed-bloods. Members included Major Ridge, John
  Ridge, Elias Boudinot and Stand Watie.
• The Treaty Party had about 2,000 followers
• The Ross Party was comprised mainly by
  full-bloods. Their leader was John Ross, who was
  a mixed-blood, but the full-bloods supported him.
• The Ross Party had about 18,000 followers.

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• The Ross Party represented the bulk of the tribe
  and the United States Government went to them
  first for removal negotiations.
• The negotiations fell through between the Ross
  Party and the U.S. government because John Ross
  wanted twenty million dollars for removal.
• When the U.S. government could not get a treaty
  with the Ross Party, they went to the Treaty
  Party.
• The Treaty Party was threatened to sign an
  agreement with the government under a death
  threat.
• The treaty was called the Treaty of Echota.
  Under its conditions the Cherokee had to move by
  1838, and would receive five million dollars for
  their lands in the east. The government would
  pay moving expenses for the tribe.

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• The government contracted the job of moving the
  Cherokee to Indian Territory.
• Food, medicine, clothing and other necessities
  were sub-contracted.
• These contractors cut many corners and many of
  the Cherokee starved and froze to death or became
  very ill.
• The Ross Party was the group that was removed
  from their lands in the east. The Treaty Party
  had taken the money and moved much earlier.
  18,000 Cherokee were forcibly moved, and 5,000
  died.
• Subsequent removals were better funded. The
  first removal was the most harsh

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Major Ridge John Ridge
Elias Boudinot Stand Watie
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John Ross
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• When the Cherokee all finally reached Indian
  Territory, there was quite a bit of tension and
  animosity between the Treaty Party leaders and
  the Ross Party leaders.
• A Secret Society of full-bloods killed Major
  Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot for signing
  away their lands in the east. Only Stand Watie
  managed to escape. He would go on to become the
  leader of the mixed-bloods of the Cherokee. He
  would also make a name for himself in the Civil
  War.

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Other Removals

• Choctaw Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830.
  Given three years to leave Mississippi. Nearly
  25 of the tribe was lost during the forced
  removal.
• Chickasaw Treaty of Pontotoc Creek in 1832.
  Forced out in 1837 and 1838.

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Creek Removal

• The Creek were much more hostile toward the
  non-indian populations.
• During the War of 1812, there was a faction of
  Creek called the Redsticks who sided with the
  British.
• The Treaty of Washington was signed by a minority
  of mix-blood, treaty party of Creek in 1832.
• The Creek who did not sign went to war in 1836,
  the Creek War. Many Creeks were killed and
  forced removal still took place.

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Opothleyahola
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Seminole Removal

• The Seminole were kin to the Creek, so it is only
  natural that they would have a similar response
  to removal that the Creek did.
• The Treaty of Tampa was signed in 1823, which
  ceded the Seminole lands to the government and
  the Seminole moved further south in Florida near
  the Everglades.
• In 1832, the Seminole were given three years to
  move to Indian Territory or be forcibly moved.
• A minority party of Seminole agreed to a treaty
  in 1835.

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• Most of the Seminole did not move and they
  followed a young leader named Osceola.
• Osceola led the Seminole in very successful
  resistance, the Seminole War, from 1835 to
  1842.
• Osceola sought out the chief who signed the
  treaty and the indian agent and killed them both.
  The army was then dispatched to Florida to fight
  the Seminole.
• Osceola was tricked into a negotiation and was
  arrested and died in prison in 1839.
• Osceolas lieutenant, Wildcat, led the fight for
  another three years.
• The U.S. government spent 20 million in the
  Seminole War and 1500 soldiers died. Eventually
  about three thousand Seminole would be captured
  and moved, in chains, to Oklahoma. But a large
  number of Seminole remained in Florida.

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Osceola
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Golden Era of Five Civilized Tribes

• The time from c.1840 to c. 1860 is termed as the
  Goldern Era of the Five Civilized Tribes. The
  reason it is called the Golden Era is because the
  tribes were generally left alone to live
  unfettered.
• There was little to no non-indian settlement, and
  there were very few Plains tribes that came into
  contact with the Five Civilized Tribes.
• Tribal governments were established in Indian
  Territory and life began anew.

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• Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes were the first to
  re-establish tribal governments.
• Choctaw capital was at Tuskahoma in modern-day
  Pushmataha County. The Choctaw had three
  branches of government (legislative, executive,
  and judicial).
• The Choctaw legislature was unicameral with ten
  elected legislators.
• The Choctaw executive branch had three chiefs or
  governors.
• The Choctaw judicial branch had three judges.
• The Choctaw and the Chickasaw tribes were
  together until 1855, when the Chickasaw moved to
  Tishomingo. The Chickasaws government structure
  was very similar to the Choctaw.

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• The Cherokee tribe had many troubles in
  establishing their government structure in Indian
  Territory.
• The Ross Party resented the Treaty party and
  there was quite a bit of tension and strife
  between them.
• John Bowles, leader of the Arkansas Cherokee,
  died in battle in Texas in 1839.
• John Ross controlled the Cherokee tribe until
  1866.
• Cherokee government was similar to the Choctaw.
  The Cherokees unicameral legislature was called
  the National Council.
• Creek government was de-centralized. The power
  was at the local level. (chiefdoms)
• Early on, the Seminole were with the Creek. The
  Seminole set up their own government in 1845.