The name Five Civilized Tribes was derived from the early federal and colonial period. It represents the 5 Native American tribes – the Seminole, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek (Muscogee). They are the first 5 nations that Anglo-European people generally considered as “civilized” because these five nations embraced qualities of the colonists’ culture such as the Christianity, literacy, centralized governments, market participation, plantation slavery practices, written constitutions, and intermarriage with white Americans. The five civilized tribes managed to keep lasting political affairs with the Europeans.

The five civilized tribes were native people of America who existed in the Southeastern part of the United States. Most of them were descendants of Mississippian culture, a culture that cultivated beans and crops of corn, with hereditary political and religious elites. This culture flourished in 800 to 1500 in what is currently known as Eastern, Southeastern and Midwestern United States. Their primary economic activity was agriculture. Most of the tribes dwelled in towns with a big population in a land covered by hundreds of acres. These tribes controlled their area with developed parts subdivided into public and residential areas. Their government structure was hereditary; chiefdoms vary in complexity and size with a high ranking military organization.

The Five Civilized Tribes

Cherokee

The Cherokee are people from the Southeastern part of the United States primarily Georgia and North and South Carolina. Their language is Iroquoian. In the 19^th century, ethnographers and historians documented their spoken tradition that indicated that the tribe migrated to the south from the Great Lakes territory where previous Iroquoian-speaking people lived. The Cherokee nation is the second largest nation among the tribes, with more than 300,000 fellows.

Chickasaw

The Chickasaw are indigenous people of America who lived near the Tennessee River and the other parts of Tennessee which is west of Huntsville, Alabama that covers parts of Mississippi and southwestern Kentucky. Chickasaw is an English word for Chickasha which means “comes from Chicsa” or “rebel”. Chickasaw had two groups which were “Intcutwalipa” and “Impsaktea”. The Chickasaw tribe is the 13^th largest federally known tribe in America. They constructed some of the first schools, businesses, and banks in the Indian Territory.

Choctaw

The Choctaw are Native American tribe from Southeastern America particularly Alabama, Mississippi and to some extent, Louisiana. The 20,000 members of Choctaw were compelled to move to the Indian Territory but most of them did not survive. Walter Lee Williams, the historian, said that the early Spanish voyager encountered Choctaw’s ancestors. The two main Choctaw groups were the Mississippi group of Choctaw Indians and the Choctaw Tribes of Oklahoma. The members of the tribe were mostly farmers until they were eradicated from their homeland. They are the 3^rd largest among the Native American tribes with more than 200,000 members.

Muscogee Creek

The Muscogee Creek are Native American Indians originally from Southeast America particularly Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. In traditional spelling, Muskoka is their native name and they existed around 1500AD. Muscogee Creek is a group of tribes combined together where each tribe had their own land. In 1836, they moved to the west of Mississippi with the other native civilized tribes to the Indian Territory. They have the same number of members as the Choctaw tribe. The modern Muscogee live mainly in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Oklahoma. Their language is known as Muskoka, a member of the Muskogean language family.

Seminole

The Seminole are Native American civilized tribe originally from Florida and now lives in Oklahoma and Florida. The Seminole tribe existed in the 18^th century. They were composed of outcast and rebel Native Americans from Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, most significantly from the Creek nation. Some of the African Americans who run away from slavery in Georgian and South Carolina also became members of the Seminole tribe.

Roughly 3,000 Seminoles moved to the west of Mississippi River as well as the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma who got new members as they moved. Around 300 to 500 members remained and fought with the Everglades in Florida. Nearly 1500 U.S. troops died in a series of war between the U.S. and the Seminoles of Florida. The Seminoles called themselves as the Unconquered People for they never gave up and surrendered.

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