Creek, a Muskogean-speaking North American Indian people who originally occupied the vast expanses of plain land that are now Georgia and Alabama. There are two divisions of the Creeks: Muskogee (or Upper Creeks), settlers in the northern Creek area, and Hitchiti and Alabama, who share the same general traditions as the Upper Creeks but speak a slightly different dialect and are known as Lower Creeks.
Creek achieved status by individual merit rather than by inheriting it. The traditional river economy is based largely on growing corn (maize), beans, and pumpkins. Women did most of the farming, while the men of the tribe were in responsible of hunting and defense. Like most Indians in the Southeast, they usually have tattoos all over their bodies.
Before colonization, Creek towns were symbolically grouped into white and red categories, separated for peace ceremonies and war ceremonies. Each town had a community square or square, around which were houses — rectangular buildings with four vertical piled walls plastered with mud to form wattles.
The roof was pitched and covered with bark or thatch, with smoke holes left open in the gables. If the city had a temple, it was a thatched dome-shaped structure erected on an eight-foot-high mound where steps were cut into the temple doors.
A square is a gathering place for important religious celebrations such as the Busk or Green Corn ceremony, the annual first fruits ceremony and the new fire ceremony. The hallmark of this midsummer festival is that any wrongdoing, complaint, or crime—less than murder—was forgiven.
The tributary's first contact with Europeans occurred in 1538 when Hernando de Soto invaded their territory. Subsequently, the Creeks allied with the English colonists in a series of wars (beginning around 1703) against the Apalachee and Spain.
During the 18th century, the Creek Confederation was organized to present a united front against both Native and white enemies. It comprises not only the predominant Creeks but also speakers of other Muskogean languages (Hitchiti, Alabama-Koasati) and non-Muscogean languages (Yuchi, some Natchez and Shawnee).
The Seminole of Florida and Oklahoma were offshoots of the Creek Confederation in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Ultimately, the confederation was unsuccessful, partly because the Creek towns (about 50 for a total population of perhaps 20,000) could not coordinate the contribution of warriors to the battle together.
In 1813–14, when the Creek War with the United States was fought, several cities were at war with the white colonists and some (Red Sticks) against them.
After the loss, the Creeks surrendered 23,000,000 acres of land (half of Alabama and part of southern Georgia); they were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the 1830s. There with the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole, they are one of the Five Civilized Tribes.
For three-quarters of a century, each tribe had a land allotment and a semi-autonomous government modeled on the United States. In preparation for becoming the state of Oklahoma (1907), portions of this land were awarded to individual Indians; the remainder was made available to white homeowners, who were trusted by the federal government or given to formerly enslaved people.
The tribal government was effectively dissolved in 1906 but continued to exist on a limited basis. The river's descendants numbered more than 76,000 at the start of the 21st century.