Hitchiti
The Hitchiti were a North American Indian tribe whose language belonged to the Muskogee language family . In the 18th century the residential area was in what is now the US state of Georgia and the relatives lived in a town of the same name. The tribe gave their name to the Hitchiti language , which was spoken by numerous tribes in central southern Georgia. The surviving Hichiti were absorbed and integrated by the Creek in the 19th century . The Mikasuki as speakers of the Hitchiti-Mikasuki language received state recognition as The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida in 1962 .
residential area
In the 17th century, their residential area was apparently on the lower reaches of the Ocmulgee River near the present-day city of Macon in Georgia, as can be seen on early English maps. After 1715 they moved to Henry County , Alabama , on the way to their most famous place of residence, the town of Hitchiti on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River , about 6 km below Chiaha . By 1839, all of the tribes in the region had been forcibly relocated and were now living in reservations in what was then Indian territory , now Oklahoma . The Hichiti were gradually integrated here by the Creek Federation.
language
The Hitchiti language was one of the numerous dialects spoken in the Muskogee language family. During the colonial period, many tribes living predominantly in Georgia were among the speakers, such as the Apalachicola , Chiaha , Chiahudshi , Hitchiti, Occonee , Sawokli and Sawokliushi in Georgia and the Miccosukee in Florida. Numerous place names come from this language and scientists suspect that the language family was therefore spread over a much larger area. Hitchiti is related to a similar language, Mikasuki , and speakers of both dialects can communicate with one another. Scientifically, both languages belong to the Hitchiti-Mikasuki and are counted to the eastern subgroup of the large Muskogee language family.
history
Long before the Europeans came to Georgia, the Hitchiti people lived there and their residential area spanned the entire central, southern part of what is now the US state. They were not nomads , although their loved ones roamed all of southern Georgia. The tribe was rarely mentioned in historical documents, and the first record dates back to 1733 when two representatives of their tribe accompanied chiefs down the Creek to meet Governor James Oglethorpe in Savannah . When the US Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins visited the Hitchiti in 1799, he found that the tribe had split into two settlements. The Hitchitudshi or Little Hitchiti lived on both sides of the Flint River below the confluence of the Kinchafoonee Creek , while the Tutalosi settled on Kinchafoonee Creek about 32 km west of the Hitchitudshi.
The Hitchiti language was spoken not only in their settlements on the Chattahoochee River, but also in the towns of the Lower Creek, such as Chiaha , Chiahudshi , Oconee , Sawokli , Sawokliudshi and in Apalachicola , as well as in settlements on the Flint River and with the Mikasuki in Florida . Various place names suggest that Hitchiti was spoken in other areas of Georgia and Florida. This language, which is similar to the idiom of the Creek but has a more archaic form, is also known as the so-called feminine language . The Yamasee may also speak Hitchiti, but there is no clear evidence as to whether they did not speak their own language or the language of the Guale .
The indigenous population of Georgia was forcibly relocated to the Indian territory around 1839. The Hitchiti became part of the Creek Nation, but retained remnants of their language and culture. The Mikasuki, who immigrated to Florida with members of the Lower Creek and formed the people of the Seminole there , were able to reorganize as an independent tribe. They received Florida state recognition in 1957 and state recognition as The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida in 1962 . Some of them still speak their traditional language today, as do some members of the Seminoles. Some descendants of the Hitchiti are now scattered across the state of Georgia.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Hitchiti Indians. Retrieved December 15, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c Hitchiti Indian Tribe. Retrieved December 15, 2016 .
literature
- Frederick W. Hodge: Handbook of American Indians , 1906.
- Raymond D. Fogelson (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 14: Southeast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 2004, ISBN 0-16-072300-0 .