In 1890, the Creek population stood at 9,639 Indians and 4,203 freed slaves. In 1859, their population had declined to 13,573. By 1798 there were about l6,000 Creeks and they numbered 21,792 just prior to removal in 1832. By 1764, their population rebounded to about l0,500. In 1715 the Creeks numbered about 8, 500 persons and reached their nadir in the 1720s and 1730s with only about 4,000-5,000 people. Based on the fragmentary evidence, their number was at least ten times as high as during the eighteenth century. 1540) for the groups who later constituted the Creek Confederacy. No reliable overall population estimates exist from the early contact period (c. This territory largely lay in the Appalachian piedmont between 30 ° to 35 ° N and 82 ° to 87 ° W.ĭemography. The Creeks aboriginally claimed most of the modern state of Georgia and the eastern portions of current Alabama in the southeastern United States. Important tribal divisions are referred to as the Lower and Upper Creeks, by British and American sources, or Coweta (Kawita), Cosa (Kusa), Talapusa, and Alabama by the Spanish and the people themselves. The tribal government prefers Mvskoke Creek in the twenty-first century. They call themselves "Muskogee" or "Muskoke, " which is of foreign origin and unknown meaning. The name "Creek" derives from the eighteenth century British usage 'Ocheesee Creek Indians, " referring to those Creeks then resident on the Ocheesee (now Ocmulgee) River. The Creek are a multiethnic American Indian nation living primarily in central Oklahoma, with a small remnant population in Alabama. I will repeat it until I too am free.ETHNONYMS: Muskogee, Muscogee, Muskoke, Mvskoke Creeks, Coweta, Caveta, Talapoosa, Tallapusa, Talaposa, Apihka, Abehka, Arbeka, Coosa, Cosa, Alabama Orientation Her powerful poem-prayer holds the promise and the path of liberation. “If we can name it we can tame it,” – they say. Joy Harjo helps name what feels so big and unnamable. They grip us, they leave us speechless, echoing in our bones with frightening remembering. Trauma, fear, and loss often have overwhelming and wordless quality. Her mother lost her father and her husband to the political system that was too brutal to conquer…. My grandmother lost her father to repressions, lived through World War II, and lived in Soviet Union, always remembering that anything can happen at any moments. I reflect on the deep learned fear that my ancestors develop as a way of survival. Being originally from Russia, the war in Ukraine is devastating on many levels that is hard to put into words. This poem comes at an important time in my life as I am grappling with deep, intergenerational transmission of fear and loss. I have been inspired by the life story and resilience of Joy Harjo and her witchcraft of weaving life into words. Joy Harjo, together with Mary Oliver, are my favorite poets too. Thank you for sharing this powerful poem and your reflections. They are both PhD s and a pride to indigenous people everywhere. They sing a beautiful healing song that gives me goosebumps everytime they sing it. And so like the poet I need to cast out the fear and stand in my power.Īs a side note I wonder if you know of Joanne and Leah Shenandoah. The fear passed down from generations of women who could not support themselves and married violent alcoholics was passed down to me in the form of fiercely holding on to my salary but I am not that woman and that is not my fear. And I need to let my husband be the net for once. I fully believe that when I let go the Universe will catch me. I wrote down the poem and I am going to use it in meditation. I am afraid to be hungry and to lose things I have worked 30 years to gain but at the same time I want a simpler life where I care for myself for once. I feel stuck, and afraid as I try to let go of the old me and birth the new me. I have called out of work the last two days because after 30 years as an RN I just can’t face the current situation that Healthcare is in and the way it makes me feel. This poem comes at just the right time in my life.
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