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Yuchi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the language spoken by the Yuchi, seeYuchi language.For other uses, seeYuchi (disambiguation).
Yuchi
Tsoyaha
Yuchi people dancing
the Big Turtle dance, 1909
Total population
2010: 623[1]
Regions with significant populations
United StatesUnited States
Today:Oklahoma
Historically:Tennessee,laterAlabamaandGeorgia
Languages
English,formerlyYuchi
Religion
Christianity(Methodist),Stomp Dance,
Native American Church[2]
Related ethnic groups
Muscogee people[2]

TheYuchi people[4]are aNative Americantribebased inOklahoma.Their original homeland was in the southeast of the present United States.

In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the easternTennessee Rivervalley inTennessee.In the late 17th century, they moved south toAlabama,Georgia,andSouth Carolina,settling near theMuscogee Creek people.[2][5]Some also migrated to the panhandle of Florida. After suffering many fatalities fromepidemicdisease and warfare in the 18th century, several surviving Yuchi bands wereremovedtoIndian Territoryin the 1830s, together with their allies the Muscogee Creek.[2]

Today, the Yuchi live primarily in the northeasternOklahomaarea, where many are enrolled citizens of thefederally recognizedMuscogee (Creek) Nation.They maintain a distinct cultural identity, and some speak theYuchi language,alinguistic isolate.[2]

Name

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Original territory of the Yuchi tribe

The termYuchitranslated to "over there sit/live" or "situated yonder." Theirautonym,or name for themselves,TsoyahaorCoyaha,means "Children of the Sun." Their language is an isolate. TheShawneecalled themTahokale,and theCherokeecall themAniyutsi.[6]

History

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At the time of first European contact, the Yuchi people lived in what is now easternTennessee.[5]In 1541,SpanishexplorerHernando de Sotodescribed them as a powerful tribe known as theUchi,that were also associated with theChiscatribe.

Both historical andarchaeologicalevidence exists documenting several Yuchi towns of the 18th century. Among these was Chestowee in present-dayBradley County, Tennessee.In 1714, instigated by two Englishfur tradersfromSouth Carolina,theCherokeeattacked and destroyed Chestowee. The Cherokee were prepared to carry their attacks further to Yuchi settlements south on theSavannah River,but the colonial government of South Carolina did not condone this. The Cherokee destruction of Chestowee marked their emergence as a major power in theSoutheast.[7][page needed]

"Youchine" (Yuchi) on anc. 1724annotated copy of aCatawbadeerhidemap of thetribesbetweenCharleston(left) andVirginia(right) following the displacements of a century ofdisease,enslavement,and the 1715–17Yamasee War

Yuchi towns were later documented in western South Carolina and northern Georgia, where the tribe had migrated to escape pressure from the Cherokee. "Mount Pleasant" was noted as being on theSavannah Riverin present-dayEffingham County, Georgia,from about 1722 to about 1750. To take advantage of trade, the British established atrading postand small military garrison there, which they called Mount Pleasant.[8]

"Euchee Town" (also called Uche Town), a large settlement on theChattahoochee River,was documented from the middle to late 18th century. It was located near Euchee (or Uche) Creek, about ten miles downriver from the Muscogee Creek settlement ofCowetaOld Town. ThenaturalistWilliam Bartramvisited Euchee Town in 1778. In his letters he ranked it as the largest and most compact Indian town he had ever encountered, with large, well-built houses.[8][9]US Indian agentBenjamin Hawkinsalso visited the town and described the Yuchi as "more orderly and industrious" than the other tribes of theMuscogee Creek Confederacy.The Yuchi began to move on, some into the Florida panhandle.

Yuchi Town,painting by Martin Pate (1990) of an 18th-century village, based on archaeological data. The site of Yuchi Town is within the area of present-dayFort Moore,Georgia.

In the late 18th century, English colonists noted Patsiliga, a settlement on theFlint River.Other Yuchi settlements may have been those villages noted on theOconee Rivernear Uchee Creek inWilkinson County, Georgia,and on Brier Creek inBurkeorScrevencounties, also in Georgia. A Yuchi town was known to exist from 1746 to 1751 at the site of present-day Silver Bluff inAiken County, South Carolina,which developed in the later 18th century.[8]

During the 18th century, the Yuchi established an alliance with white settlers in theSouthern Colonies,trading deerskins andIndian slaveswith them. The Yuchi population plummeted during the 18th century due toEurasianinfectious diseases,to which they had no immunity, and to war with the Cherokee, who were moving into their territory. After theAmerican Revolution,Yuchi people maintained close relations with the Muscogee Creek Confederacy, into which federally recognized members were later absorbed. In the late 18th century, some Yuchi migrated south to Florida along with the Muscogee, where they became part of the newly formedSeminolepeople.[10]

During theCreek Warof 1813–1814, which overlapped theWar of 1812,many Yuchi joined theRed Sticksparty, traditionalists opposed to the Muscogee people of the Lower Towns, who had adopted aspects ofEuropean-Americanculture. Euchee Town decayed. The Yuchi tribe became one of the poorest of the Muscogee communities, at the same time gaining a bad reputation.[9]Thearchaeological siteof the town, designated aNational Historic Landmark,is within the boundaries of present-dayFort Moore,Georgia.

In the 1830s, the US government forcibly removed the Yuchi, along with the Muscogee, from Alabama and Georgia toIndian Territory(present dayOklahoma), west of the Mississippi River. The Yuchi settled in the north and northwestern parts of the Muscogee Nation. Three tribal towns which the Yuchi established there in the 19th century continue today: Duck Creek, Polecat, and Sand Creek.[2][10]

Second Seminole War

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Prior to 1818 some Yuchi moved to nearLake Miccosukeein northern Florida, settling near Muscogee refugees.Andrew Jackson's invasion of the area during theFirst Seminole Warresulted in the Yuchi moving to eastern Florida. They fought alongside the Seminole during theSecond Seminole Warunder their chiefUchee Billy.He was captured in 1837 with his brother Jack by GeneralJoseph Marion Hernandez,who also capturedOsceola.[11]The two leaders were imprisoned for years inFort MarioninSt. Augustine, Florida.[12]

From 1890 to 1895, theDawes Commissionconsidered the Yuchi in Indian Territory to be an autonomous tribe. It registered tribal members preparatory to allotment of communal tribal lands in Indian Territory to individual households of members. Some 1200 tribal members were registered in those years. The Dawes Commission later decided to legally classify the Yuchi as part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, in an effort to simplify the process of land allotment. But this decision interrupted the autonomy of the people and their record of historical continuity as a recognized tribe.[13]

Current status

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A Yuchi flute

The Yuchi people are enrolled infederally recognized tribes,particularly theMuscogee (Creek) Nation,who host the Euchee Language Program.[14]

In the 1990s, the Yuchi Tribal Organization based inSapulpa, Oklahoma,petitioned the US federal government to gain federal recognition as an independent tribe. In 2000, theBureau of Indian Affairsdenied the petition.[15]

As of 1997, the Yuchi tribe had a formal enrollment of 249 members. Other Yuchi descendants are already enrolled in other tribes, such as the Muscogee. Most Yuchi are of multi-tribal descent; some are citizens of other tribes, such as theShawnee.[citation needed]

The Euchee Tribe of Indians, while not federally recognized, has their headquarters inSapulpa, Oklahoma.Their tribal chairmen are co-chairs Felix Brown Jr. and Clinton Sago.[16]

James Anaya,United Nations(UN) Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, visited the Yuchi community. Tracie Revis (Yuchi) gave a speech defining the importance of federal recognition. He acknowledged the declaration by theUN on the Rights of Indigenous Peoplethat states "that we have the right ofself-determinationand by virtue of that right- we may freely determine our political status and freely pursue our economic, social and cultural development. "[17]

An estimated 2,000 persons are ethnically Yuchi. They are descendants of some 1,100 persons recorded by theIndian Claims Commissionin 1950, which was settling compensation claims dating from allotments.[18]

The Yuchi continue their important ceremonies, such as theGreen Corn Ceremonyof late summer. They maintain three ceremonial grounds in Oklahoma. Some members belong to theNative American ChurchandMethodistcongregations.[2]

In 2008, the Yuchi tribe received a grant from PresidentGeorge W. Bush's administration for a Native Americans Comprehensive Community Survey and Plan. The grant was used to developed the Tribal History Project, which began in October 2010.[18]

TheHuman Genome Projectacknowledged the importance of the Yuchi's distinct culture and language and approached the Yuchi in order to collect genetic data (DNA).[19]The Yuchi tribe declined to participate in the Project due to cultural conflict and uncertainty among members over the uses of government ownership of tribal DNA.[19]

Yuchi language

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Sisters Maxine Wildcat Barnett (left) and Josephine Wildcat Bigler; two among the elderly speakers of Yuchi, visiting their grandmother's grave in a cemetery behind Pickett Chapel in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. According to the sisters, their grandmother had insisted that Yuchi be their first language.

TheYuchi languageis alinguistic isolate,not known to be related to any other language.[2]In 2000 the estimated number of fluent Yuchi speakers was 15, but this number dwindled to 7 by 2006.[20]According to a 2011 documentary on the Yuchi language, the number of first-language speakers had declined to five by 2011.[21]

Young Yuchi people have learned the language in recent years and are continuing to do so.[22]Yuchi language classes are being taught inSapulpa, Oklahoma,in an effort led by Richard Grounds and the Euchee Language Project.[20]As of 2011, the Administration for Native Americans awarded the Yuchi tribe a grant for the years 2011 to 2014 in an effort to provide after-school programs for youth to improve proficiency in their native language and develop a young generation of speakers.[23]

The Yuchi people and language are featured in a chapter inMark Abley'sSpoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages(2003), a book onendangered languages.

Notable people

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^"2010 Census CPH-T-6. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010".Census.gov.RetrievedAugust 2,2015.
  2. ^abcdefghJackson, Jason Baird."Yuchi (Euchee)."Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  3. ^Clark, Patricia Roberts (21 October 2009).Tribal Names of the Americas: Spelling Variants and Alternative Forms, Cross-Referenced.McFarland. p. 11.ISBN978-0-7864-5169-2.
  4. ^OrEuchee,Uchee,Achee.[3]
  5. ^abJackson 416
  6. ^Jackson, pp. 427–28
  7. ^Gallay, Alan (2002).The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670-1717.Yale University Press.ISBN0-300-10193-7.
  8. ^abcDaniel T. Elliott and Rita Folse Elliott, "Mount Pleasant. An Eighteenth-Century Yuchi Indian Town, British Trader Outpost, and Military Garrison in Georgia",Watkinsville, GA: LAMAR Institute Publications, 1990
  9. ^abJohn T. Ellisor,The Second Creek War,p. 31
  10. ^abJackson 415
  11. ^Mahon, John K. (1985) [1967].History of the Second Seminole War, 1835-1842(Revised ed.). Gainesville: University Presses of Florida. pp. 6, 212.ISBN0813001544.OCLC12315671.
  12. ^Army and Navy Chronicle,Volumes 4-5, edited by Benjamin Homans, pp. 203-4
  13. ^"Euchee Tribe".Eucheetribe.
  14. ^"Euchee Language Program".Muscogee (Creek) Nation.Retrieved24 March2021.
  15. ^"Petitioner #121: Yuchi Tribal Organization, OK".Bia.gov.21 March 2000.Retrieved24 March2021.
  16. ^"Oklahoma's Tribal Nations."Archived2010-03-28 at theWayback MachineOklahoma Indian Affairs Commission.2010 (retrieved 10 April 2010)
  17. ^"REPORT FROM THE EUCHEE (YUCHI) TRIBE OF INDIANS".Eucheetribe.
  18. ^ab"Euchee Tribe of Indians"(PDF).Ok.gov.
  19. ^abGrounds, Richard A. (Summer 1996)."The Yuchi Community and the Human Genome Diversity Project: Historic and Contemporary Ironies".Cultural Survival Quarterly.
  20. ^abAnderton, Alice, PhD."Status of Indian Languages in Oklahoma",Intertribal Wordpath Society, Ahalenia, 2006-2009 (retrieved 7 Feb 2009)
  21. ^Harjo, Sterlin and Matt LeachWe Are Still Here,This Land Press, 8 July 2011 (retrieved 8 July 2011)
  22. ^Associated Press, "Scientists Race Around World to Save Dying Languages",viaFox News,2007-09-18. Accessed 2007-09-19.
  23. ^"Current ANA Grants Awarded Prior to FY 2012".Acf.hhs.gov.January 3, 2013.

Bibliography

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  • Jackson, Jason Baird. "Yuchi."Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast.Eds. William C. Sturtevant and Raymond D. Fogelson. Volume 14. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004.ISBN0-16-072300-0.

Further reading

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  • Mark Abley,Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages,Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
  • Jason Jackson,Yuchi Ceremonial Life: Performance, Meaning, and Tradition in a Contemporary American Indian Community,University of Nebraska Press, 2003.
  • Jason Baird Jackson (ed.),Yuchi Indian Histories Before the Removal Era.Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2012.
  • Frank Speck,Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians(reprint),University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
  • Daniel Elliott,Ye Pleasant Mount: 1989&1990 Excavations.The LAMAR Institute, University of Georgia, 1991.
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