Muscogee (Creek) Nation Health System Muscogee Culture & Traditions

The Muscogee people come from an agriculturally based society in the current Southeastern United States.  This page will provide an overview of some of the basic historical facts of the Muscogee people.

Agriculture
By the time of first contact, the Muscogee people had developed a highly integrated system of hunting, gathering and farming. Each of these activities was a communal effort. All individuals within a tribal town were responsible for some portion of the food gathering. Older boys and men were responsible for hunting and fishing, while women and girls were responsible for gathering and tending the gardens. Small children and the elderly helped to the best of their abilities. This way, food belonged to the entire community and everyone was fed.

The Muscogee people had been cultivating bottle gourds and squash since approximately 1000 B.C. Squash was an important food source, while the gourds were used as water vessels, ladles, cups, bowls, rattles and masks. By 200 A.D. the Muscogee were cultivating a variety of wild seed crops. After 800 A.D., “modern” domesticated corn and beans were common throughout the Southeast.

Methods of gathering food varied according to the yearly cycle. Winter was considered the most important hunting season, while fishing was most productive during the sprint. The first crops were planted during the spring, tended throughout the summer and harvested before the coming fall.

Gathering was important year round, but also followed a seasonal cycle. Spring and summer pickings included wild grapes, blackberries, mulberries, strawberries, apples and plums. By fall, chestnuts, pecans, hickory nuts, black walnuts and acorns were ready for gathering. Sunflower seeds were also easy to harvest and store for the winter.

Contrary to theories which trace North American seed crops from a South American source, it is known that the Southeast was separate center of domestication. Wild gourds, sunflowers and seed plants such as marsh elder and chenopod, were among the first southeastern staple crops. “Modern” corn, or maize, arrived from Mexico around 200 A.D. It quickly became the most important vegetable food in the diet of the Muscogee people, as they learned to prepare it in many ways and utilize it in dozens of unique dishes.

Clans
While families include people who are directly related to each other, clans are composed of all people who are descendants of the same ancestral clan grouping. Each person belongs to the clan of his or her mother, who belongs to the clan of her mother. This is called Matrilineal descent. Fathers are important within the family system; but within the clan, it is the mother’s brother (the mother’s nearest blood relation) who functions as the primary teacher, protector, disciplinarian and role model. Clan members do not claim “blood relation”, but consider each other family due to their membership in the same clan. The same titles are used for both family and clan relations. For example, clan members of approximately the same age consider each other as Brother and Sister, even if they have never met before.

Clan ties are strong. They have served as a traditional bond which continues to unite and empower Muscogee people eve today. The clan system defines the structure of Muscogee society by influencing marriage choices, personal friendships; and political and economic partnerships. Traditionally, members of the same clan are forbidden to marry. It is also considered a serious offense to kill or show disrespect for one’s own clan animal.

Clothing
Ancestral Muscogee peoples wore clothing made of woven plant materials or animal skins, depending upon the climate. During the summer, they preferred lightweight fabrics woven from tree bark, grasses or reeds. During the harsh winters, animal skins and fur were used for their warmth.

During the 1600’s the influence of European fashion became apparent in Southeastern clothing styles. Cloth was more comfortable and colorful than buckskin and quickly became a popular trade item throughout the region. Bolts of cloth could be obtained in a variety of patterns and textures, and allowed an individualized style of dress to evolve. Muscogee people were soon incorporating trade novelties and trinkets such as bells, ribbons, beads and pieces of mirror.

Men began wearing ruffled cloth shirts and jackets, with buckskin or wool leggings. Mens shirts were gathered at the waist by a beaded and tassled sash. Another woven band was worn across the chest or over one shoulder and held a decorative tobacco pouch.

Women began wearing cloth dresses and deep pocketed aprons. They decorated these ruffled dresses with ribbon, and glass and silver trade beads. In their hair they wore silver brooches and colored silk ribbons which hung almost to the ground. Men and women both wore soft deerskin moccasins. These too were decorated, often quite elaborately, with beadwork designs.

Different styles of dress were worn on different occasions. During the ball games, men wore only a breechcloth. These games were very fast paced and extra clothing would only have inhibited movement. During the Green Corn Ceremony, women participated in a special Ribbon Dance. For this special occasion, women wore beautiful dresses covered with flowing ribbons.

During today’s ceremonies, many women still wear their traditional ribbon dresses. Some traditional men’s clothing styles have recently re-emerged in association with particular dances, although most men have now adapted the western styles common today. The cowboy hat, decorated with eagle or crane feathers, long ago replaced the men’s traditional turban.

Early History
According to most traditional legends, the Muscogee people were born from the navel of the earth, a point of origin possibly located with the Rocky Mountains. Various accounts describe how this region eventually became uninhabitable. As a result, the Muscogee people left this land and began to travel towards the rising sun. Their journey led them to the distant region now recognized as the Southeastern United States. Here their communities flourished and they created complex social and political systems. The people of the Muscogee Confederacy were first “encountered” by Europeans during the mid 1500’s.

According to accounts by early explorers and modern archaeologists, the Southeastern Indians had by far the richest culture north of Mexico. Daily life was full of wonder and mystery, but the importance of ritual was tempered by an equally strong belief in reason and justice. Harmony and balance have always been two very important concepts among the Muscogee people. They are exemplified even within the earliest social structures as the people combined work and play, religion and politics and respect for nature as both a teacher and a supplier of needs.

Families
Within Muscogee society, a person is a member of both a family and a clan. The Muscogee family is an “extended” one, including more people than the typical “nuclear” family. Each Muscogee household traditionally consisted of a mother and father, their children (daughters and unmarried sons), the husbands of married daughters, grandchildren and grandparents or other elders (from the mother’s side). This is called a Matrilocal patter – female relatives sty together while men marry into the household (sons move away to the households of their wives).

Traditional roles and responsibilities of family members were not unlike those of most tribal or village cultures. Men primarily hunted, acted as disciplinarians, held council meetings and conducted religious ceremonies. Women primarily gathered and prepared food, conducted household activities and acted as family caregivers. Education was supervised by all family members and each played a part in teaching children the skills and values necessary for becoming a whole and balanced person.

Even the modern Muscogee family is still an “extended” on with strong ties between all blood and clan relations. Family members still functions as the primary educators of Muscogee children, especially concerning aspects of tradition, values and beliefs. Men and women generally share many of the responsibilities that were once gender specific. Both are responsible for getting good, caring for children and acting as disciplinarians. Among traditionalists, however, there remain distinct divisions of men’s and women’s family responsibilities.

Green Corn Ceremony
The Green Corn Ceremony is a celebration of the new corn and the new year. It is a time of forgiveness and purification for both the ceremonial grounds and the Muscogee people. Old ways are cast aside as the new year marks a fresh start and new beginning. Every aspect of the ceremony is in some way symbolic of the purification and cleansing that is taking place.

The name of this ceremony references its connection with the annual harvest of New (Green) Corn. This ripening and harvest usually occurs in July or August, and none is eaten before this time. Such thanksgiving and celebration of a single crop is not unusual considering its traditional importance. Corn was by far the most dependable food source as it produced even when other crops failed or hunting was unsuccessful. Corn could be prepared in a variety of ways and could be used in numerous dishes. Even today corn remains a primary food source, because of both its nutritional value and traditional importance.

The ceremony is also referred to as the Posketv or Busk, which means “to fast”. Fastin occurs in two ways; first as the community abstains from eating all new corn until the harvest celebration marked by the Green Corn and second as participants abstain from all food and consume only a traditional herbal drink, a powerful emetic which serves to cleanse the body both physically and spiritually. According to traditionalists, the purpose of this medicine is to purify the people, so that they will be in an acceptable mental and physical state to receive the blessings of the new year.

Purification is the major theme of the ceremony. Participants are expected to lay aside ill feelings, forgive wrongs done to them and forget the conflicts of the previous year. It is believed that all people should act with the kind of honest motivation that can come only from a pure heart and mind. By designating this time for cleansing, they renew such purity for another year and continue an ancient and vital celebration of life.

Nature
All Southeastern tribes possess a rich and complex tradition of looking to nature for guidance and inspiration. The Muscogee people have long been recognized as astute observers of the natural world. Every aspect of their environment, from basic botany to astronomy, was at some point studied and explained. All of creation was viewed as a web, and interwoven network of existence. Each creature was in some way inter-related with other creations and none could exist alone.

Like other living beings, animals were viewed as having unique abilities and characteristics which determined their purpose in life. Some animals, such as wolves and owls, were believed to possess extraordinary powers which could be used to benefit or punish human beings, depending on how they had been treated. Other animals, such as the turtle, were used as ceremonial symbols because of their special abilities.

The cycle of life could also be observed in all plants and animals. By noticing changes in their environment, Muscogee people learned when to hunt, when to plant and when to begin building shelters for winter. By studying the world around them, they learned where to find water, how to forecast the weather and what plants were good to eat. Nature was, and is, a great teacher. Traditionalists say that most people have simply forgotten how to observe.

The ability to forecast the weather was a great asset to the Muscogee people, as they lived so closely with the land. Only by preparing for inclement weather could they ensure the community’s food supply, shelter and safety. As a result, weather was one of the most studied aspects of nature. Muscogee men and women observed many signs and omens which they believed could help them in predicting the coming weather.

Number Four
The number four was sacred among many of the early Southeastern cultures. Four was viewed as the most natural and harmonious number, a means of division for both time and space. The universe itself consisted of four cardinal directions (which together composed the realm of earthly space). Time was divided according to the four consecutive seasons which demonstrated the perpetual cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth. The number four thus represented the totality of creation.

Beliefs concerning the number four were not superstitious or folklorish; four was not a “lucky” number. All things consisting of four parts were considered to be especially stable and harmonious. Even domestic activities were sometimes regulated by a concern for this “rightness”. House posts were used in multiples of four (12 or 16) to make their dwelling places balanced and stable in both the physical and spiritual worlds. Ceremonial events were usually planned to include four specific activities, be conducted by four primary leaders, or last for a total of four days. Each instance of “four” lent a special air of harmony to life. In this way, aspects of the sacred blended with everyday tasks and responsibilities.

The Green Corn Ceremony of today still exhibits many of these early traditional beliefs. At some of the ceremonial grounds, four arbors are constructed according to the four cardinal directions. The “new fire” is built with four logs representing the four directions and the four corners of the world.

According to traditional Muscogee burial customs, watch is kept over a body for four days and nights. A fire is kept burning for these four days as well, allowing the spirit time to reach the passage to the sky.

Time
The Muscogee people did not traditionally recognize seven “days” per “week”. Time was measured according to natural phenomena, with “day” meaning the time from one sunrise to another. The next unit of time, similar to week but not exactly like it, was measured by phases of the moon. Approximately 7-8 days pass between each of the four moon phases.

In studying the Muscogee terms for months and seasons, we are reminded that long before there were words to describe the cycles of nature, such cycles existed and were experienced and adapted to. Among the Muscogee, changes in climate influenced many aspects of life including what they wore, what foods were available to eat, which animals could be hunted and what types of community activities should take place. The scheduling of ceremonies was generally determined by the appearance and movement of stellar objects.

Months were designated by the completion of moon phases, each complete cycle lasting 28 to 30 days. Each month was equal to the time which passed between one full moon to the next. The Muscogee term for each of these months describes a natural event which is occurring during the time of the year. During Ke Hvse (May) the mulberries ripen, while the first frost is usually during Ehole (November).

Sometimes only two seasons were acknowledged: the cold season and the warm season. More often however, reference is made to four seasons generally corresponding to Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. There are two primary differences between the Muscogee and European concepts:

1. Traditionally, the Muscogee year begins with Hiyuce (July), the completion of the harvest, and is marked by the Green Corn Ceremony.

2. Seasons did not begin and end on specific calendar days. For example, Tasahce (Spring) began when the days became warmer, the birds began to sing, flowers started growing and trees became green again. It ended when days became even hotter and the berries and fruit began to ripen (compare this to current calendars which designate March 20 to June 21 as “spring”).

Tribal Towns
The Muscogee people were originally, and still, organized by membership in a specific Tribal Town or Tvlwv. Each Town acted as both an independent community and a member of the larger Confederacy of Muscogee tribes. Some early reports indicate that only 18 Towns actually existed, although this number grew rapidly after European contact. Each town was distinguished as either Red or White (red towns typically addressed issues of war, while white towns were concerned with matters of peace).

Each Town possessed a “sacred fire” which had been given to them in the beginning and was kept and rekindled periodically. This fire was believed to be a link which connected the physical and spiritual worlds. The fire supplied heat and light for both the households and the community ceremonies, as the sun supplied these things so that all life forms might flourish and continue. For the Muscogee people, the sun and the sacred fire within the ceremonial ring (paskofv) are the same; both are considered to be male forces and so are a part of the male ritual domain (the sacred fire is even referred to as poca-grandfather). The fire, like an ancestor or tribal elder, must be treated with respect.

Today there are 14 active ceremonial grounds. Each still maintains a sacred fire, which in many cases was brought from the east during Removal. The communities associated with these grounds act both independently and as part of the Muscogee Nation, and serve many of the same political and spiritual purposes as the original Tribal Towns.

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

- William James

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