Open Collections

Droe, Anj

Database of Religious History (DRH)

The Creek (preferred name “Mvskoke Creek”) is a multiethnic Native American society composed of multiple tribes, the majority of which currently reside in Oklahoma, in the United States of America. This entry focuses on ethnographic evidence that reconstructs Creek life and beliefs in 1800, prior to the reservation era, at which time the Creek lived in what is now Georgia and eastern Alabama. Beginning in 1680 and continuing through 1830, the Creek formed and maintained a powerful coalition of four main tribes, known as the Creek Confederacy. As relations with the United States grew more strained following the Revolutionary War, the Creek Confederacy was forced to cede land and move to Indian Territory in Oklahoma in the 1830s. In 1898, the tribal governments were forced to dissolve. Most members of the Mvskoke Creek remain in Oklahoma today. In 1800, when the Creek Confederacy was still in power, contact with other cultures occurred primarily through warfare, or through missionary presence in the region. However, most of the Creek still practiced the traditional indigenous religion. While a supreme high god was present, Creek religion was primarily focused on a diverse assortment of non-human supernatural beings, many of whom took the form of animals. All sentient beings, as well as some inanimate objects (including geographical features) were believed to possess a spiritual soul, and a spiritual power was believed to be ubiquitous. This power was used by religious leaders for primarily healing and other medical purposes, so much so that medicine and religion were essentially inseparable. For the Creek, religious beliefs were inseparable from almost all aspects of social and political life. Therefore, this entry considers the religious group to be coterminous with the society at large.

Other

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0423125

Non UBC

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/