Evening journal., 1888-12-22
AN INDIAN STORY.
CONCERNING THE cHlcKAsAws,
cHocTAWS AND cHERokEES.

Together with Some Historical Data and
Some Facts Of Interest About tho Indian
Territory and It's Inhabitants-The Chero-
kee Alphabet.
The recently threatened trouble in the
Choctaw- -Chickasaw confederacy Of tho
Indian territory over tho disputed cleo
ton Of governor has again called the
attention Of tho American people
to the curious fact that they havo
ia their area o large region that is
neither a territory, district nor q state,
but merely a congerios OF separately in
dependent nations under the protectorato
Of the United States government. The
history Of these several nations, their de-
velopment and the peculiar character
Of their government together constitute
a remarkable romance in American
history There are, Ia fact, in the
Indian Territory four nations, each with
government republican in form and
yet preserving aboriginal titles Thus in
the Creek nation tho chief executive is
called the principal chief; the lieutenant
governor, ag Americans would say, Is
second chief Tho upper house Of the
legislature is called the house Of kings
and tho lower tho house Of warriors
A similar organization, varying but
slightly in names, prevails in the Chero-
kec, Seminole and Choctaw-C Chickasaw
nations. The Choctaws number about
10000 and the Chickasaws about 0,000
These two formerly distinct but kindred
tribes arc now united in the Indian ter
ritory.
The Creeks are the remnants Of a great
whose traditions run back for several hum
dred years to time when they occupied
a region in the far west and northwest
From there they commenced moving
eastward and southwark, fighting other
Indian nations as they came. If nation
submitted they despoiled it and moved
on; If it fought them to the bitter end
they adopted its principal warriors rs
citizens. The result was that when they
reached their permanent sCsRemcnt in
Mississippi and Alabama they consisted
Of five separate peoples-the Coweetas,
Hitchitees, Nachees, Uehees and Ali
bamons, and four different Inn
guages arc spoken in the Mus
kokee nation today. Tho Cowee-
tas and Hitchitees are considered the
original liuskokees. The Uchees, Mach
ees and Alibamons are absorbed tribes.
In the principal school of the Creek ma
ton the boys on arrival speak their sep
arate languages. Each of the forty
towns in tho Creek or Muskokee nation
sends one member TO the house Of war
riors, and each Is entitled to have one
boy and one girl supported in the princi-
pal school, known as the Tallahassee
mission. In four towns the Uchee Is
spoken with very little mixture Of Creek,
so Uchee boy, who goes to the principal
school, really has to learn two languages
before his education begins.
After being thoroughly conquered and
almost exterminated by Gen. jackson the
Creeks removed during his administra-
ton to the territory they now occupy,
and since then their progress In civiliza-
ton has been commercially rapid, so that
they now own about $4,000,000 worth Of
property.
The Cherokees have been known for a
hundred years rs the aristocracy Of the
North American Indians, and by a rare
conjunction of circumstances their his
tory is known to us for nearly 300 years.
When the white people landed upon the
Atlantic coast they found an Indian race
calling themselves Waupanuckee, who
extended from New York to South Caro-
lima. The tribe now called the Della
wares has claimed, and Is conceded bv
the other Indians, to have been the
original stock of the Waupanuckee; and
from them the Powhatan Indians Of
Virginia and the Cherolees are de-
scended. After various wars with the