page_title: Creek War
section_title: Cultural assimilation and religious revival
hierarchical_section_title: Creek War / Background / Cultural assimilation and religious revival
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Benjamin Hawkins (1754-1818) on his plantation along the Flint River in central Georgia. Hawkins is seen teaching Creek Indians how to use a plow. Behind Hawkins, a Creek Indian carries a basket of corn from the back of a wagon. On the other side, a Creek mother nurses her child. The background is dotted with farm animals and small buildings along the Flint River.
context_page_description: The Creek War, also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in today's Alabama and along the Gulf Coast. The major conflicts of the war took place between state militia units and the "Red Stick" Creeks.
  The Creek War was part of the centuries-long American Indian Wars. It is usually considered part of the War of 1812 because it was influenced by Tecumseh's War in the Old Northwest, was concurrent with the American-British war and involved many of the same participants, and the Red Sticks had sought British support and aided Admiral Cochrane's advance towards New Orleans.
  The Creek War began as a conflict within the Creek Confederation, but local white militia units quickly became involved. British traders in Florida as well as the Spanish government provided the Red Sticks with arms and supplies because of their shared interest in preventing the expansion of the United States into their areas. The United States government formed an alliance with the Choctaw Nation and Cherokee Nation, along with the remaining Creeks to put down the rebellion.
context_section_description: The splintering of the Creek peoples along progressive and nativist lines had roots dating back to the eighteenth century, but came to a head after 1811. Red Stick militancy was a response to the economic and cultural crises in Creek society caused by the adoption of Western trade goods and culture. From the sixteenth century, the Creek had formed successful trade alliances with European empires, but the drastic fall in the price of deerskin from 1783 to 1793 made it more difficult for individuals to repay their debt, while at the same time the assimilation process made American goods more necessary. The Red Sticks particularly resisted the civilization programs administered by the U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins, who had stronger alliances among the towns of the Lower Creek. Some of the "progressive" Creek began to adopt American farming practices as their game disappeared, and as more Anglo settlers assimilated into Creek towns and families.
  Leaders of the Lower Creek towns in present-day Georgia included Bird Tail King (Fushatchie Mico) of Cusseta; Little Prince (Tustunnuggee Hopoi) of Broken Arrow, and William McIntosh (Tunstunuggee Hutkee, White Warrior) of Coweta.  Many of the most prominent Creek chiefs before the Creek War were "mixed-bloods" like William McGillivray and William McIntosh (who were on opposing sides of the Creek Civil War).
  Before the Creek War and the War of 1812, most US politicians saw removal to be the only alternative to the assimilation of native peoples into Western culture. The Creeks, on the other hand, blended their own culture with adopted trade goods and political terms, and had no intention of abandoning their land.
  The Americanization of the Creeks was more prevalent in western Georgia among the Lower Creeks than in Upper Creek Towns, and came from internal and external processes. The US government's and Benjamin Hawkins' pressure on the Creeks to assimilate stood in contrast to the more natural blending of cultures that came from a long tradition of cohabitation and cultural appropriation, beginning with white traders in Indian country.
  The Shawnee leader Tecumseh came to the area to encourage the peoples to join his movement to throw the Americans out of Native American territories. He had united tribes in the Northwest (Ohio and related territories) to fight against US settlers after the War for Independence. In 1811, Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa attended the annual Creek council at Tukabatchee. Tecumseh delivered an hour-long speech to an audience of 5,000 Creeks as well as an American delegation including Hawkins. Although the Americans dismissed Tecumseh as non-threatening, his message of resistance to Anglo encroachment was well received among Creek and Seminole, especially among more conservative/traditional elders and young men.
  Mobilization of recruits to Tecumseh's cause was bolstered by the Great Comet of 1811 and the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811–12, which were taken as evidence of Tecumseh's supernatural powers. The war party rallied around prophets who had traveled with Tecumseh, and remained with the Creek, and influenced newly converted Creek religious leaders. Peter McQueen of Talisi (now Tallassee, Alabama); Josiah Francis (Hillis Hadjo) (Francis the Prophet) of Autaga, a Koasati town; and High-head Jim (Cusseta Tustunnuggee) and Paddy Walsh, both Alabamas, were among the spiritual leaders responding to rising concerns and the prophetic message. The militant faction of Creek stood in opposition of the Creek Confederacy Council's official policies, particularly in regard to foreign relations with the United States. The rising war party began to be called Red Sticks at this time. (In Creek culture, red 'sticks' or war clubs symbolize war while white sticks represent peace.)
caption: Painting (1805) of Benjamin Hawkins on his plantation, instructing Muscogee Creek in European technology
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