Alabama (Alibama [1] , Alabama; Alabama : Albaamaha ) - the native Indians of the North American continent , historically inhabiting the southern part of the modern US state of Alabama , live today with their close coasachis on the Texas reservation Of Polk County [2] near Livingston [1] .
| Alabama | |
|---|---|
| Modern self-name | Albaamaha |
| Total: 170 (2010) | |
| Tongue | Alabama , English |
| Included in | |
| Related peoples | coasati |
Content
Ethnonym
There are about 30 tribal names [2] . Frederick Hodge gave them the name Alibam to distinguish them from other tribes [3] . There are at least two translations of the ethnonym: 1) from abibamy (“place of rest” / “parking”); 2) from the Choctaw tongue alba ayamule (“I clear the thicket”) [1] [2] . In 1921, T. M. Owen, director of the Alabama State Department of Archives and History, noted that the name came from a combination of words and means “collectors of vegetation” [4] / “collectors of weed” [1] .
The ethnonym of the tribe is borrowed for the name of the river , the state in the USA [1] .
Language and Strength
They speak the dialect of the Choktav language (Koasati) of the Muskog language family [2] , although the proximity to the Koasati language is less than 50% [5] . Alabama is classified on a branch [5] :
- East
- central
- Apalachi-Alabama-coasati,
- alabama coasati.
Perhaps he had in common with the extinct languages of Tuskege and Muklas; it is close to the languages of coasati, hitichi , choktu [6] . The language is not extinct, it is spoken, textbooks and dictionaries are published [1] [5] .
In 1969, the population of the Alabama-Coasatis reservation was approximately 450 people [2] . In 2005, the names of more than a thousand Alabama-koasati, of which at least 500 live on the reservation, are recorded in a tribal scroll [4] . In 2000, 460 people were registered, in 2010 - 170 people [5] .
Culture
Alabama Indians, screams , Mabila , Chocto belong to the southeastern Indians of the United States [1] . Alabama has many common customs with the Indians screaming , but with some features. Marriages outside the clan were considered important, inheritance went along the female line. Unlike the screams, the Alabama Indians did not leave the elderly to wait for death. Each clan of the tribe was ruled by matriarchs who elected the chief leader of the entire Miko tribe. She, in turn, appointed the commander of the Tustenuggi [2] .
In every city of Alabama, there was a ceremonial center with a posted emblem. It consisted of a round rotunda (for rituals and important meetings), the entrance of which is oriented to the east, a square of the earth (with four houses on the cardinal points) and a platform for playing chunks [7] .
Most of its early history, Alabama lived in villages, cultivated crops in the upper reaches of the Alabama River, where today the center is the city of the same name [1] . According to the notes of the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto , the early settlements of Alabama were surrounded by a picket fence: the village of Ullibahali lay behind a wooden fence, smeared with clay on both sides, in which slots for archers were made [2] .
Religious beliefs of Alabama were associated with a certain connection with heaven or the sun [8] .
Today, two churches stand on the reservation territory [4] . Every year on the first weekend of June, members of the reservation celebrate the traditional Pow-Wow holiday [4] .
History
First Testimony
When de Soto explored the southeast in 1541, the city of Alibamo named by him today is located in the state of Mississippi [2] . The Spanish conquerors did not disturb the Alabama tribe in search of gold [8] . Even less is known about the location of Alabama until 1701, when the French entered the Gulf of Mobile . The French colonist, the governor of French Louisiana, Jean-Baptiste Le Mont de Benville, discovered " on the shores of many neighboring islands savage places abandoned after the war with ... alibamos ." The French built the fort of Toulouse in 1717 between the rivers Kusa and Tallapusa [8] , established a relative peace [2] .
Since 1763, Alabama and Coasati began to leave their homes in connection with the development of the " deer economy " Tied to trade with Europeans. This led to the shooting of animals and the conflict over hunting areas. Trade brought the necessary goods and equipment to the Indians, but also made them dependent on trade. The killing of animals led to disastrous results comparable to the extermination of bison on the plains [4] .
In 1763, under the Paris Peace Treaty after the Franco-Indian War, control of the French possessions in America, including the areas inhabited by Alabama, passed to Great Britain [4] . When Fort Toulouse was abandoned in 1783, part of the tribe moved to the banks of the Mississippi River , 96.5 km above New Orleans . Later, some people moved to the west of Louisiana , to Indiana (now Oklahoma ) to shout , to the Texas County Regiment [2] . The people remaining in Alabama fought along with shouts in the Crick War of 1813-1814 [1] .
In 1811, the great Shawnee leader and British ally, Tecumseh, asked the Alabama tribe to join their union to discourage US expansion. Since Tecumse’s parents came from those shauni who once lived on the Tallapusa River, he was well received [8]
XIX century
In the first half of the 19th century, the Congress of the Republic of Texas allocated land on the Trinity River for the Alabama and Coasati tribes. However, these lands were appropriated by European settlers, and the tribes remained landless until 1854, when, at the insistence of Governor Sam Houston, Texas acquired 1280 acres of land for the Alabama tribe, the number of which was reduced to 340 people. Houston also wanted to acquire 640 acres for koasati, but the legislature did not make the purchase. Culturally and kindred with Alabama, some Koasati people moved to live in Alabama, most returned to Louisiana, near Kinder . For 74 years, the Alabama-Coasatian settlement survived on its own without any state or state support. The main source of food was the Big Siket forests, until a ban on hunting in these places appeared. Then illness and hunger mowed half of the Indian population [2] .
XX — XXI centuries
In 1924, North American Indians received civil rights [4] . Indians were not allowed to military operations in World War I, and 47 members of the reservation served in the armed forces during World War II [4] .
In 1928, federal and local funds sent forces to improve the lives of Indians. The U.S. government bought 3,071 acres of land near historic roads to set up the only Texas reservation for Alabama and Coasati. Nowadays, the plan remains the idea of acquiring another 3,000 acres to create a large Big Set State Park [2] .
Tourism is an important aspect of the reservation economy, where a museum, shops are opened, and events attractive to tourists are celebrated [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Carl Waldman. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes . - Infobase Publishing, 2014 .-- 386 p. - ISBN 9781438110103 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Jan Onofrio. Dictionary of Indian Tribes of the Americas . - American Indian Publishers, Inc., 1995.- S. 32. - 1070 p. - ISBN 9780937862285 .
- ↑ Frederick Webb Hodge. Handbook of American Indians, 1906 -Contents Neopr . www.snowwowl.com. Date of treatment November 20, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Martin, Howard N. Alabama-Coushatta Indians . tshaonline.org (June 9, 2010). Date of treatment November 20, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Alabama , Ethnologue . Date of treatment November 20, 2017.
- ↑ John Reed Swanton. The Indian Tribes of North America . - Genealogical Publishing Com, 1952.- S. 154.- 742 p. - ISBN 9780806317304 .
- ↑ Chunkey Yard . Encyclopedia of Alabama . Encyclopedia of Alabama. Date of treatment November 20, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Federal Writers' Project. The WPA Guide to Alabama: The Camellia State . - Trinity University Press, 2013 .-- 466 p. - ISBN 9781595342010 .
Literature
- Harriet Smither. The Alabama Indians of Texas (Eng.) // Southwestern Historical Quarterly. - 1932. - No. 36 .
- John R. Swanton. Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. - Washington: GPO, 1911.
- Mary Donaldson Wade. The Alabama Indians of East Texas. - Livingston, Texas: Polk County Enterprise, 1931.
- Texas Indian Papers (in four volumes) / Dorman H. Winfrey and James M. Day. - Austin: Texas State Library, 1959-61.
- Dudley Goodall Wooten, ed., A Comprehensive History of Texas (in two volumes) - Dallas: Scarff, 1898; reprint. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1986.
Links
- alabama-coushatta.com/Home.aspx (English) - Alabama official website (Official reservation site)