Apalachicola people

The Apalachicola (also called Pallachacola,[1] ) were a group of Native Americans related to the Muscogee people. They spoke a Muskogean language related to Hitchiti. They lived along the Apalachicola River in present-day Florida. Their name derives probably from Hitchiti Apalachicoli or Muskogee Apalachicolo, signifying apparently "People of the other side", with reference probably to the Apalachicola River or some nearby stream.

This article is about the Native American ethnic group. For the modern small city of Apalachicola, see Apalachicola, Florida.
Apalachicola
Total population
Extinct as a tribe
Regions with significant populations
United States (Louisiana)
Languages
Muskogean
Religion
Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Creek, other Muskogean peoples

History

Around 1706, some Apalachicola moved from the Apalachicola River area to the Savannah River, which formed the future border between the colony of South Carolina and Georgia. They may have been captured during English-sponsored slave raids and forced to relocate to the Savannah River area. A census taken in 1708 described the Apalachicola of the Savannah River as the "Naleathuckles", with 80 men settled in a town about 20 miles up the Savannah River. A more accurate census was taken by John Barnwell in early 1715. It described the Savannah River Apalachicola as living in two villages and having a population of 214 people: 64 men, 71 women, 42 boys, and 37 girls.[2]

In the Yamasee War of 1715, the Apalachicola joined in the Native American attacks on South Carolina. Afterward, the survivors returned to the Apalachicola River, forming near the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. Some later moved north to live along the Chattahoochee River in present-day Russell County, Alabama.

Following Congressional passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, the United States pressured the Apalachicola to sign two treaties, in 1833 and 1834, to cede their lands in the Southeast in exchange for land west of the Mississippi River. In 1836-1840, the Apalachicola moved to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). They merged there with other Creek peoples and descendants are enrolled in the federally recognized Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Legacy

The Apalachicola River is named after them,[3] as is Apalachicola Bay and the city of Apalachicola, Florida.

Notes
  1. Oatis, Steven J. (2004). A Colonial Complex: South Carolina's Frontiers in the Era of the Yamasee War, 1680–1730. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3575-5.
  2. Gallay, Alan (2002). The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South 1670–1717. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10193-7.
  3. Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.



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