Chikamaka Band
 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 United States ( Tennessee) ( Alabama) (.svg.png){kind=small} Georgia) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chikamaka (Chikamauka) |
The Chikamaka Band is an organization based in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, are American Indians descended from Chickamaugas who inhabited the Tennessee River valley area near Nickajack in the 1790s and early 1800s, then retreated from the river bottom land and migrated up to the Cumberland Plateau in and around Tracy City, Tennessee.[1]
Members
The members of the Chikamaka Band descend from American Indians, who came together resisting the encroachments of European-descended settlers of what became the United States of America.[2] Their alliance, known as the Chickamauga Confederacy, was largely made up of people from the following American Indian groups: Chikamaka, Catawba, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Itsate Creek, Creek, Delaware, Mohawk, Natchez, Saponi, and Shawnee.[2] It also included allied groups of Tories, many of whom were of Scottish, Irish, or German origin.[2]
Territory
The principal territory of the Chikamaka Band is Tennessee, North Western Georgia and North Eastern Alabama.
Recognition status
On 19 June 2010, the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs recognized the Chikamaka Band as a Tennessee State Indigenous American Indian Tribe;[3] however, the state attorney general's office declared that recognition "void and of no effect" on 3 September 2010.[4]
History
The term "Chikamaka" comes from the name comes from the Chickasaw town of that name, Chikamauka. People from various American Indian groups were defending their land and trade rights, along with Tories dispossessed by the American Revolution formed the Chickamauga confederacy.[5][6]
Current members of the Chikamaka Band claim descent from Chikamuaka(ga) Indians. Through intermarriage with different ethnic groups, they have a range of physical appearances, including some who have blue eyes and light skin.[2] Some such people consider themselves "Indians" or "Native Americans", regardless of their physical appearance or exact ancestry.
See also
- Chickamauga Cherokee, an 18th-century group that broke away from the Cherokee who were part of the Overhill Confedration led by Dragging Canoe
Notes
- ↑ "open to persons who can trace their American Indian heritage back to 1900 and earlier to lineal ancestors." - Chikamaka literature 2008
- 1 2 3 4 "Who are the Chikamaka?". Chikamaka Band official web site. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ↑ Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs List of State Recognized Tribes
- ↑ Humphrey, Tom. "6 Indian groups lose state recognition: Court order says commission violated open meetings law." Knoxville Sentinel. 3 Sept 2010 (retrieved 3 Sept 2010)
- ↑ "How come I have never heard of the Chikamaka before now?". Chikamaka Band official web site. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ↑ "Tennessee's Indian Peoples". IMAGES From Nostalgiaville. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
References
- Nicholson, James (2006) [1982]. Grundy County. University of Memphis Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-87870-134-6.
Further reading
- Haywood, John Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee from its Earliest Settlement up to the Year 1796 (1891, Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church South)
- Malone, Henry Thompson Cherokees of the Old South: a People in Transition (Athens: The University of Georgia Press)
- Satz, Ronald N. Tennessee's Indian Peoples (1979, University of Tennessee Press with cooperation from the Tennessee Historical Commission)
- Yanusdi, Brent Heart of the Eagle (1999, Milan, Tennessee: Cox Chenanee Publishers)
- The Cultures of Native North Americans (2000) translated from Kulturen der Nordamerikanischen Indianer (Germany) ISBN 3-8290-2985-3
- Armstrong, Zella The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga Tennessee: Volume I, (Chattanooga Tennessee: Lookout Publishing Company
- Tennessee County History Series: GRUNDY (Oral history of the Chikamaka)