Wikibooks: History of Tennessee/Indigenous "Tennessee" (to 1800)

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bering Strait; Flint
• Online Access: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/History_of_Tennessee/Indigenous_%22Tennessee%22_(to_1800)

TOCright limit=3 = Indigenous Tennessee = Prior to European settlement in Tennessee in 1541 the land was known by Indigenous tribes as the Territory South of the River Ohio . This point in time can be referred to as Indigenous Tennessee. = The Paleoindians = Archeological evidence suggests that around 13 000 years ago the Paleoindians crossed over the Bering Strait via a land bridge that connected Russia to North America. These early ancestors reached the fertile woodland and prairies of the Territory South of the River Ohio in small family groups of 25 50 individuals. Their movement was based on the movement of the animals they hunted such as mammoth and giant bison and they used flint stone to fashion tools and weapons for hunting. = Indigenous Tribes in Tennessee = = The Cherokee Tribe = The Cherokee dwelled in the valley of East Tennessee and were known by white settlers and other tribes as being cruel warriors with an efficient political organization. Since women had the most power and independence in the tribe chiefs were elected by the matrons. Being an Iroquois speaking people they were one of five tribes to establish the Iroquois Confederacy in 1570 which was created to bring peace and unification amongst the tribes. Although the Cherokee were a powerful tribe by the 1750s their population had significantly declined due to disease and conflict brought by the English and French settlers. = The Muskhogean Tribes = The Muskhogean race is comprised of many tribes three of which are the Chickasaw Creek and Koasati all of whom occupied parts of Tennessee. Being sedentary they occupied villages where women were farmers and gatherers of squash beans and corn while men were sent off to hunt. The Creek Tribe in particular had many conflicts with the Cherokee causing the Creek Cherokee War a four decade long cycle of revenge warfare. Alternatively the Chickasaw were often at war with the Choctaw tribe who occupied the Mississippi River Valley area and towards the end of the 18th century they alternated between ...