SWANTON] INlDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTEiKN UNIITED STATES 81 



of the Southeast have for the most part declined in numbers and 

 gradually adapted themselves to the civilization about them into which 

 they will progressively merge both culturally and racially. 



Pan-Indian movements arose from time to time, with and without 

 the approval of the United States Government, in which the trans- 

 planted tribes took leading parts. In June 1843, a council was called 

 at Tahlequah by John Ross to debate such a movement and the memory 

 of this event is preserved in one of the few existing paintings by Stanley 

 (pl.l). 



SKETCHES OF THE SOUTHEASTERN TRIBES AND THEIR POPULATION 



ABIHKA 



This was one of the principal divisions of the Upper Creeks and 

 occupied what is now Talladega County, Ala. The name is one of 

 those which appear in the Creek migration legends and it is sometimes 

 extended to cover all of the Creeks, or at least all of the Upper Creeks. 

 The importance of Abihka is indicated by the fact that it formed one 

 of the four towns sometimes called the four "foundation towns" of the 

 confederation. Hawkins was told that this tribe was "one of the old- 

 est," and he attributed to them the introduction of some of the most 

 ancient customs, including punishment for adultery and the regulation 

 of marriage. The first historical appearance of the name is in the 

 Luna narratives (1560) , in the form "Apica." Stiggins says that they 

 were possessed of a brass drum obtained, according to tradition, from a 

 foreign people whom he identifies with the followers of De Soto, but it 

 may well have come from the followers of Luna, or more likely from 

 the British. The name of the principal Abihka town usually appears 

 in the form of Abihkutci, "Little Abihka," and there was another of 

 the same name occupied by Okfuskee Indians. Two other towns of 

 this tribe were known respectively as Talladega (End-town) and 

 Kan-tcati (Red-earth). This tribe welcomed part of the fugitive 

 Natchez when they were obliged to quit the Chickasaw country, and 

 intermarried with them extensively. They took no part in the Creek 

 War of 1813-14. After the removal they established a Square Ground 

 a few miles northwest of the present Eufaula, Okla., and another 

 farther west known as "Abihka-in-the-West." The Kan-tcati and 

 Talladega Square Grounds were reestablished, but the former was soon 

 given up. The latter is still in existence, near Henryetta. 



Gatschet enumerates two branch towns called Tcahki thlako, or "Big 

 Shoal," and Kayomalgi, which probably signifies "Mulberry Place." 

 The second may have been occupied, in part at least, by Shawnee, and 

 there was also a Chickasaw village on the creek which bore this name. 



464735 — 46 7 



