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57-787: Members of the Poarch Band are located mostly in Escambia County and parts of Florida. Since the late twentieth century, they have operated three gaming casinos and a hotel on their lands. This has enabled them to generate revenues to support the lives of tribal members and their descendants. The Poarch Band members descend from Muscogee Creek Indigenous peoples of the Upper Towns and Lower Towns who intermarried with Scottish and Irish traders. Because Mvskoke ancestors of Poarch members were matrilineal and matrilocal, settler colonists targeted Mvskoke women to gain land, wealth, and power. Intermarriage

114-537: A controversial debate in the community. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma filed suit to prevent this, arguing that the expansion would require excavation and reinterment of remains from an historic Creek burial ground at the site. The tribe made a deal in 2016 to purchase the Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana , which would have been rebranded as a Wind Creek casino. The sale

171-480: A female householder with no husband present, and 29.40% were non-families. 26.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.99. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.10% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

228-616: A growing reliance on European trade and economy, inner rifts within the Creek Nation, and escalating colonial presence of British, Spanish, and U.S. forces. A faction of Creek traditionalists, known as the Red Sticks , started a rebellion against assimilated Creeks, which resulted in the U.S. government intervening against the Red Sticks. This rebellion is known as the Creek War of 1813-1814 . Among

285-421: A medicine referred to as assi , also referred to as the "White Drink." (English traders referred to it as the "Black Drink" due to its dark liquid which froths white when shaken before drinking). This White Drink, known to strangers as Carolina Tea, is a caffeine-laden mixture of seven to fourteen different herbs, the main ingredient being assi-luputski , Creek for "small leaves" of Yaupon Holly . This medicine

342-562: A single Stomp Dance before retiring to their home camps for a feast. During this time, the participants in the medicine rites are not allowed to sleep, as part of their fast. At midnight a Stomp Dance ceremony is held, which includes feasting and continues on through the night. The fourth day has friendship dances at dawn, games, and people later pack up and return home with their feelings of purification and forgiveness. Fasting from alcohol, sexual activity, and open water will continue for another four days. Puskita , commonly referred to as

399-399: A special medicine by the medicine man or " Heleshayv" hilis-hi-ya ) will be kept alive until the following year's Green Corn Ceremony. In traditional times, the women would sweep out their cook-fires and the rest of their homes and collect the filth from this, as well as any old clothing and furniture to be burnt and replaced with new items for the new year. The women then bring the coals of

456-496: Is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama . As of the 2020 census , the population was 36,757. Its county seat is Brewton . Escambia County is coextensive with the Atmore, AL Micropolitan Statistical Area; which is itself a constituent part of the larger Pensacola-Ferry Pass, FL-AL Combined Statistical Area. The county is the base of the state's only federally recognized Native American tribe,

513-481: Is the celebration of the New Year. In modern tribal towns and Stomp Dance societies only the ceremonial fire, the cook fires and certain other ceremonial objects will be replaced. Everyone usually begins gathering by the weekend prior to the ceremony, working, praying, dancing and fasting off and on until the big day. The whole festival tends to last seven-eight days, including the historical preparation involved (without

570-468: The Muscogee and Southeastern cultures. Before dawn on the second day, four brush-covered arbors are set up on the edges of the ceremonial grounds, one in each of the sacred directions. For the first dance of the day, the women of the community participate in a Ribbon or Ladies Dance, which involves fastening rattles and shells to their legs perform a purifying dance with special ribbon-clad sticks to prepare

627-627: The Muskogean -speaking Creek , Choctaw , and Alabama , who had inhabited the lands for centuries and had many settlements. The former two tribes were among those in the Southeast whom the European-American settlers called the Five Civilized Tribes , as they adopted some European-American cultural ways. Many of their members had close working relationships with traders and settlers moving into

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684-721: The National Register of Historic Places , the Atmore Commercial Historic District the Brewton Historic Commercial District , and the Commercial Hotel-Hart Hotel . 31°07′36″N 87°09′44″W  /  31.12667°N 87.16222°W  / 31.12667; -87.16222 Green Corn Ceremony The Green Corn Ceremony (Busk) is an annual ceremony practiced among various Native American peoples associated with

741-614: The Poarch Band of Creek Indians . They have developed gaming casinos and a hotel on their reservation here, but also a much larger business extending to locations in other states and the Caribbean. The name "Escambia" may have been derived from the Creek name Shambia , meaning "clearwater", or the Choctaw word for "cane-brake" or "reed-brake". Historic American Indian tribes in the area included

798-713: The Seminole tribe, 12-year-old boys are declared men at the Green Corn Ceremony, and given new names by the chief as a mark of their maturity. Several tribes still participate in these ceremonies each year, but tribes who have historic tradition within the ceremony include the Yuchi , Iroquois , Cherokee , Creek , Choctaw , Natchez , Chickasaw , Shawnee , Miccosukee , Alabama , Hitchiti , Coushatta , Taskigi and Seminole tribes. Each of those tribes may have its own variations of celebration, dances and traditions but performs

855-711: The United States Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 953 square miles (2,470 km ), of which 945 square miles (2,450 km ) is land and 8.1 square miles (21 km ) (0.8%) is water. Escambia County in Alabama and Escambia County in Florida are two of 22 counties or parishes in the United States with the same name to border each other across state lines. As of the census of 2020, there were 36,757 people, 13,089 households, and 8,019 families residing in

912-728: The Washoe Tribe . The casino opened in May 2016. In D'Iberville, Mississippi , Wind Creek purchased land for a planned casino development in March 2016. In Pennsylvania, the tribe agreed in March 2018 to purchase Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem for $ 1.3 billion. The sale was approved in May 2019 and the casino was renamed to Wind Creek Bethlehem . In 2012 the tribe announced plans to expand their gaming operations at Hickory Ground in Wetumpka, Alabama. Not all Poarch members supported this expansion, and it remains

969-619: The poverty line , including 24.70% of those under age 18 and 17.80% of those age 65 or over. The Holman Correctional Facility of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) is in Atmore, 9 miles (14 km) north of the Atmore city center. Holman has a male death row and the State of Alabama execution chamber. In addition the ADOC Fountain Correctional Facility is also in Atmore, about 7 miles (11 km) north of

1026-452: The "Green Corn Ceremony" or "Busk," is the central and most festive holiday of the traditional Muscogee people. It represents not only the renewal of the annual cycle, but of the spirit and traditions of the Muscogee. This is representative of the return of summer, the ripening of the new corn, and the common Native American traditions of environmental and agricultural renewal. Historically in

1083-566: The 1870 U.S. Census of Escambia County, Alabama ; 1900 U.S. Census of Escambia County, Alabama; or 1900 U.S. Special Indian Census of Monroe County, Alabama . Besides being of direct Mvskoke Creek heritage, they must have a minimum blood quantum of 1/4 American Indian blood (equivalent to one full-blooded Creek grandparent) and not be enrolled in any other tribe. There are two distinctions of membership, including tribal enrolled membership and enrolled descendant membership that extends to first generation descendants. Each federally recognized tribe has

1140-642: The 1960s and early 1970s throughout the U.S. Calvin McGhee attended the landmark Chicago Indian Conference of 1961, an event that galvanized movements toward Indigenous rights and sovereignty. McGhee was among the delegation that presented the Conference's "Declaration of Indian Purpose" to President John F. Kennedy at the White House in 1961. The Conference, along with other pan-Indian activism, prompted Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, to establish Indian programs outside

1197-643: The 20th century, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians organized to gain recognition as a tribe, and established a government under a written constitution. It had control of some lands that were taken into trust on their behalf by the federal government as part of the federal recognition process. It is the only federally recognized tribe in the state. Since the late 20th century, they have developed three gaming resorts to generate revenues for tribal health and welfare. In addition, Alabama has recognized nine tribes, generally descendants of Choctaw, Creek, and Cherokee Native Americans who had historically lived here. According to

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1254-446: The Atmore city center. The city of Atmore annexed both prisons in 2008. Escambia County is reliably Republican at the presidential level. The last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election is Jimmy Carter , who won it by a majority in 1976 . The two school districts are Brewton City School District (City of Brewton) and Escambia County School District (all other locations). Escambia County has three sites listed on

1311-583: The Bureau of Indian Affairs as part of his War on Poverty after 1963. Poarch Creeks secured federal grants during this era. They established federal job training, Headstart, and Department of Education Title IV Indian Education programs for area Creeks. To fundraise for tribal organizing, the Poarch community advanced several community events, such as the intertribal Thanksgiving Powwow. Despite Mvskoke people not dancing powwow historically, Poarch members took advantage of

1368-538: The Creeks in the nineteenth century. The group received a favorable judgment; members received sums beginning in 1972 as reparations. Through the lands claims litigation, Bufford Rollins and Eddie Tullis emerged as leaders of the Poarch Creek community. Along with Calvin McGhee, they took part in major events that were happening due to increasing visibility of Indigenous people, nations, and literary and cultural aesthetics in

1425-515: The McGhee Reserve. They formed a community near Poarch, Alabama and sustained kinship and cultural ties through a high degree of endogamy within the Creek community. The Poarch Band experienced great poverty and struggled to make ends meet throughout the nineteenth century. Most were small subsistence level farmers and sharecroppers in the latter decades of the century. Like their Mvskoke relatives ,

1482-509: The Poarch ancestors, the Weatherford and Woods lineages were active participants in the Red Stick rebellion and allied with the traditionalists. Other Mvskoke ancestors of Poarch members fought alongside the U.S. against Creek traditionalists. Because of the conflicts with other Creeks, ancestors of the Poarch Band migrated to lands in the southwest of Creek Nation territory in the early 1800s near

1539-677: The Tensaw River and the headwaters of the Perdido River. Many of these Creek families remained in Alabama despite the Indian Removal Act of 1830, by which the majority of the tribe ceded their land and were forcibly moved to Indian Territory , west of the Mississippi River . However, several ancestors of Poarch members marched to Oklahoma, including Sam Moniac (Totkvs-Harjo) who was buried at Pass Christian in 1837. Under provisions of

1596-521: The Treaty of Fort Jackson, Poarch Creek ancestors selected four sections of land that would serve as the nucleus of what eventually became known as the Poarch Band of Creek Indian community. These Indian reserves were held subject to federal trust restrictions. The "McGhee Reserve," a 240 acre tract taken by Lynn McGhee became a center of the Creek community. After the Civil War, other Creeks established lands near

1653-529: The area in the early 19th century. Most of these nations were forced to cede their lands to the United States and to remove in the 1830s to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River . Escambia County was organized and established after the American Civil War , on December 10, 1868, during the Reconstruction era . The state legislature created it from parts of Baldwin and Conecuh counties, to

1710-478: The beginning of the yearly corn harvest. Busk is a term given to the ceremony by white traders, the word being a corruption of the Creek word puskita (pusketv) for "a fast". These ceremonies have been documented ethnographically throughout the North American Eastern Woodlands and Southeastern tribes . Historically, it involved a first fruits rite in which the community would sacrifice

1767-491: The ceremonial ground for the renewal ceremony. The ceremonial fire is set in the middle of four logs laid crosswise, so as to point to the four directions. The Mico "Mekko" (Chief of Ceremonial Grounds or Tribal Town ) takes out a little of each of the new crops (not just corn, but beans, squash, wild plants, and others) rubbed with bear oil, and it is offered together with some meat as "first-fruits" and an atonement for all sins. The fire (which has been re-lit and nurtured with

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1824-420: The county was 64.40% White , 30.79% Black or African American , 3.01% Native American , 0.24% Asian , 0.03% Pacific Islander , 0.40% from other races , and 1.13% from two or more races. 0.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 14,297 households, out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.70% were married couples living together, 15.10% had

1881-519: The county. According to the 2010 United States census : As of 2012 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Escambia County were: As of the census of 2000, there were 38,440 people, 14,297 households, and 10,093 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile (16 people/km ). There were 16,544 housing units at an average density of 18 units per square mile (6.9 units/km ). The racial makeup of

1938-507: The death of Calvin McGhee in the early 1970s, Eddie Tullis was elected as McGhee's successor. The Band joined the National Congress of American Indians and was active in pan-tribal eastern Indian organizations at the time. With a federal Administration for Native Americans grant, the Band secured funding to research and to write a petition for federal tribal recognition during the 1970s. With

1995-479: The developing of the corn crops. The ceremony is marked with dancing , feasting , fasting and religious observations. The Green Corn Ceremony is a celebration of many types, representing new beginnings. Also referred to as the Great Peace Ceremony, it is a celebration of thanksgiving to Hesaketvmese (The Breath Maker) for the first fruits of the harvest, and a New Year festival as well. The Busk

2052-427: The fire into their homes, to rekindle their home fires. They can then bake the new fruits of the year over this fire (also to be eaten with bear oil). Many Creeks also practice the sapi or ceremonial scratches, a type of bloodletting in the mid morning, and in many tribes the men and women might rub corn milk, ash, white clay, or analogous mixtures over themselves and bathe as a form of purification. They also drink

2109-463: The first decades of the twentieth century, local governments established segregated schools for Creek Indian children in southwest Alabama. Because of Jim Crow segregation, Creek Indians were denied admittance to area businesses or forced to use segregated facilities in schools, theaters, and medical offices. In the 1930s, the Episcopal Church sent missionaries to assimilate the Creek community under

2166-602: The first of the green corn to ensure the rest of the crop would be successful. These Green Corn festivals were practiced widely throughout southern North America by many tribes evidenced in the Mississippian people and throughout the Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere . Green Corn festivals are still held today by many different Southeastern Woodland tribes . The Green Corn Ceremony typically occurs in late June or July, determined locally by

2223-466: The first tribes to secure federal status through the federal process in 1984. Afterward, the Band was able to have a 229 acre tract taken into trust as a federal Indian Reservation and to re-establish their own government under a written constitution. These lands provide the grounds for the tribal reservation. To be eligible to enroll in the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, people must be descended from one or more American Indians listed on one of three rolls:

2280-583: The group filed a lawsuit for equal education and won their case, several years before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. Also in the late 1940s, McGhee spearheaded an effort to file a lands claim case with the Indian Claims Commission. He formed a group that became the Creek Nation East of the Mississippi that pursued a case for compensation for lands lost by

2337-532: The guise of aid. Poarch established their own school and worked to secure federal aid for the people. During the Indian New Deal of the 1930s , the Bureau of Indian Affairs , at the urging of the missionaries, sent an investigator to southern Alabama in 1938. Finding that the Poarch Band was clearly a surviving Creek enclave, the Bureau agent recommended educational aid for the community. Coupled with this recommendation

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2394-421: The help of anthropologist Tony Paredes per requirements of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Band utilized federal land records, censuses, court records, and school documents to prove they were a surviving and continuous Creek People, eligible for federal tribal status under the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Federal Acknowledgment Process regulations created in 1978. The Band was successful in this effort, being one of

2451-433: The limited knowledge of Native American history in the United States to gain more funds and visibility for their Nation. The group also worked to formalize its government structures. Emerging from the Indian Claims Commission's petition by the Creek Nation East of the Mississippi in the early 1970s, McGhee, Tullis, and Rollins founded the modern government of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, centered near Poarch, Alabama. After

2508-619: The lumber and turpentine industries. Jim Crow segregation and other forms of overt racism limited opportunities for economic advancement for group members. Because they had stayed behind and not removed with the main body of the Creek Nation after the 1830s, members of the Poarch Band received no federal aid or recognition of their indigenous status at the tribal level. Poarch families endured these challenges by relying on strong kinship and community ties. These relations have enabled many among them to retain their connection to language and traditions like busk , stompdance , and chinaberry beading. In

2565-421: The preparation, it lasts about four days). The first day of the ceremony, people set up their campsites on one of the square ceremonial grounds. Following this, there is a feast of the remains of last year's crop, after which all the men of the community begin fasting (historically, the women were limited in their participation of this part of the ceremony ). That night there is a social stomp dance , unique to

2622-434: The primary concerns of Red Stick Creeks was the belief that the growing assimilation into European-American practices, including pressures to conform to Christianity and a centralized Creek governance structure , was diminishing the Creek Nation's political strength to maintain authority over their territories and economies. The rebelling Creeks ultimately met their defeat at the hands of Andrew Jackson's enforcements. Among

2679-659: The right to make its own rules of citizenship. The Poarch Creek Indian Reservation is located in southern Alabama near the city of Atmore, Alabama . Their current tribal chairwoman is Stephanie Bryan. The Poarch Band has several casinos operating under Wind Creek Hospitality, a tribe-owned company. Three of its casinos are located on sovereign tribal land in Alabama: Wind Creek Atmore , Wind Creek Montgomery , and Wind Creek Wetumpka . They have gradually expanded their gaming, resort and entertainment businesses beyond those on their reservation. Beyond its reservation,

2736-476: The second day, men of the community perform the Feather Dance to heal the community. The fasting usually ends by supper-time after the word is given by the women that the food is prepared, at which time the men march in single-file formation down to a body of water, typically a flowing creek or river for a ceremonial dip in the water and private men's meeting. They then return to the ceremonial square and perform

2793-495: The three sisters of corn, beans, and squash were common crops. Along with traditional Creek foods like sofke and corn mush, they supplemented their diet with game and fish largely taken from neighboring public lands. With the coming of the railroad in the late nineteenth century, the lumber and turpentine industries arrived. Large corporations bought public lands, closing access to Creek subsistence practices. Many Creeks became migrant or day laborers to earn wages. They also took jobs in

2850-730: The tribe owns majority stakes in Mobile Greyhound Park in Alabama, and Pensacola Greyhound Park and Creek Entertainment Gretna in Florida. In the Caribbean , the tribe owns two hotel casinos operating under the Renaissance Hotels brand in Aruba and Curacao , which it purchased in October 2017. In Gardnerville, Nevada , the tribe financed and manages the Wa She Shu Casino, owned by

2907-455: The west and north, respectively. The area was part of the coastal plain. It was largely agricultural into the 20th century. The county is subject to heavy winds and rains due to seasonal hurricanes . In September 1979, the county was declared a disaster area due to damage from Hurricane Frederic . It was declared a disaster area again in September 2004 due to damage from Hurricane Ivan . In

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2964-417: Was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 102.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 28,319, and the median income for a family was $ 36,086. Males had a median income of $ 30,632 versus $ 18,091 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 14,396. About 15.20% of families and 20.90% of the population were below

3021-569: Was a joint venture between the City of Foley and the Foley Sports Tourism Complex, developed in conjunction with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians as part of a city-wide sports tourism push. An indoor water park known as Tropic Falls was announced in 2021; the first of the water park's two phases opened in June 2022. Notes Bibliography Escambia County, Alabama Escambia County

3078-443: Was a strategy of assimilation that was common across the history of southeastern Indigenous nations in the U.S. Predominant lineages and surnames in the group include the names Weatherford , McGillivray, Durant, McGhee, Moniac, Cornell, Gibson, Colbert, Woods, and Rolin. In the early 19th century, various elements intensified tensions within the Creek Nation leading up to their removal . These elements included geopolitical shifts,

3135-589: Was canceled, however, because of a dispute over licensing payments for the Margaritaville name. In late 2019, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians presented the state of Alabama with a grand bargain that would afford the tribe exclusive rights on casino gambling in exchange for $ 1 billion. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians opened the Park at OWA, an amusement park in Foley, Alabama , on July 20, 2017. The 520-acre (2.1 km) site

3192-404: Was intended to help receive purification, as it is a purgative when consumed in mass amounts. (Historically, only men drank enough of the liquid to throw up.) The purgative was consumed to clean the dietary tract of last year's crop and to truly renew oneself for the new year. While the second day tends to focus on the women's dance, the third is focused on the men's. After the purification of

3249-443: Was the decision to not establish a federal Indian reservation for the group. Because of federal funding shortages, no federal Indian aid was provided for the Poarch Band during the 1930s and early 1940s. After World War II, Calvin McGhee, a descendant of Band founder Lynn McGhee, began organizing the Creeks of southern Alabama and northern Florida to pursue land claims and other rights denied to them as Indigenous people. Under McGhee,

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