Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe (East of the Mississippi)
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe is a state-recognized Creek Nation tribe located in Southwest Georgia. It is part of the Creek Nation located east of the Mississippi. The Principal Chief (Mico) is Vonnie McCormick and the tribe maintains the Tama Tribal Town on a small reservation in Whigham, Georgia. The tribal leadership offers regular educational classes to members and the public to learn more about Muskogee culture and language.
On January 27, 1825 the Indian Removal Act was signed, calling for the removal of all Native American Tribes in Georgia. In the following years, most of the Muskogee people were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma. Those who stayed hid in swampy, less desirable areas; fled to Florida and joined the Seminole tribe; or moved frequently to avoid capture. Laws limiting the rights of the Muskogee people were not officially removed until 1980.[1]
Georgia adopted a "Resolution Recognizing the Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe" on March 16, 1973. It read, in part:
"...NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that this body hereby recognizes the Muskogee-Creek Indian Tribe East of the Mississippi River in the State of Georgia as a tribe of people...
Proclamations recognizing the Creeks as a tribe have been made by recent Georgia Governors, including Jimmy Carter, Joe Frank Harris and Zell Miller.[2]
The Georgia Commission of Indian Affairs was formed by Executive Order on May 9, 1977. The Order provided for the appointment of the members of the Commission, and recognized the Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe-East of the Mississippi, Inc. as a legal entity.
In December 1981, the BIA denied Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe federal recognition as published in the Federal Register due to: "(1) The unstable membelship which shows great fluctuations in size and composition; (2) the lack of historical data for most geographic areas and for many time periods,and the concurrent lack of evidence of political continuity; (3) the apparent recent institution of "clan" organizations; and (4) the lack of historical connections or association between families that would be expected from the assserted historical tribal character. The conclusions regarding the limited historical identification of the group as Indian and the lack of proven Creek ancestry for a large part of the group's membership were either not addressed or were answered by restating earlier arguments. Some of the factual conclusions in themselves were sufficient to deny tribal status to the group but collectively they were overwhelmingly against the LMC assertion that they were a tribe." http://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/xofa/documents/text/idc-001270.pdf
Acknowledgment Decision Compilation (ADC) for Petitioner #008 (Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe-East of the MS, GA) http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/OFA/ADCList/PetitionsResolved/Petition8/index.htm
The full final determination can be found at http://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/xofa/documents/text/idc-001269.pdf
