The Kialegee Tribal Town is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma, as well as a traditional township within the former Muscogee Creek Confederacy in the American Southeast. Tribal members pride themselves on retaining their traditions and many still speak the Muscogee language. The name "Kialegee" comes from the Muscogee word, eka-lache, meaning "head left."
Government
The Kialegee Tribal Town is headquartered in Wetumka, Oklahoma. Of the 700 enrolled tribal members, 629 live within the state of Oklahoma. Its tribal jurisdictional area falls in Creek County, Muskogee County, Tulsa County, County, Okmulgee County, Hughes, McIntosh, Okfuskee counties.
The tribe's elected Mekko or Chief is Brian Givens. He succeeded Jeremiah Hobia, who succeeded Tiger Hobia. The mekko's term is for two years. Tiger Hobia succeeded Jennie Lillard.
The tribe's citizenship or membership rules requires individuals to be a full-blood Native American: half to full-blood Muscogee Creek and up to one-half Indian of any other tribe. Documentation for enrollment follows matrilineal descent, as this was their traditional kinship system. Children were considered born to the mother's family and clan, and property or hereditary roles passed through her people. Today, any descendant of a female Kialegee tribal member is automatically eligible for tribal membership. Spouses of Kialegee tribal members may petition for membership. In special circumstances, any full-blood Indian may petition the tribe for enrollment as an "Adopted Member."
The Kialegee Tribal Town operates its own tribal courts. It has an environmental educational program for youth, the Kialegee Tribal Town's Environmental "Kub" Program.
Culture
Town members and visitors celebrate the annual Kialegee Nettv (Day), a gathering that celebrates the town's history and culture.
History
Kialegee emerged as an independent town from a larger Creek town, Tuckabatche, located along rivers in what is now Alabama. Kialegee in return produced two daughter towns, Hutchechuppa and Achinahutchee. Before removal, the Muscogee Confederacy included about 50 towns. As with the remainder of the Creek people, the Kialegee had a matrilineal kinship system, with descent figured through the mother's line. Children are considered to be born into the mother's clan and receive their status from her and her people. It was an agrarian community. Women and children grew and processed a variety of crops, in addition to gathering roots, berries and nuts, while men hunted for game or harvested fish.
On June 29, 1796 leaders from Kialegee signed a peace treaty with the new United States. But, within a decade the townspeople joined the Red Stick Upper Creeks in the Creek Civil War, in which traditionalists (Red Sticks) fought against the Lower Towns, which tended to have members who were more assimilated to European-American culture, as they had far more interaction with them. In 1813, US troops burned Kialegee. In 1814, 1818, 1825, and 1826, Kialegee representatives signed treaties with the United States ceding some of their lands. Finally, 166 families of Kialegee were forced to relocate to Indian Territory in 1835 after Congress passed the Indian Removal Act.
The tribe settled south of what would become Henryetta, Oklahoma. They maintained a ceremonial ground and played stick ball against Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town. By 1912, their ground had been put to sleep, as ethnologist John R. Swanton noted when he visited the town. He recorded that Kialegee was a Red Town, or community of warriors.
After the passage of the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act in 1936, which provided for revival of self-government among the Native American tribes, the US federal government offered each of the Muscogee Creek tribal towns the opportunity to enroll as an individual tribe and establish their own government. Of more than 40 towns, only three accepted: Kialegee, Thlopthlocco, and the Alabama-Quassarte.
The tribe ratified its constitution and by-laws on June 12, 1941. The tribe is governed by a mekko or town king. Additional officers are the First Warrior, Second Warrior, Secretary, and Treasurer. The first tribal headquarters was the home of Martin Givens.