Native Americans in Georgia!
Keeping Students Informed!
The Early Days of Georgia...Before Georgia "Was" Georgia!
Georgia was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European contact.
Archaic People
The Paleo People
The Woodlands People
Eastern Woodlands Indians
The Mississippian People
The Mississippian People
The Early Creek Leaders in Present-Day Georgia
Each village had civil, religious and war chiefs of various ranks. The leaders had a lot of authority as long as they could persuade others to agree on decisions. Since it was not easy to convince the people, leadership positions changed frequently.
The most important Creek leader was the mico and he was a village chief. The mico was in charge of domestic leadership and diplomatic representation. He welcomed traders and diplomatic representatives from other tribes to his village. The mico also served as a representative to treaty negotiations & led warriors into battle.
The mico provided the daily necessities for his people, demonstrated bravery in warfare, established trading relationships & arranged diplomatic relationships. In other words, the mico had to demonstrate that he deserved his position of power.
Brims
Brims was probably the most famous mico of present-day Georgia. He was a Coweta village chief. In the early 1700s Brims ensured security and trade by playing the Europeans and other indigenous tribes against each other for the benefit of the Creeks. In the 1710s he threatened to stop trading with the French, Spanish and British if they became "stingy with gifts" and terms of trade or became demanding. This strategy helped him become a strong "power broker" and the Spaniards referred to Brims as the "Coweta emperor."
Below are two images: 1. a Creek Warrior Chief
2. Tomochichi and his nephew in 1733
(New Georgia Encyclopedia)