"The whole nation in common" : Native rights and border defense, 1770-1773 -- "Neither the Abicas Tallapuses, nor Alibamas desire to have any thing to say to the Cowetas but desire peace" : The White-Sherrill Affair and the rise of border patrols, 1774-1775 -- "Settle the matter yourselves" : The American Revolution in Creek Country, 1775-1783 -- "We mean to have the consent of every headman in the whole nation" : treaties, resistance, and internal Creek political conflict, 1783-1785 -- "Always in defense of our rights" : the Creek threat, real and imagined, 1786 -- "An uncommon degree of ferocity" : border patrols and peak violence, 1787-1790 -- "The Indians still desputed giving up their rights to that land" : renewed border patrols, 1790-1793 -- "Like pulling out their hearts and throwing them away" : state control, 1793-1796 -- Epilogue : "All the apprehensions of savage ferocity."
Summary:
"Patrolling the Border focuses on a late-eighteenth-century conflict between Muskogee Creeks and Georgians. The conflict was marked by years of seemingly-random theft and violence along the Oconee River, the contested border between the two peoples. The boundary dispute and the book itself, however, are really about colonialism. Creeks were non-state, indigenous people confronting an aggressive, young imperial state. To meet that threat, they made compromises. This book explores the compromises and negotiations made by Creeks and Muskogees with white colonialists, the violence perpetrated by both sides, and the ways in which that violence was used to justify white land claims and subsequent Indian removal, thereby ceding the territory to the nascent American nation. Georgia's encroachment into the Oconee River valley forced Muskogees into a conversation about the very nature of political leadership. That conversation hinged on talwa autonomy, a long-standing system of governance in Creek country that privileged the independence of each talwa, or town. At this critical moment in the late eighteenth century, Muskogees faced the prospect of dispensing with the system. The threat of colonialism pushed Creeks to experiment with more centralized, state-like institutions including a robust system of theft and violence that I describe as border patrols. But, throughout the period, they remained committed to their indigenous political system. Creek insistence on talwa autonomy helps explain a pattern of politically-motivated border patrols that otherwise seems random. White Georgians exaggerated the ferocity of Creek warriors to craft an enduring political narrative that justified their own violence and land taking"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.