Changeling - Players Guide.pdf

The earliest tribes to inhabit the Southeastern woodlands
were mound-builders, hunter-gatherers who eventually
turned to agriculture and built a rich and intricate civilization.
The migration of Mississippian tribes into the region
resulted in their disappearance or assimilation by the newcomers,
who would become known as the Cherokee, Choctaw,
Chickasaw and Creek. The Seminoles, an offshoot of the
Creek, eventually traveled to the Florida peninsula.
The tribes that settled in the forests and valleys of the
Southeast were farmers and hunters, living in summer and
winter towns and enjoying a complex form of government
revolving around a chief and a town council. Decisions were
made by consensus, and both warriors and elders (known as
beloved men and women) had a voice in the council. Summer
houses tended to be rectangular and large, while winter
houses were round and heavily insulated, with only a single
small entrance to conserve heat.
Societal structure was both matrilineal and matrilocal, and
women played an important role in the life of the tribe. They
owned property, oversaw the raising of children, and occasionally
accompanied their warriors into battle as chroniclers, often
singing songs to inspire bravery in combat. Intertribal warfare
was common among these tribes, usually for the purpose of taking
slaves or war captives to assert their status. In times of peace,
warriors spent much of their time preparing for and participating
in ball games, which assumed ritual significance for the tribes.
The Cherokee inhabited parts of the Carolinas, Tennessee
and Georgia. The Choctaw resided in southern Mississippi
and parts of Alabama and Louisiana, while the Chickasaw
claimed northern Mississippi as their home. The Creeks made
their home in southern Georgia and Alabama.
The Seminole adapted themselves to their semi-tropical
environment, building stilt-houses, called chickees, with palmetto
leaf roofs and sides that were open to the air except at
night, when canopies were lowered to keep out the insects.
The Five Civilized Tribes
The Europeans who settled the Southeastern woodlands
after the 17th century referred to the Cherokee, Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole as the "five civilized tribes,"
so called because of their original friendliness to the white
invaders and their willingness to adopt the customs of the
new arrivals. The Southeastern tribes learned the European
method of agriculture, adapted their clothing and hairstyles
to reflect the dress of the white settlers, and in many cases,
even converted to the religion of the Europeans. Determined
to prove that they could coexist with the newcomers in
harmony, they entered into treaties and alliances which they
thought would guarantee the sanctity of their homelands.
The Europeans, however, coveted the fertile lands of the
Southeastern tribes, and sought every opportunity to acquire
the natives' territories for themselves. Many of the Southeastern
peoples sided with the British during the Revolutionary
War and lost their lands when the British were defeated.
Some tribes were pressured into abandoning their lands,
traveling west across the Mississippi. Others attempted to
remain, hoping for recognition by the Great Father in Washington
(whoever he happened to be) as citizens. In 1827,
using the alphabet invented by Sequoyah, the Cherokee
adopted a constitution and declared themselves a nation,
hoping thereby to establish relations with the government of
the former American colonies. Their hopes came to nothing
when, in 1838, by presidential fiat, Andrew Jackson enforced
the Indian Removal Act, rounding up and relocating the
Cherokee and the remaining Southeastern tribes to a reservation
in Oklahoma, where they now reside. This forced
march, known as the Trail of Tears, resulted in the deaths of
nearly a quarter of the exiles.
Some members of the Southeastern tribes managed to
escape forced removal. A small portion of the Cherokee hid
in the mountains of North Carolina, eventually winning the
right to remain in that area. These form the Eastern Band of
the Cherokee Nation and live on the Qualla Boundary
Reservation near the North Carolina/Tennessee border. Many
Seminoles retreated into the Everglades and waged guerrilla
warfare on the U.S. troops determined to evict them from
their land. Even when the Seminole surrendered, a few
diehards were permitted to remain on a reservation in Florida.
The rest followed their Southeastern cousins to Oklahoma.
Other southeastern tribes include the Natchez, Catawba,
Yuchi, Clusa, Caddo and the Tunica-Biloxi.
Midwest
Sometimes it is more important to act like a chief than to
live to a great old age.
—Jenny Leading Cloud, "Chief Roman Nose Loses His
Medicine"
The tribes of the Midwest comprise those from the
western Great Lakes regions stretching northward into Canada
and those who formed the greater part of Plains Indian
culture. The Plains tribes are the nomadic native people who
lived in tipis, hunted the buffalo, adapted their culture when
they acquired the horse and fought fiercely for their land
against the Western settlers and the Army. These natives are
what most people envision when they think of "Indians."
The Northern Tribes
These tribes were forest people like their neighbors to the
east. They were the Cree, Ojibwa, Winnebago and Blackfoot.
The Cree lived mostly in Canada, but migrations in the
17th century scattered them from Quebec to the Rockies. They
also came into conflict with their Sioux and Blackfeet neighbors
as their territories shifted. Hunting, fishing and trapping
comprised most of their work. They now live in North Dakota.
The Ojibwa are more usually known as the Chippewa (a
misnomer). Their meetings with the French changed them
from the tiny, self-governing villages to tribal organization that