Abihka was one of the four mother towns of the Muscogee Creek confederacy. Its precise location is presently unknown.

History

Origins

The Abihka were the remnants of the 16th century " Chiefdom of Coosa." The bulk of the

Natchez people ttps://archive.org/details/dcouverteett01marg The Internet Archive website The Natchez ( , ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, n ...

settled with the Abihka after being dispersed by the French in the 18th century. By 1771, white traders had settled in the village with the indigenous peoples.

Etymology

The name "Abihka" (meaning unknown), is sometimes used to refer to all the Upper Creek peoples.

Territory

The members of the Abihka were Upper Creek Indians. Their main place of residence was along the banks of the Upper Coosa and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

rivers, in what is now Talladega County,

. Besides the town of Abihka, the Creek had established other important towns in their territory: ''Abihkutchi'', '' Tuckabutche'', ''Talladega'', '' Coweta'', and ''Kan-tcati''.

Selocta Chinnabby Selocta Chinnabby (c. 1765—October 15, 1834 or February 10, 1835) was a Muscogee and Natchez chief from present-day Talladega County, Alabama. He allied himself with Andrew Jackson in fighting the Red Sticks in the Creek War, which was part ...

was a famous member of the Abihka Clan. The town of Abihka lay about 159 miles to the south of the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

territory.

Ceremonial grounds

After the removal to the

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, refugees from the Abihka mother-town established a ceremonial

stomp dance The stomp dance is performed by various Eastern Woodland tribes and Native American communities in the United States, including the Muscogee, Yuchi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Delaware, Miami, Caddo, Tuscarora, Ottawa, Quapaw, Peoria, Shaw ...

ground which they call Abihka (or sometimes, ''Arbeka''). It is located near

Henryetta, Oklahoma Henryetta is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,640 at the 2020 census. History Hugh Henry established a ranch on Creek Nation land in 1885. He soon found a deposit of coal, which he began using to fuel th ...

.Nabokov and Easton; p. 109.

Alice Brown Davis Alice Brown Davis (September 10, 1852 – June 21, 1935) was the first female Principal Chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and served from 1922 to 1935, appointed by President Warren G. Harding.Waldowski, Paula"Alice Brown Davis: A Leader Of ...

and her husband, George Rollin Davis, operated a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

, post office,

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

and the Bar X Bar ranch in Arbeka until George's death. She succeeded him as postmistress in the 1890s.Rechenda Davis Bates, "Alice Brown Davis"
, ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', accessed 18 April 2013 There is an Arbeka Road in the area.

Notes

References

*Nabokov, Peter and Robert Easton
''Native American Architecture.''
New York; The Oxford University Press; 1989; . * Swanton, John R.; ''The Indians of the Southeastern United States''; United States Government Printing Office; Washington, DC; 1946; p. 81-82. * Waselkov, Gregory A.; and Smith, Marvin T.; ''Upper Creek Archaeology''; referenced in McEwan, Bonnie G.; edition ''Indians of the Greater Southeast: Historical Archaeology and Ethnohistory''; Gainesville; University of Florida Press; 2000; p. 244. {{authority control Muscogee tribal towns South Appalachian Mississippian culture Native American tribes in Alabama Okmulgee County, Oklahoma Indian Territory Talladega County, Alabama