Thlopthlocco Tribal Town

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Thlopthlocco Tribal Town is both the name of a federally recognized Native American tribe and a traditional township of Muscogee Creek Indians that was located in what is now the state of Alabama. Most of the Muscogee Creek people were relocated to Oklahoma by force. Those that remained in Florida are known today as the Seminole Tribe.

Official Tribal Name: Thlopthlocco Tribal Town

Address:  P.O. Box 188, Okemah, Oklahoma 74859 
Phone: (918) 560-6198 
Fax: (918) 623-3023
Email: Contact Form

Official Website: tttown.org/

Recognition Status: Federally Recognized

Traditional Name / Traditional Meaning: Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (pronounced by English speakers as “Rop-ro-co) was the name of their principle village. It means “Tall Cane” or “Big Reed.”

Common Name / Meaning of Common Name: Same as traditional.

Alternate names / Alternate spellings:

Name in other languages:

Region: Southeast => Muscogee (Creek)

State(s) Today: Oklahoma

Traditional Territory:

Confederacy: Creek Confederacy

Treaties: Removal Treaty of March 24, 1832 

Reservations:  No reservation. In 1941 the Secretary of the Interior placed 1900 acres of land in trust for the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town for its exclusive use and benefit. On a tract of those lands near the North Canadian River, the Town members constructed a council house made of hand hewn stone. This land was divided into allotments of land to individual households under the Dawes Commission of 1896.

Presently, the Town owns 2,330 acres of land in Okfuskee and Hughes Counties Oklahoma, consisting of trust and fee simple lands. It also owns 120 acres which holds their tribal headquarters and casino.

Tribal Headquarters:  Okemah, Oklahoma. Branch offices in Clearview, Oklahoma.

Time Zone:  Central

Population at Contact:

Registered Population Today: Approximately 845.

Tribal Enrollment Requirements: Based on matrilineal descendancy from a base enrollee of the 1890 Creek Census Roll or 1895 Creek Payroll of the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, or if mother has no Creek blood, father must be an enrolled member in the tribe.

 

Genealogy Resources:

Black Creeks adopted through the Dawes Commission between 1898 and 1916

Government:

Charter:  In 1938, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town ratified its constitution and bylaws under the provisions of the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of June 26, 1936, and ratified its federal charter of incorporation in 1939.
Name of Governing Body:  Business Committee 
Number of Council members:  A five-person advisory council is appointed by the 5 elected officials. 
Dates of Constitutional amendments: 
Executive Officers: Town King (Mekko), two Warriors, a Secretary and a Treasurer. 

Elections:

Language Classification: Muskogean => Eastern Muskogean (also called Southern Muskogean) => Creek-Seminole => Muscogee (Creek)

Language Dialects: Mvskoke (also called Creek)

The Muscogee language (Mvskoke in Muscogee), also known as Creek, Seminole, Maskókî  or Muskogee, is a Muskogean language spoken by Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole people, primarily in the U.S. states of Oklahoma and Florida.

Historically the language was spoken by various constituent groups of the Muscogee or Maskoki in what are now Alabama and Georgia. It is related to but not mutually intelligible with the other primary language of the Muscogee confederacy, Hitchiti/Miccosukee, spoken by the kindred Miccosukee (Mikasuki), as well as other Muskogean languages.

Number of fluent Speakers: About 5,000 fluent speakers, most of them in Oklahoma. About 200 Florida Seminoles are fluent.

Dictionary:

Origins:

Bands, Gens, and Clans

Related Tribes:

The tribe maintains a close relationship with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and falls under the jurisdiction of their tribal courts.

Traditional Allies:

Traditional Enemies:

Ceremonies / Dances:

Modern Day Events & Tourism:

The tribe owns Golden Pony Casino.

Legends / Oral Stories:

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Animals:

Clothing:

Housing:

Subsistance:

Weapons: Blow guns were made from the cane reeds that grew near Thlopthlocco.

Social Organization:

The Creek were a matrilineal society, meaning bloodlines were traced from the mother. Thlopthlocco was known as a Red Town and the red towns carried red beads and were in charge of making war in Creek society.

Religion & Spiritual Beliefs:

Burial Customs:

Burial customs practiced by Creek Freedmen

Wedding Customs

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Muscogee Creek Chiefs & Famous People:

Catastrophic Events:

Tribe History:

Thlopthlocco Tribal Town was formed toward the end of the eighteenth century near what is now Wetumka, Alabama. It was an upper Creek town of the old Creek Confederacy that was situated in Alabama and Georgia in historical times.

Thlopthlocco Tribal Town was one of the forty-four (44) or more Creek tribal towns that immigrated to Indian Territory after the famous Removal Treaty of March 24, 1832 was signed. Members of the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town settled along the north fork of the North Canadian River and the Town was one of the most western settlements of the Creeks. 

 

In the News:

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