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the pay to play loon tune moving around native american music fills the air south alabama at the thanksgiving powwow
torch band of creaking it began over twenty five years in family was grown into a national event attracting thousands of visitors to the area competitors traveled from across the united states with a fancy dance contests style of dancing began in the eighteen hundreds when the indians perform for visitors to their oklahoma reservations today the porch band of creek indians number over two thousand and have a strong tribal government but they are the only federally recognized tribe of indians in alabama the reservation is a sovereign nation surrounded by the state of things were very different before the chiefs and anthropologist who visited here in nineteen forty one call these people lost creeks of alabama and expressed regret that they have no
leader to direct their efforts and yet in nineteen forty a man stepped fortunately this group of people and forever change their destiny his name was calvin the key but they called him the chief creating the awareness of the fact that we were still hear it in my opinion and the major accomplishment he expanded a lot of people ah but just by the sheer fact that they kill it is a authentic elderly increase awareness of people that we knew we hear it the same term raising mostly awareness and the dea belief that are all people that we were unique but it
was utterly fed up unfortunately we just lived in rural community recover and somehow which is lend you a forgotten oboe so it was time someone stepped forward and became a spokesperson for those those issues the town of moore is located just north of alabama's border with florida this is cotton country and forestry is a major industry jobs were scarce when calvin he was young born in nineteen oh three to a farming family and he carried on the family tradition of farming until just being the chief took all of this time what other children of indian descent he attended an elementary school and the porch community north of that but he was not allowed to attend high school it was obvious that he was not a man of great wealth and when i had visited his whole it was a nice
haul but also they didn't have a lot of money but that did not seem to make a difference as far as calvin was concern in his time he was well spoken it if he had only a fifth grade education you'd never know it their well he was comfortable in the company of any by a regal a dignified person is never raised his voice in the ever got mail about anything was always somewhat soft spoken and the ideas we talked with he was impressed and no question about that he became chief of his efforts to improve educational opportunities for the children in his community he was also recognized as chief of all preconditions east of the mississippi river because of his work to receive payment for land taken from the creek nation in eighteen forty
around nineteen sixty he started wearing plains indian regalia for most of his public appearances and meetings with government officials first he was very proud of his heritage is no question about that secondly i believe that he understood what he was about so well that he's that address and mating such is my member of congress mull over the years to impress upon them the seriousness of what he wrote about it was done a number for a lawyer and yesterday all got our attention of almost level headed enough like wearing that had grown it's a reasonable part of his effort and for the porch creek when members of the muskogee creek nation of oklahoma
and it is a symbolic reunion of people separated for over one hundred fifty years creek indians from alabama and georgia relocated to reservations in oklahoma during the eighteen twenties and thirties that several families were left behind in south alabama the porch creek indians are the descendants of so called friendly creek indians are the earliest records of their ancestors abate from the latter part of the seventeen and one some of them such as lending the most especially when the gm sam mac oh we're during the trip for over fifteen thirty at fourteen they suffered any losses from the health or you freaks of awful things their ancestors were largely of them explore the sun and have the blessing with the blessing of the provincial council and the nearly two hundred had moved down through these borders southern border the greek nation
for good overall from indiana white one of your ancestors of calvin and we were the people who stayed loyal to the united states government during the creek indian war of eighteen thirty eight june fourteenth but they were for all intents and purposes despite treaty promising news for the country or abandoned by the united states the creeks of alabama lived in poverty with little opportunity for advancement they seldom left south alabama except to labor as migrant workers during world war two porch creek served in the military and solve the world they returned home with a desire to improve the children's law the company provided a primitive grabbers prevented them from attending high school calvin mickey tried to negotiate with the school board when that failed he said the board in state court just it lingered without results so mickey want to talk with
alabama governor jim folsom in nineteen forty eight and when a person to go ahead in your pot would drop in on some online a joke about your shit without id get up we were announced that would travel anyone up there and in jail was interviewed on a live one for sure footed through the government but it saw the songs that i'm tall and in nevada before and he really likes this is our reception elders that we surely heard that that was up in the hole and the older dorm called them and was that into more doesn't communicate film collin is a hit he was a largely hidden world but by most those were brothers listed afterward and no light out with a bit of a wildly was it was locked for some recommended they find a young warrior who would be willing to take the issue to federal court
heroes else to the bill and we ran into a hornet's nest applause we we tried the meat weight and we did meet with the forbidden of education and to have that board members that lived in this area and all weekend package here are i think apple met with m by myself those opinions are not going to come to ask to old indian they don't come to ask you and the principle of the half truths that go in and they don't come to pass through action when i saw chief media and several other of our tribal people in this community stand with arms outstretched just out of risk to us so their kids could get on that person going to tend to screw on the us all of us about eleven years old guard over what you wrote for the fury he
told there'd more to a roll a recall like a platoon it was a huge piece of the chief use unusual my an issue than most of the epic hit as usual can't let it go it should never said that but he won satisfied that the school bus and come along and picked up the issue also took three of his close relatives he was and arrested in every job our hour when he first began on the strictly local issue in school buses were killed there were some on the orderly then you're not very enthusiastic about its own so long there's nothing to be done about it tell the mickey's persistent lawsuits resulted in admission of indian students to
high school the school board also build a new elementary school for the indian community but mickey's court experience did not end in nineteen forty eight with this issue in that same year congress created the indian claims commission to settle treaties which had not been fulfilled by the government a teacher in the indian school brought this news to calvin mcgee's attention it's been what tom cole was a major town creek nation both french and americans build forts here which have been restored in recent years british spanish french and americans all thought the andes for lambs creek indians divided about how to react and the civil war about a hostile group of greeks attacked american settlements but a friendly group sided with the us government a friendly creeks helped general andrew jackson bring an
end to the war in an eighteen fourteen treaty signed jackson sees twenty five million acres of pre plan payment for the land was promised but never made we went to watch him and we found out that the oklahoma for each have already filed a petition top fought to be paid while this lion and indeed when we got to washington we found out that they had been hurt by the union claims commission and the meantime information have awarded about one million seven hundred thousand dollars in the obama greatest were willing to take one candidate for tissue against the creeks in oklahoma was size bed you don't know ok it laid at war but it was an odd because you know a lot of times the world you know and then i'll i'm going as we've moved oklahoma the
evening claims this time is nigh all follow all of late to the argument the lawyer paul in the bail of their clients well represented obama created that there were no union in the martini and how about and love so what we did was appeal government he set out to prove that they were creek indians in alabama and other southeastern states he began recruiting members for the tribal council of the creek nation east of the mississippi today he always calmly says he's this is someplace else we got to do some as a horse rule he's got to do something do it now for don't we just call on time and there was a ways beyond a wonderful good is and they knew not to go out onto the stairs to keep books they were insect or
as a count i came today now i've got an education if you can maintain the plan roberta cells kept the tribal rule but as word spread that descendants of creek indians might get a check from the government people came from miles around to see the chief placed on american role of you know man's land playing that is worth it for that one of our great nation and i knew the stakes here that is heard about income and if you don't know the record as the government before we got ready to go into the oil as they support client we've built up several owners are indians and they
really were indians and may look like in the end and knocked out with this mother was in that group and the case went well once the decision was made that we could share in the creek judgment find the hens became the challenge to document all these people who claimed to have indian ancestry now individually if we knew all of our indian ancestors were we could fill out our own papers provide our own documents and send a man to the bureau of indian affairs in muskogee oklahoma now there were some people who were not able to do that and that's where joyce who was calvin swat and calvin indian they provided assistance and help people fill out their papers <unk> with the government tell them the key and his wife joyce helped hundreds of indian descendents prove their creak ancestry they studied records in washington historical collections on their many trips there to appear in court
the union claims commission made an award in nineteen fifty eight but calvin mcgee thought it was too little even at eighteen fourteen the land prices there were many hearings and many days in court as years went on the commission was moved by evidence presented by chief mcgee and his attorneys we had them at the farm no i couldn't do the farm and close those victims a standard has chosen not to fail some other book about or talk to that achievement in our community people in he'll probably head of the closely on the sidewalk to do you know our elders know what the rest of his life that in the city i remember how are occasions so they're just how this community relic when that he would get a telephone call required his presence in washington dc you have the money to travel but this community would well it didn't find fruit to
go and would that sell plates and are raising money for him to go to be the represent our people here mckean met other indian leaders in washington and became active in native american issues on the national level one national indian conference led the key to a meeting with president kennedy in nineteen sixty two all of that vicki was with him i've never been in the white house alone the art but it is a lonely she is i'm going to go back to washington next to go through the bill that but yet he came out of the what is he were the rose garden is there there's the south we always makes this speeches and stuff and they get it he said to him you know that it didn't think he was meaning that he had blue eyes he said i never heard of the blue eyed indian the blue eyed indian chief also met with president johnson as the land claims case continued over the course of several years the key and his attorneys presented historical evidence regarding the value of the creek plant in nineteen fourteen the
many trips took their toll on the chief bailout will flow of displeasure dakota barn money finished then it's all business the way so the end of the bar and money on this place and five when he died of course we had we had a figure that a lot of medical close to losers so we went to court many jobs either in the kenyan finds commission on the i think court applying we got the amount to any obama greek wallet up to two million seven hundred and three may and then three million from the masses a little bit more and then apply as we got the amount of the war may have three thousand dollars and we agreed to accept that a mile path toward the end of his life
by some accounts he was a movie sole surviving force in all of this because the land claims case dragged on for so long that some of the original council members have been elected in the nineteen fifty five this case began to lose hope actually tell the media the latter years of his life before dad unparalleled squad i would've liked a hymn to know i've been able to say some of the things that he was really work hard on that you know he died he died in june and we got our first ship in december dana has kelvin the king is remembered each year the graveside service on his birthday in march family and friends gathered to pay their
respects to the chief nearly fourteen thousand creek indian descendents east and west of the mississippi received checks for one hundred thirteen dollars each for land claims case it wasn't just the money that the chief had worked so hard for united a forgotten group of people and brought them to a national attention eddie tell us you for roland and others inspired by calvin that worked hard to improve the social and economic conditions the federal government had forgotten the porch creek symphony out and mickey came along but in nineteen eighty four they were recognized as a sovereign nation calvin never sleeps i built here you know calvin lived here without us having this trial force them or without us really all the thing is a trap so are you have to respect an individual it hadn't of these young to convince people are hitting defines it had to be done without
having something is going to show up an anti heroes holdings actual actually decrease during the alford know calvin sold all his burpee amount to the fact that without a lot of people even be conscious of the idea so you know one of their little heads an extended embark on it when you can see a person continued to make the decisions that are necessary to continue a mayor for those without it would need to be remembered dr tony pereda says written extensively about the porch creek since nineteen seventy one he has seen many changes in sixth fifth and i had gone from in your nineteen seventy drivers came no corporate assets beyond the stationery on a few dollars earned from their annual powwow a thing like that most people working for other lives of people with industry are small manufacturing plants or agricultural labor becoming now in the nineteen
nineties a very potent important economic force in that part of alabama and indeed one of the largest employers in the county where they live and boy any other people in addition to their own in their various of thousands of their own the station on the court system on fire station their lives have been politically economically socially transform along with the presence of political party or essence of art and a great education become among married people now graduates all the way from local community colleges to literally become a very very long way and much of that is a result of the single mindedness of this rough you first to get better
education of the children and then to right past grievances them to the point where house fall very early he saw a show like most and there's nobody in my mind that cow man went to the mountaintop and he knew that he knew that we were going to win this case and he may july's all these lines that go a jealous and the others have gone all he he realized that that was gonna happen in america and he was and he had the ability to put it across gavin gave his whole life and so what my god he did real laws he saw the promised land
at our airmen as these for a videotape
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Series
The Alabama Experience
Episode
The Chief: Calvin McGhee and the Forgotten Creeks
Producing Organization
University of Alabama Center for Public Television
Contributing Organization
University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio (CPT&R) (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-7f0edde25d2
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Description
Episode Description
The Poarch Creek Indians in Alabama didn't have a chief until Calvin McGhee stepped up in 1948. His goals: have the Poarch Creek Indians in Alabama recognized, improve educational opportunities for Indian children, and try to get Indians paid for the land that was taken from them. Piece focuses on the history of Poarch Creek Indians, McGhee's fight to get Indian children into High Schools, the creation of a role for Poarch Creek Indians, and the lawsuit to be included in the land payment with the Poarch Creek Indians in Oklahoma.
Series Description
A series that focuses on bringing to life the inspiring stores and empowering characters that have helped form Alabama's past and are working to shape its future.
Broadcast Date
1995-11-16
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:27:45.631
Embed Code
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Credits
Editor: Holt, Tony
Producing Organization: University of Alabama Center for Public Television
AAPB Contributor Holdings
University of Alabama Center for Public Television
Identifier: cpb-aacip-da73cf0146e (Filename)
Format: BetacamSP
Duration: 0:27:46
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Citations
Chicago: “The Alabama Experience; The Chief: Calvin McGhee and the Forgotten Creeks,” 1995-11-16, University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio (CPT&R), American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 29, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-7f0edde25d2.
MLA: “The Alabama Experience; The Chief: Calvin McGhee and the Forgotten Creeks.” 1995-11-16. University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio (CPT&R), American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-7f0edde25d2>.
APA: The Alabama Experience; The Chief: Calvin McGhee and the Forgotten Creeks. Boston, MA: University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio (CPT&R), American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-7f0edde25d2