Abihka was one of the four mother towns of the

Muscogee Creek confederacy The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsChiefdom of Coosa The Coosa chiefdom was a powerful Native American paramount chiefdom in what are now Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia, in the United States.Natchez people The Natchez (; Natchez pronunciation ) are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi in the United States. They spoke a language ...

settled with the Abihka after being dispersed by the French in the 18th century.

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 Coosa and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

rivers, in what is now Talladega County,

. Besides the town of Abihka, the Creek had established other important towns in their territory: ''Abihkutchi'', ''

Tuckabutche Tukabatchee or Tuckabutche ( Creek: ''Tokepahce'' ) is one of the four mother towns of the Muscogee Creek confederacy.Isham, Theodore and Blue Clark"Creek (Mvskoke)." ''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' ...

'', ''Talladega'', ''

Coweta Coweta is a city in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States, a suburb of Tulsa. As of 2010, its population was 9,943. Part of the Muscogee (Creek), Creek Nation in Indian Territory before Oklahoma became a U.S. state, the town was first settled i ...

'', and ''Kan-tcati''.

Ceremonial grounds

After the removal to the

Indian Territory The 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 St ...

, 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 5,927 at the 2010 census, down 9.6 percent from the figure of 6,096 recorded in 2000. History Hugh Henry established a ranch on Creek Nation land in 1885. He soon ...

.Nabokov and Easton; p. 109. Alice Brown Davis and her husband, George Rollin Davis, operated a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, post office, general store 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 Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma