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The Four Mothers Society or Four Mothers Nation is a religious, political, and traditionalist organization of
Muscogee Creek 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 WoodlandsCherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
,
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
and
Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...
people, as well as the
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 ...
enrolled in these tribes, in
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. It was formed in the 1890s as an opposition movement to the allotment policies of the
Dawes Commission The United States, American Dawes Commission, named for its first chairman Henry L. Dawes, was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893. Its purpose was to convince the Five Civilized Tribes to agree to cede tr ...
and various US Congressional acts of the period. The society is religious in nature. It opposed allotment because dividing tribal communal lands attacked the basis of their culture. In addition, some communal lands would be declared surplus and likely sold to non-Natives, causing the loss of their lands. There were more than 24,000 members at the organization's peak.


Background

The Four Mothers Societies may have existed, although undocumented, for much of the 19th century. It was formally founded as a dues-collecting organization about 1895 in
Sulphur Springs, Indian Territory Sulphur Springs was a Choctaw Indian community formerly existing in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory. It was located 3/4 mile south-southeast of the highway intersection of OK 3 and OK 93 in present-day Rattan, Okl ...
. It continued in this legal incarnation until 1915, and likely much later. The naming is significant as Cherokee mothers are believed to be from Selu, the Corn Mother. The name may also refer to the
four directions The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...
, which are integral to religious thought and practice. With the passage of the
Curtis Act The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act; it resulted in the break-up of tribal governments and communal lands in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory: the Choctaw, Chickasaw ...
in 1898 and
Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...
, allotment became US policy. The various tribal governments were forced to agree to allotment and their members were registered to establish heads of household. Many members of the Four Mothers Societies were outraged that communal lands were being broken up and allocated to households.
Chitto Harjo ''Chitto Harjo'' (also known as Crazy Snake, Wilson Jones, Bill Jones, Bill Snake, and Bill Harjo; 1846 – April 5, 1912) was a leader and orator among the traditionalists in the Muscogee Creek Nation in Indian Territory at the turn of the 20 ...
set up a new Creek government in
Henryetta 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 so ...
, which many Creek who opposed allotment acknowledged as the legitimate government. In 1900 Harjo's followers held a meeting was held at Hickory ceremonial grounds; they declared that
Pleasant Porter Pleasant Porter (September 26, 1840 – September 3, 1907, Creek), was an American Indian statesman and the last elected Principal Chief of the Creek Nation, serving from 1899 until his death. He had served with the Confederacy in the 1st C ...
and his government had violated the 1867 Creek Constitution. They declared Porter's government invalid and declared Harjo to be the new principal chief.
Redbird Smith Redbird Smith (born ''To-Juwah Sequanitah'', Cherokee) (1850–1918) was a traditionalist and political activist in the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. He helped found the Nighthawk Keetoowah Society, whose members revitalized traditional spi ...
, a traditionalist and founder of the Nighthawk Keetoowah Society, also became involved in the Four Mothers Society. In 1906, the group submitted a petition of one hundred eighty-six signatures to Congress, so that a delegation could be sent to Washington, D.C. to discuss treaty violations and their concerns over official tribal leadership. Harjo spoke before the Senate, supported by the Four Mothers Nation. The Four Mothers Society was also associated with the movement for a
State of Sequoyah The State of Sequoyah was a proposed state to be established from the Indian Territory in the eastern part of present-day Oklahoma. In 1905, with the end of tribal governments looming (as prescribed by the Curtis Act of 1898), Native Americans ...
. Rather than agreeing to merge with Oklahoma Territory and apply for admission to the Union, they proposed a state to be set aside for Native Americans. Besides openly opposing allotment, the Four Mothers Societies maintain ceremonial groups for
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 ...
s, stickball games, feasts, meetings, and ceremonies. In the late 1980s the Chickasaw had at least one dance ground and the Cherokee another . Today in the early 21st century, there are several Four Mothers Society grounds throughout eastern Oklahoma. As of 2015, several Muscogee (Creek) ceremonial grounds are still active, and the Cherokee also have an active ground.


Representation in other media

Author
LeAnne Howe LeAnne Howe (born April 29, 1951, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is an American author and Eidson Distinguished Professor in the Department of English at the University of Georgia, Athens. She previously taught American Indian Studies and English ...
(Creek) refers to the Four Mothers Society in her novels in the context of traditional
matriarchal Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...
culture. She explores it at length in her book ''Miko Kings''.


See also

*
Black drink Black drink is a name for several kinds of ritual beverages brewed by Native Americans in the Southeastern United States. Traditional ceremonial people of the Yuchi, Caddo, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee and some other Indigenous peop ...
*
Green corn ceremony The Green Corn Ceremony (Busk) is an annual ceremony practiced among various Native American peoples associated with the beginning of the yearly corn harvest. Busk is a term given to the ceremony by white traders, the word being a corruption of t ...
* Coosa *
Keetoowah Nighthawk Society The Keetoowah Nighthawk Society was a Cherokee organisation formed ''ca.'' 1900 that intended to preserve and practice traditional "old ways" of tribal life, based on religious nationalism. It was led by Redbird Smith, a Cherokee National Council ...


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Four Mothers Society Native American rights organizations Indigenous topics of the Southeastern Woodlands Native American religion Cherokee culture Chickasaw Choctaw culture Muscogee culture Natchez people 1890s in Oklahoma Territory