2LT International News

MONTGOMERY, Alabama: Members of the Muscogee Creek Nation returned to Alabama last weekend for a memorial service on the 210th anniversary of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, the single bloodiest day of conflict between Native Americans and U.S. troops.

The battle, in which more than 800 Muscogee warriors, women, and children were killed, also paved the way for white settler expansion in the Southeast and the tribe’s eventual forced removal from the region.

At the ceremony, David Hill, principal chief of the Muscogee Creek Nation, said, “We don’t come here to celebrate. We come here to commemorate, to remember the lives and stories of those who fought and honor their sacrifice.”

The site, named for the sharp bend of the Tallapoosa River, was a refuge for some 1,000 warriors, along with women and children from six tribal towns, and was attacked by a force of 3,000 led by future U.S. President Andrew Jackson on March 27, 1814.

“They were going to fight to the end. The warriors were going to do what they could do to protect the women and children, protect themselves, protect our freedom, what we had here,” Hill said.

Leaders of the Muscogee Nation placed a wreath made of red flowers to honor the warriors, who were known as “Red Sticks.” It was also decorated with six eagle feathers representing the six tribal towns that had taken refuge at the site.

The Muscogee were eventually forcibly removed from the Southeast to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears despite signing a treaty with the U.S. government. Some of their descendants made the journey back to the land of their ancestors to attend the remembrance ceremony.

Dode Barnett, a member of the Muscogee Nation Tribal Council, said, “Hearing the wind and the trees and imagining those that came before us, they heard those same things. It wakes something up in your DNA.”

The Muscogee Nation has also announced plans to place a permanent memorial at the site.