Voices from the southern borderlands: The Alabamas and Coushattas, 1500--1859

The history of the Alabamas and Coushattas is one of a proud people, yet remains a topic relatively untouched by historians or anthropologists. This study examines the evolution of these peoples over three centuries. During white settlement of the North American continent, the Alabamas and Coushattas constantly struggled to hold on to their territory in the Southeast as foreign nations fought for hegemony over the "discovered" continent. When these disputes and wars erupted between England, France, Spain, Mexico, and, later, the United States, the Alabamas' and Coushattas' strategically central position on the southern borderlands enhanced their status and influence among foreign emissaries who vied for the tribes' allegiance. In contrast to once prevalent stereotypes of Native Americans as being merely reactive to such overtures, the two tribes played these foreign empires against each other time and again by maintaining neutrality. In the process, the two tribes received favorable trade, gifts, and protection from emissaries.; The Alabamas and Coushattas were very successful at their neutral strategy, as were other Native peoples on the borderlands. Yet the two tribes' diplomacy differed from others because they brokered alliances or unions with more numerous peoples, such as the Creeks, Caddos, Choctaws, and western Cherokees, to obtain both power and status. Such a reliance upon membership of pantribal unions potentially endangered the two tribes own identities as distinct and separate peoples. Unlike most tribes with small populations, however, the Alabamas and Coushattas avoided total absorption into larger tribes. Moreover, they used the strategy of playing contending nations against one another time and again, becoming better skilled throughout the decades.; This history of the Alabamas and Coushattas is a case study of survival and cultural integrity despite external forces seeking to destroy or alter these tribes' traditions, livelihood, and existence as a people. On a larger scale, understanding these two tribes' past experiences allows us to better understand how Native peoples employed various methods of political and cultural survival during the contest of cultures.