III.

Customs

The Creek lived in villages consisting of rectangular pole-framed houses, with clay-covered walls and slanted and peaked bark-covered roofs. The houses were arranged in a rectangle around a central space, or plaza, where a cone-shaped ceremonial lodge stood, often elevated on an earthen mound. The plaza was reserved for public events, such as the annual renewal and thanksgiving festival known as the Green Corn Ceremony. Some villages, known as red towns, were designated for war ceremonies, and others, called white towns, for peace ceremonies. Each village had a micco, or chief, who was advised by the Beloved Men, a council of elders. Priests also played an important part in village life. Families were organized into clans, or groups of families related by a common ancestor. Descent was matrilineal (traced through the female line). Creek women cultivated corn, squash, beans, and other crops, and the men hunted and fished. Like many other tribes of the Southeast, the Creek were heavily tattooed and ornamented.