Latest additions:

I'm currently revising layout and some basic site design in preparation for expanding several sections.  If there's something you'd like to see, please email me.
 

About Me:

I am Wynne Eden, a re-enactor, historical interpreter, living historian or "period trekker", if you prefer. In this endeavor, I portray a  Lower Creek from one of the Muscogean-speaking talvas in what is now Southwest GA during the mid 18th century.  I am one of the leaders of a group of reenactors actively researching and portraying the "Southern Indian Department" during its lifespan.  You can visit our site via this link.
 

Background:

Living in Southwest Georgia, you are surrounded by reminders of the people who once lived here.  Those reminders are embedded in the  folklore, artifacts, and place names the members of the Creek Confederacy left behind when they were "removed" in the late 1830's.  

The primary cultural groups existing in this area that is now Southwest Georgia in the mid 18th century were the members of the Creek Confederacy, Cusseta, Coweta, Chiaha, Yuchi, a limited number of Shawnee, and the original inhabitants,  the Hitchiti speaking people.  By the 1750's these people had migrated east, then moved back west to the Chattahoochee and Flint areas in order to put some distance between their villages and the encroaching European settlers. The Amohkali (Muckalee), Kinchafoonee, Lanahassee, and other creeks were part of the Flint River area inhabited by the people in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Along with the languages of their birth families, many of the people of West Georgia and Eastern Alabama spoke dialects of Muscogee and Hitchiti, languages in the Muscogean family still existing among members of the Creek and Seminole tribes today. 
 

My portrayal:

My name is Kowakuce (Wildcat) - a name I earned. Some of our Tsalagi (Cherokee) brothers have named me Unoli Usdi, Short Wind, for I have short breath sometimes.  Please forgive me if I cannot spell the Tsalagi words well.  I only know a few words of their language.

I live with my wife and two sons, 11-year old Culv Cutke (Jacob -"Little Fox") and 15 year old Chufe Hadjo (Sam -"Crazy Rabbit") in a town called Amohkali, or Aumucculle, one of towns that are of the Chiaha talva and go to Chiaha for Green Corn. When I was young, the people moved west to the Chattahoochee, away from the English, because the English were angry at all the people after the Yamassee rose up and tried to drive them out.  As our people have prospered, a few families have moved farther east to good bottomland along the Thronateska, Aumuccalle, and Kinchafoonee.

In my town, I am one of those that people ask to make bows and arrows, though fewer of the people use these now that guns and powder are easy to trade for. A friend, who is a half-Choctaw blacksmith, has taught me a little about how to work iron and steel, so I do some work for our town to repair broken things or make new ones.

My wife and mother's clans have good hunting grounds that the Es'te-hvt'ke have not tried to settle on, so we do not have to travel far to do our hunting for the winter.  We are able to trade many deer hides to the English and the few French traders who come to our town, or when we travel to Savannah, Augusta, or the French fort at the Alibamoe towns.

As a young man, I fought alongside Oglethorpe against the Spanish and Yamassee, but Oglethorpe is gone, and the Carolina and Georgia governors do not respect our people as he did.  We stayed neutral for the most part when the British and French tried to get us to fight, and now, while the colonists are rebelling, I am helping our friends Stuart and Brown whenever possible.
 

About this site:

This site is intended to provide information to help people interested in furthering their understanding of primitive archery and 18th century Southeastern Native American history and culture.  I hope to help people develop accurate, respectful portrayals for historical interpretation. 

As my interest in "primitive archery and technology" grew, it became important to me to understand the whole thing -- the culture, material goods, and history that had such an impact on the modern South. That interest led me along this garden path that has become an obsession, even a lifestyle, in some ways.

This information will hopefully be helpful to re-enactors, those interested in living history, and archers looking for more traditional methods. I strive to add things as the research leads me -- I have had a long standing interest in dogs and their relationships with humans, so have included research in that area, for example. 

 I will post images, text, and photos as they are available if they are useful for documenting material goods or life ways of the period.   If these pages help you learn, broaden your point of view, or find information, consider it repayment for those who have helped me learn, and repay me and them by sharing your knowledge with others. As additional content is created, it will be added to the site. If you have corrections or additions you'd like to see, please feel free to email me.

Please note:  Many pages on this site are graphics intensive and may load very slowly over a dial-up connection.  The site is designed for at least an 800x600 resolution, and may be difficult to view at lower resolutions.