| East Alabama was inhabited by aboriginal people for several thousand
years before the arrival of settlers of European and African origins. Artifacts
of their material culture abound in our section. Later, the area was home
to the historic era tribes known as the Creeks. The arrival of white settlers
in the early years of the 19th Century resulted in a clash of the two cultures.
By 1836, the majority of the native inhabitants of the region had been forcibly
removed by the United States Government and relocated west of the Mississippi
River. The Museum of East Alabama's Native American exhibit contains a variety
of Indian arrowheads and other projectile points, scrapers, choppers, grinding
stones and pottery. Outstanding items in this collection include a large
burl bowl of Indian manufacture, a unique pair of 19th Century beaded women's
leggings, and a costume worn by a native actor in Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show, obtained by an Opelika resident when the theatrical troupe performed
in Opelika in 1881. |
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