Creek Fest in Milton celebrates Native American culture
(This story has been updated to correct an error. The Creek Fest cultural festival will be Nov. 23 and Nov. 24.)
The Florida Indian Removal Act of 1853 was just another blow for the Creek Indians in the Panhandle who managed to survive removal following the U.S. Indian Removal Act of 1830. Both had the intent to remove Native Americans who lived east of the Mississippi to lands on the west side. Those who remained − and survived − were forced to live anonymously, not celebrating their heritage, not acknowledging their ancestry and proud lineage.
Phooey on that.
This month, National Native American Heritage Month, the ancestors of that Creek lineage that make up the Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee, are going to wear their traditional native garb, proudly perform native dances and drum ceremonies. There’s going to be a world champion Native American hoop dancer performing, native crafts, native music and even Indian Fry Bread and roasted corn. It’s going to be loud, colorful and a testament of the survival of a people, many of whom didn’t know they were part of that “people” for much of their lives because their ancestors had to hide who they were at their core.
A more somber event will be a reenactment of the 1814 Battle of Chumuckla when Creek natives battled militia troops out of Mississippi who were trying to push them out of the area.
The Santa Rosa Band hosts its annual Creek Fest cultural festival and celebration from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 23 and Nov. 24 at its beautiful 95-acre ground compound at 4650 Willard Norris Road in Milton.
“I was envious growing up because the kids − Italian, German, Irish, whatever − could trace their lineage,” said Dan “Sky Horse” Helms, chief of the Santa Rosa Creek Band. “I thought I was just a mutt and didn’t have any heritage and it always bothered me.”
Helms, 70, didn’t find out about his native roots until he was in his late 40s.
He said finding the documentation of his Creek heritage was a “profound experience.”
“Now I can trace my lineage back for 12 generations,” he said, noting that four ancestors were tribal chiefs and a great-great-great grandmother was the sister of Alexander McGillivray, also known asHoboi-Hili-Miko, a legendary Muscogee leader, seen as leader of the “Creek Confederacy,” whose mother was native and whose father was Scottish.
“I actually have royalty in my bloodline so to speak,” he said, standing outside the Santa Rosa Creek Band’s cultural center, wearing a native “ribbon shirt” festively decorated with, well, colorful ribbons.
Now, the Creek Band is reclaiming the culture their ancestors were forced to hide to survive. The Band’s cultural center features native artifacts, interactive displays, and portraits of various Creek leaders, and huge wall maps showing a large map of the southeast and the various towns, villages and native land routes across the various lands.
Another interactive wall displays the alphabet and a slew of words from the Creek language.
The Santa Rosa Creek Band has been providing Creek language classes for its members for three years now. The Creek Band has about 3,000 people on its rolls, and about 1,000 active members, Helms said.
Many of those Creek Band members will attend the Creek Fest Event, which has been going on now for more than 30 years. COVID took a bite out of attendance for two years, but last year about 4,000 visitors − not of Creek heritage − attended. Last year the event featured about 40 vendors. This year it’s filled with 60 vendors, selling everything from native jewelry, flutes and clothing to dream-catchers, drums and native dance attire. Helms is hoping for 6,000 guests this year.
Admission is $5, free for children 6 and under.
Explore the Creek compound:Santa Rosa Band of Lower Muscogee makes good on promised educational Cultural Center
One of the vendors pulled up into the Creek Band land, and up the dirt road toward the cultural center. He was Matt Taylor, 65, who pulled up with his trailer filled with native gear, including walking sticks and flutes, on the way back from a similar native festival in Niceville.
It was still a few weeks out from Creek Fest ’24 and Taylor, who lives near Bankhead National Forest, north of Birmingham, had arranged to leave his trailer on the property, drive back home to Alabama and come back again for the festival.
He’s of documented Cherokee descent and travels to native and cultural events throughout the southeast.
Like Helms, Taylor, 65, didn’t learn of his native heritage until later in life.
“It was something I had to learn on my own,” he said. “My grandmother knew it, but she would never tell nobody because she was afraid if it got out, they’d take their land.”
Now, he celebrates that culture every chance he gets.
“This is the best one,” he said of the native culture festivals he attends and sells his wares at. “I always love coming here.”
Florida Rep. Michelle Salzman is one of the event sponsors, along with presenting sponsor Eglin Federal Credit Union and other supporting sponsors. She’s also a member of the Santa Rosa Creek Band, and has twice introduced legislature that would have given official state recognition to three Native American tribes in the Panhandle − the Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee, the Muscogee Nation of Florida and the Lower Chattahoochee Band of Yuchi Indians. Both efforts failed.
Unlike Helms and Taylor, Salzman always knew about her Creek heritage. Her family has lived in Milton, Crestview and surrounding small towns since the 19th century.
“We knew the area and we never left, so it’s easy for us to know about our culture,” she said. “But so many people moved around. Churches were burned and it’s hard to find records sometimes.”
She said she is happy to see a new generation of Native Americans reclaim their heritage and culture.
“The Creek Festival is a time when we can come out and people can learn about the history and meet a lot of us,” she said. “Yes, I’m a member. I don’t try to hide it.”
Helms said the Creek Band will construct a four-story traditional native roundhouse that be a ceremonial spot, as well as an education tool. Education is the key to growing knowledge of Native American history, among those of native blood or not. Education is the key to continuing a revival of cultural knowledge, pride and traditions for new generations.
The Creek Band has entered into a partnership with the Santa Rosa County school district to help develop teaching tools for teachers regarding Native American history, and teaching youngsters about the history of the region’s native people, the history of the land we all share today. There’s no more hiding, no more fear of being forced from home.
The first school field trip to the Santa Rosa Creek Band of the Lower Muscogee will be in January.
“So few of us were raised with any Native American teachings or knowledge,” Helms said. “There were tidbits that came through. Now, we’re making sure that history and knowledge doesn’t get lost again.”
link
