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Coosa Chiefdom

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The Coosa chiefdom was a Muskogean Late Mississippian indigenous polity situated in what is now northern Georgia on the Coosawattee River. At the height of its power, it led a paramountcy stretching from Tennessee to Alabama. From the 15th to the 16th centuries, Coosa may have been the most powerful chiefdom in the South Appalachian Mississippian region.

Name

Coosa's namesake capital is traditionally considered to have been a Creek (Maskókî-speaking) settlement, with some sources including it as an ancestral town of the Upper Creeks. Toponym research suggests, however, that the chiefdom as a whole was likely multi-lingual, including Maskókî, Alabama, Koasati, Tawasa, and possibly Cherokee speakers.

The term Coosa comes from the word Kusa (ᎫᏌ, pronounced /kusa/ or /kuʃa/), a Cherokee term for the chiefdom and the Muscogee people as a whole. 16th century Spanish chroniclers referred to the chiefdom as Coça, Cusa, and Coza.. Gatschet suggests Kósa (/kósa/ or /kʊ́sa/) as the autonym of the chiefdom. The name was likely derived from a Muskogean word for river-cane such as the Chahta word kusha (/kʊʃa/) or the Maskókî word koha (/koha/).

The word "Coosa" is similar to "Koasati" (/kowaʃáːti/), the autonym of the Muskogean-speaking Coushatta people. Although there is evidence of Koasati speaking communities within the greater Coosa polity, Coosa itself was likely not a Koasati speaking town. According to a report concerning the modern Koasati nation, some elders suggest that the original name of Coosa was Kohosa (/kohoʃa/) and that the name Koasati was derived from from Kohosa-aati (Coosa people), though the both tribal leaders and scholars tend to favor "Kowi iisa-fa aati-ha" meaning "people from the land of panthers" as the most likely origin of the word Koasati.

The Cusabo may have also been Maskókî speakers, and one group - the Cussoe or Cozao - bears significant resemblance in name to Coosa, but this is generally believed to be coincidental, and while the two ethnonyms may or may not share an etymology, the Coosa and Cussoe were likely no more related than any of other Maskókî speakers.

Origins

Cohutta overlook in Northern Georgia and Tennessee.

The Coosa chiefdom was situated in a physiographic region known as the Ridge and Valley province. The area that the Coosa exerted influence over stretched from Autauga County, Alabama to Union County, Tennessee. The numerous rivers that pass through this area, including the Coosa and Tennessee, enabled travel through the hilly, wooded terrain and provided seafood and drinking water. The climate in this region is moderate, with more rainfall than the neighboring Piedmont and Blue Ridge regions and was rich in game. This made it an attractive place for indigenous settlement and development.

Paleoindians inhabited the area since at least 10,000 BCE. By the beginning of the Middle Woodland period, small sedentary agricultural communities had developed. The Mississippian period, beginning in 900 CE, saw the introduction of maize, beans, and squash to people north of Mexico. These crops, combined with local cultivars such as sunflowers and maygrass, served as the basis for the establishment of new agricultural societies throughout much of the modern United States and southern Canada.

Etowah Indian Mounds site in Georgia.

By 900 CE, the Mississippian Woodstock culture emerged in the Coosa heartland of Northern Georgia. Initially, settlements were limited to small villages. The Etowah culture, which began circa 1000, saw population increases and the formation of the first chiefdoms in the area, the most prominent among these being centered around the namesake Etowah mound site (Maskókî: Italwa), which attained political dominance by the 12th century.

This period appears to have been one of frequent power-shifts as new towns grew and declined in influence. In many cases, there was a direct political continuity between old and new chiefdoms, as occurred with the decline of Etowah and rise of Coosa in the mid-1300s. Chiefdom succession occurred when the ruling lineage lost influence or was deposed, and the dominant town of the political confederation changed. By 1350, the settlement that is now known as the Little Egypt Site was established in modern day northeast Georgia and continued to grow well into the 16th century. By 1500, it appears to have developed as the paramount settlement that held sway over several other villages. It is this site which is agreed to have been the town of Coosa as encountered by Spanish, English and French explorers.

History

In 1538, Hernando de Soto embarked on what would become a disastrous expedition which would see the deaths of most explorers, including himself, as well as the devastation of many indigenous groups. In 1540, the expedition reached the outskirts of the Coosa paramountcy at a chiefdom called Chiaha (also called Olamico, probably the name of cheifdom's capital) located around what was Zimmerman’s Island in Sevier County, Tennessee. The Chiaha approached the Spaniards in peace, and the expedition encamped for two weeks, receiving a great deal of food. The conquistadors, however, demanded women and girls to serve as concubines. When much of the population fled at this request, De Soto followed them, burning many village cornfields in his wake. Eventually, he agreed to only draft porters for the expedition and continued his journey after two more weeks.

Sketch of Hernando de Soto.

Further south, where the Tennessee and Little Tennessee rivers meet, De Soto encountered the chiefdom of Coste (possibly etymologically related to Koasati), another subject of Coosa. At there capital (likely on Bussel Island), a few of De Soto’s men stole food and household items in broad daylight. De Soto chastised these men in front of the natives to give the illusion of support, but sent word for his forces. He invited the chief of Coste along with his advisors into his own camp, where he took them hostage. De Soto left Coste after 8 days, releasing his prisoners. The next group he encountered were the Tali, whose capital was likely the Toqua archaeological site. The Tali, likely aware of De Soto’s reputation, hid their women, children, and possessions and built canoes to help De Soto ferry his men across a river.

The settlements of Satapo (Cherokee: Sitigu) and Chalahume (Cherokee: Tsulunawe) may have been under the influence of Tali, Coste, or Chiaha, or constituted their own provinces within Coosa. Hudson identifies the Dallas culture with the communities of Chiaha, Coste, Tali, Satapo and Chalahume. These peoples likely spoke Koasati and may have engaged in war with neighboring Chisca and Cherokee groups as evidenced by extensive fortifications attested in the region. Many Dallas phase settlements were situated on river islands, perhaps because they were ideal defensive locations. The threat of outside attacks may have encouraged these peoples to align themselves with Coosa.

After 6 more days of trekking, the De Soto expedition reached the Koasati-Maskókî language boundary at Tasqui. A few days later, the Spaniards reached the settlement of Coosa at Little Egypt. The Coosa chief came out to greet De Soto on a litter covered with white cloth, surrounded by performers and musicians. Spanish conquistadors described the Coosa as a powerful chiefdom with ample food and a high population. The Coosa chief was aware of the threat the Spaniards posed, but attempted to approach De Soto with diplomacy.

De Soto took the Coosa chief and many of his people hostage to serve as sex-slaves, porters, and guides as he continued his journey through Coosa territory. After a day, they reached Talimachusi (Fairmount, GA), which had been evacuated in preparation for De Soto’s arrival. Following this, they arrived at Itaba, what we now know as Etowah Mounds. At one point, the third largest settlement north of Mesoamerica, Etowah had since declined significantly and was a shadow of its former self.

The party continued through Coosa territory and reached the Ulibahali (possibly Holiwahali) chiefdom, another Coosa subject. There, the chief of Coosa de-escalated tension with the Spanish by ordering his local allies to stand down and give the expedition tribute. After paying the locals for porters and concubines, the expedition left Ulibahali and came across another village called Apica at King Site. This settlement, also known as Abihka, would later be one of the founding towns of the Creek Confederacy. The next major group they reached was Tuasa (possibly Tawasa), situated in northern Alabama, where their forces rested for some time.

They visited two more unnamed but reportedly impressive towns. The final province of the Coosa chiefdom that De Soto encountered was Talisi, where upon arrival and extraction of tribute, he released the chief of Coosa. He did not, however, release his sister (who, due to the matrilineal family structure of the Mississippians, was likely also the mother of his heir). Talisi may have been a buffer between the Coosa chiefdom and that of Athahachi. It is unclear if Coosa participated in the battle of Mabilla, where Athahachi's chief Taskalosa nearly destroyed the expedition.

In 1559, Spanish explorer Tristen de Luna embarked on a similarly disastrous expedition aimed at colonizing modern day Pensacola. Most of the expeditions supplies were destroyed in a hurricane, forcing the colonists to rely on begging and trading with indigenous groups for food and medicine, taking care not to trigger native outrage given their precarious position and knowing the fate of De Soto's expedition. The expedition traveled up the Alabama river but was met with hostility by the indigenous Piachi (likely spurred on by experiences with the De Soto Expedition) and was forced to travel even farther north to Coosa. Veterans from the de Soto expedition noted the significant decline of the Coosa capital since then, probably in part resulting from the expedition itself. The Coosa offered some aid and promised more if the Spaniards would help them subjugate the Napochi (located near the Conasauga River) who had refused to pay tribute and attacked Coosa settlements. The Coosa assaulted the Napochi, destroying some settlements, raiding food stores, and killing those they could find until they formally surrendered.

The 1566-1568 expeditions of Juan Pardo reached several towns associated Coosa paramountcy, though the explorers never entered Coosa proper as the Spaniards were alerted of a plot by the Coosa and their allies to ambush them and decided to abort the venture. Although the expedition reached only the edge of Coosa, the expedition does name two towns in the vicinity of Coosa proper - Tasquiqui (Taskigi/Tuskeegee) and Olitafar.

European disease likely caused a massive population decline, destabilizing the chiefdom and leading to its collapse by the 17th century. Several communities, including Chiaha, Apica, Taskigi, and Talisi, are known to have relocated further south. Archaeological evidence suggests that by the late 16th century, the population of the Ridge and Valley province had declined, dispersed, and migrated in coincidence with the general collapse of the Mississippian culture. Coosa river populations gradually shifted downstream, and Smith argues that the rapid reduction in the construction of mounds, reduced production of luxury goods, and dispersal of settlement patterns indicate a decline in political and social development brought on by population decline in the area. In the 18th century, Coosa along with Abihka, Alabama, Ofuskee, and Tallapoosa formed the the group that English settlers would call the "Upper Creeks."

Political Organization

The degree and nature of political integration surrounding the Coosa chiefdom has become a subject of academic controversy. Spanish sources describe Coosa as a powerful entity which dominated the economic, political, and military landscape of Southern Appalachia; however, many ethnographers find this depiction to be too simplistic and a projection of European conceptualization of feudal polities onto Mississippian ones.

Jacob Lulewicz characterizes the polity as a network of "autonomous communities linked together through loose political ties, with the chief of the most powerful town at Coosa wielding significant influence over these communities." Blitz agrees with this description, claiming Coosa was "a set of relationships between relatively independent polities."

Society

Among the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, individuals were grouped into exogamous matrilineal clans, which were externally ranked but internally egalitarian. In addition to matrilineallity, South Appalachian Mississippian familial structure was matrilocal (men relocated to their wives' communities) and matrifocal (women headed households and retained children and marital possessions in all divorces), but not matriarchal, as men remained dominant in matters of political, social, and martial affairs.

Labor was divided by gender, with men hunting, trading, clearing fields, and engaging in military and political affairs while women were charged with agricultural and household tasks. Women's roles were typically more time-consuming and left little space for recreation, but Riles asserts that Mississippian women's roles were accounted a degree of cultural and social prestige and capital not found in contemporary European societies.

Titles were inherited through the maternal line, and women could inherit titles in some contexts, especially when there were no valid male heirs to receive a title. Chiefdoms developed along with agriculture and increased socioeconomic inequality - at the highest social level was the chief (mikko or mikka), who inherited the title their from their uncle or mother. Male chiefs could not pass their titles to their own children, and the chief's eldest sister was considered deeply important as the mother of the Coosa polity's heir.

Beneath the chief were their family members, followed by the nobility (generally the members of the ruling chief's clan), warriors, commoners, and slaves. Within commoners in the same clan, all individuals were said to have the same social status. Charles Hudson suggests that slaves were kept as a means of asserting military dominance and intimidating rival polities rather for economic value.

Society was also likely divided into moieties - one white (Hathagalgi) division associated with peace and seniority, and one red (Tcilokogalgi) division associated with warfare and subordination. This system, though present, may not have been as prominent in Mississippian Creek polities as it was in their 18th and 19th century successors.

Mississippian chiefdoms were warlike, with the military being the primary way of elevating one’s social status. Spanish sources describe indigenous warriors as highly disciplined and organized into complex formations. Despite this degree of organization, warfare patterns were more reminiscent of raids - albeit ones involving considerable forces - than on traditional military campaigns. Incursions tended to feature limited objectives and were rarely exterminative. Mass killing and occupation was often unnecessary, as simply demonstrating military superiority was frequently enough to coerce the submission of rival leaders, as seen with the Coosa conflict with the Napochi.

Chiefs and prominent people were honored with burials within temples on top of the emblematic mounds that characterized Mississippian societies. Surrounding these mounds were dozens of houses, agricultural fields, and open plazas which served as gathering places, sporting zones, and in some cases, sacrificial grounds.