A System Model of Shawnee Indian Migration

A System Model of Shawnee Indian Migration

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies Nebraska Academy of Sciences 1979 A System Model of Shawnee Indian Migration Jerry E. Clark Creighton University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tnas Part of the Life Sciences Commons Clark, Jerry E., "A System Model of Shawnee Indian Migration" (1979). Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies. 305. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tnas/305 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Nebraska Academy of Sciences at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societiesy b an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences- Volume VII,1979 ANTHROPOLOGY A SYSTEM MODEL OF SHAWNEE INDIAN MIGRATION JERRY E. CLARK Department of Sociology/Anthropology Creighton University Omaha, Nebraska 68178 Existing theories or "laws" of migration prove to be inadequate Shawnee history. This resulted in a system model for explain­ for understanding and explaining the widespread migration of the ing Shawnee migration. Shawnee Indians. By viewing Shawnee migration as a system, their movement from place to place can be understood in terms of cultural, historical, and environmental variables. Migration to and from Alabama DEFINITION and eastern Pennsylvania indicates how these variables operated to make a particular location favorable or unfavorable for the Shawnee. The definition of migration used for this study is: "The non-recurrent movement of groups of people from one locality t t t to another." Non-recurrent movement distinguishes migration from recurrent movement, or what Amos Hawley (1950) calls INTRODUCTION functional movement. Functional movement is routine and repetitive, and is related to subsistence activities with no dis­ ruption of the established order. Locality refers to a geo­ At the time of white contact, migration was a way of life graphic area in which the activities that make up the daily, for the Shawnee. Shawnee migration can be classified into two weekly, and seasonal rounds of collective life occur. For a basic forms: (1) widespread migration, and (2) what Amos nomadic group, locality could comprise a sizable area of Hawley calls functional migration. The second form involved several hundreds of square miles. For a sedentary group, regular patterns of movement called for by the Shawnee's locality might be only a few acres. Therefore, the distance mixed hunting, gathering, and horticultural subsistence econ­ required to change locality depends on the kind of cultural omy. It is the first, or widespread, migration which is the con­ group with which one is dealing. cern of this study. VARIABLES BACKGROUND OF MIGRATION THEORY Four principal variables seem operative in Shawnee mi­ Despite an abundance of literature on migration, no useful grations. These include internal motivation, external motiva­ general theory of migration exists. Most studies of the move­ tions, environment, and facilitation. Space does not allow for ment of people are descriptive or temporally limited and a presentation of all the evidence, so the variables must be useful only for urbanization studies (Ravenstein, 1885; Stauf­ summarized. fer, 1940). These tend to be predicated on industrialization and the concentration of a large labor force in urban areas. Internal Motivation. These are factors existing in the They do not deal with cultural factors other than dynamic culture of the Shawnee and are encompassed by two concepts: economic change. conservatism and dependence. A desired locale for the Shaw­ nee would be one in which they could maintain their tradi­ These earlier studies were of limited use in understanding tional culture and still obtain those'material goods upon which Shawnee migration prior to their removal in the 1830's. Vari­ they depended. ables mentioned in the migration literature were examined, and those which appeared relevant for understanding Shawnee The migration of Shawnee bands was conservative in the nugrations were examined against the data derived from sense that the Shawnee moved as a response to changing 47 conditions in order to preserve their accustomed cultural and in order to survive and to preserve their culture, guns patterns and to preserve their identity. In the areas of sub­ came a necessity (Driver, 1969). sistence, ideology, medicine, and language, the Shawnee showed a remarkable resistance to change and a continuation External Motivations. External motivations are th of traditional forms (Voegelin, 1940, 1944; Alford, 1930; factors outside of Shawnee culture which influenced mi Callender, 1962; Spencer, 1908). tion. However, these factors are not outside the system migration. External factors include Shawnee relations Likewise, the political, social, and religious patterns other political and social units. connected with subsistence activities and basic organization remained conservative. Thus, what Julian Steward (1955) Shawnee migration was apparently impelled rather t calls the "culture core" was conservative and resistant to forced. There are two components that distinguish impe change. migration from forced migration: (1) impelled migratio voluntary, and (2) the choice of locality when migra' The material aspects not related to cultural organization occurs is made by the migrants and not by some other poli . were more likely to change, but even in this area the shift or cultural unit (Peterson, 1970). j. from the bow and arrow to the gun allowed the Shawnee to maintain their hunting subsistence in the face of rapidly From the historical data available it is difficult to pr dwindling supplies of game. that Shawnee migration was voluntary. In fact, some" counts indicate that they f moved under extreme press The vehicle to change in the material culture was trade. The combined strength of the Carolina government Although this trade produced a dependency upon the Euro­ the Catawba was given by some Shawnee as the reason' peans, the procurement of furs and skins for trade fit easily leaving South Carolina' and moving to Pennsylvania (Mil into traditional patterns of economic organization, preserving 1940). However, the precise events leading to the migra the emphasis on hunting. Through trade the Shawnee acquired from most localities is not known. Since locations a variety of items of European manufacture and in the process seldom abandoned en masse, it might be assumed that, gave up many of the traditional crafts, such as making pot­ decision to migrate was a voluntary one. A decision to s , tery, baskets, bows, and arrows. Still much of the traditional however, might have meant that the Shawnee would have Shawnee technology was retained: building houses and ani­ abandon their conservative life. Some of the Shawnee c mal traps, making sugar and salt, and dressing skins for cloth­ to remain in Ohio rather than to migrate to Missouri prior ing (Alford, 1936; Kerr, 1922; Loskiel, 1794; Voegelin, 1830 and were encouraged to adopt the life style of the E 1940). peans. Dependency of the Shawnee was realized in two signifi­ It is apparent that, when migrating, the Shawnee chi cant areas. First, they were dependent upon other political their own location. But alternatives became increasint or cultural groups for a place to settle; second, the Shawnee limited as the British and Americans pushed west. The im{i' depended upon European trade, not only for material goods tant point is that the Shawnee were not in the beginnil but also for cultural survival (Sosin, 1961). forced to settle in areas which were not of their choice~\tt was not until 1832 that the Shawnee were forced onto rese. The earliest historic references to the Shawnee place them tions that were not of their choosing. ! in widely scattered locations which were already occupied, '\~ or at least claimed, by other political-cultural units. Only at Environment. The environment is the setting in whi the invitation of or by the permission of these other groups the group exists. Variables include the economic, politi, could the Shawnee establish settlements at such locations. and physical environments and the influence of these envint ments on location and migration of the Shawnee. '~ One of the practices of all European colonies was to make .,~ the Indians dependent upon them. This was accomplished The Shawnee migrated to areas where the PhYSiCal~" through lavish presents and the establishment of a vast fur vironment was similar to that in the locality they left. Er '. trading network (prucha, 1962). By creating a demand for Voegelin pointed out that "despite their many shifts in 10> European manufactured goods, the colonists made the Indians dUi'ing the historical period all of the Shawnee groups dependent upon them and insured allies in the colonial strug­ kept within one ecological area, that of the deciduous fo~ gle for the continent. This dependency could not be avoided. belt of woodlands" (1944). Not only did the Shawnee remf" Guns, powder, and lead could be obtained only from the in the woodland, but their villages were nearly always 10catt4 Europeans. Arms were required if a tribe was to successfully in similar settings. The Shawnee preferred to settle on , defend itself against other tribes who did have such weapons ridges of long, narrow plains along navigable streams f and who were encouraged by the Europeans to make war. avoided coastal, swampy, and mountainous regions (Doneh" Such wars of annihilation were new to the American Indians, 1924; Harmar, 1934; Galloway, 1934). 48 Trade relations were important and became the basis upon the good will of the Creek, who claimed the Alabama land . h European colonists gained military alliances or at least upon which the Shawnee built their villages. Their prolonged whi~ality agreements with the Shawnee. If trade relations stay was fostered by the Carolina and French traders who ne\e down, military alliances also suffered.

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