Editing Alabama language (section)

==History==
The Alabama first encountered Europeans when [[Hernando de Soto]] arrived in 1540. (See [[List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition|here]] for other de Soto contactees) In the 18th century, the French arrived on the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] and built a fort at what became [[Mobile, Alabama]].

The ''Alibamu'' and ''Koasati'' tribes were part of the [[Creek Confederacy]]. They had less contact with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] settlers than other [[Creek people|Creek tribes]] did.  They were the first to leave when British settlers swarmed into the area by the middle of the 18th century, after the land was ceded by the French following the British victory in the [[French and Indian War]].  Under pressure as well by Native American enemies, the Alabama and Coushatta tribes wanted to avoid the powerful [[Choctaw]] in present-day [[Mississippi]]. They moved into territories of future states, first into [[Louisiana]] and then into [[Texas]].

In 1795, the Coushatta arrived in the Big Thicket area of East Texas. In 1805, nearly 1,000 Alabama came to [[Tyler County, Texas|Tyler County]]'s Peach Tree Village in East Texas. The two tribes developed a strong friendship as they roamed and hunted their new land together. In the early 19th century, the Texas Congress granted each tribe two strips of land along the [[Trinity River (Texas)|Trinity River]]. Their land was soon taken over by European-American settlers, leaving them homeless.  [[Sam Houston]], the governor of Texas, recommended that the state purchase {{convert|1280|acre|km2}} for the Alabamas.  Although money was appropriated to buy {{convert|640|acre|km2}} for the Coushatta, the land was never bought. Either through marriage or special permission, many Coushatta went to live on the land given to the Alabama.  Other Coushatta had stayed in an area in southern Louisiana near the Red River. Many of their descendants are enrolled members of the federally recognized Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.

Alabama and Coushatta towns were divided into "red" and "white" towns.  The "white" towns were responsible for keeping the peace and for providing refuge, while the "red" towns were responsible for conducting military campaigns. Though they had "red" and "white" towns, the Alabama-Coushatta thought of themselves as a peace-loving people.<ref name="Indians">{{cite book |last=Hook |first=Jonathan |title=The Alabama-Coushatta Indians |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=1997}}</ref>

By 1820, there were three main Alabama towns and three large Coushatta towns in east [[Texas]], in the region known as the Big Thicket. In 1854, the Alabama were given {{convert|1,280|acres|km2}} in [[Polk County, Texas|Polk County]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mattox |first1=Jim |author-link1=Jim Mattox |title=Opinion No. JM-17 Re: Enforcement of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code within the confines of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation |url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm |website=The Office of the Attorney General of Texas |publisher=State of Texas |access-date=26 January 2015|at=Paragraph 2 |date=March 22, 1983 |quote=The 'reservation' consists principally of two tracts located in Polk County. One of them, consisting of 1,280 acres, was purchased in several parcels for the Alabama Indians by the state government in 1854 and 1855. The purchase was authorized to honor a claim held by the Alabama tribe against the Republic of Texas. Acts 1854, 5th Leg., ch. 44, at 68; Acts 1840, 4th Congress of the Republic, at 197 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119131158/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm |archive-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> The following year, {{convert|640|acres|km2}}, also in Polk County, were given to the Coushattas. The Coushatta claim was disputed by white settlers in 1859. When the Coushatta lost the land claim, the Alabama invited them to live on their land claim.

The federal government approved a large grant in 1928 to purchase additional land near the reservation;<ref>{{cite web|author1=Mattox, Jim|author-link1=Jim Mattox|title=Opinion No. JM-17 Re: Enforcement of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code within the confines of the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation|url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm|website=The Office of the Attorney General of Texas|publisher=State of Texas|access-date=26 January 2015|location=Paragraph 11|page=1|date=March 22, 1983|quote=It was not until 1928 that the federal government purchased the larger tract 'in trust for the Alabama and Coushatta Indians of Texas.' See Act of May 29, 1928, ch. 853, 45 Stat. 883, 900; 88 Deed Records of Polk County Texas 209 (1928)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119131158/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/47mattox/op/1983/htm/jm0017.htm|archive-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> it was granted to the "Alabama and Coushatta tribes." Since that time, the reservation has officially been known as “Alabama-Coushatta".

Origin myths focus on the interconnectedness of the tribes. One myth states that the two tribes sprouted from either side of a [[cypress]] tree. Another legend was recorded in 1857 from {{lang|mus|Se-ko-pe-chi}}, one of the oldest Creeks in [[Indian Territory]]. He said that the tribes “sprang out of the ground between the [[Cahaba River|Cohawba]] and [[Alabama River]]s.” The symbol of the Alabama-Coushatta tribe comes from pre-contact [[Mississippian culture]]: two intertwined woodpeckers, now symbolic of the connection between the two tribes.