Southeastern Tribes and European Contact

Southeastern Tribes and European Contact

• Chief Tishomingo belonged to the Chickasaw tribe.
• Hernando de Soto was the first European to make contact with a Southeastern tribe in 1539.
• De Soto treated the Native Americans with contempt and disrespect.
• Intermarriage between Europeans and Southeastern tribes introduced plantation agriculture and Christianity to the tribes.
• The British arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in 1670 and began trading with Southeastern Indians.
• The Creek and Seminole tribes were generally less inclined to ally with European invaders.
• The French were a third European power competing for control of Southeastern lands.
• The Choctaw tribe typically sided with the French.
• The Chickasaw and Cherokee tribes generally sided with the British.