Yuchi Tribe. Significance unknown, but perhaps, as suggested by Speck (1909), from a native word meaning “those far away,” or “at a distance,” though it is also possible that it is a variant of Ochesee or Oeese, which was applied by the Hitchiti and their allies to Indians speaking languages different from their own. Also called:
- Ani’-Yu’tsl, Cherokee name.
- Chiska, probably a Muskogee translation of the name of one of their bands.
- Hughchee, an early synonym.
- Round town people, a name given by the early English colonists.
- Rickohockans, signifying “cavelanders” (Hewitt, in Hodge, 1907), perhaps an early name for a part of them.
- Tahogalewi, abbreviated to Hogologe, name given them by the Delaware and other Algonquian people.
- Tamahita, so called by some Indians, perhaps some of the eastern Siouans.
- Tsoyaha, “People of the sun,” their own name, or at least the name of one band.
- Westo, perhaps a name applied to them by the Cusabo Indians of South Carolina though the identification is not beyond question.
Yuchi Connections. The Yuchi constituted a linguistic stock, the Uchean, distinct from all others, though structurally their speech bears a certain resemblance to the languages of the Muskhogean and Siouan families.
Yuchi Location. The earliest known location of the Yuchi was in eastern Tennessee, perhaps near Manchester, but some of them extended still farther east, while others were as far west as Muscle Shoals. On archeological grounds Prof. T. M. N. Lewis believes that one main center of the Yuchi was on Hiwassee River. We find settlements laid down on the maps as far north as Green River, Kentucky. In later times a part settled in West Florida, near the present Eucheeanna, and another part on Savannah and Ogeechee Rivers. (See also Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and South Carolina.)
Yuchi Subdivisions. There appear to have been three principal bands in historic times: one on Tennessee River, one in West Florida, and one on Savannah River, but only a suggestion of native band names has survived. Recently Wagner has heard of at least three subdivisional names, including the Tsoyaha, or “Sun People” and the Root People.
Most of their settlements are given the name of the tribe, Yuchi, or one of its synonyms. In early times they occupied a town in eastern Tennessee called by the Cherokee Tsistu’yǐ, “Rabbit place,” on the north bank of Hiwassee River at the entrance of Chestua Creek in Polk County, Tennessee, and at one time also that of Hiwassee, or Euphasee, at the Savannah Ford of Hiwassee River. The Savannah River band had villages at Mount Pleasant, probably in Screven County, Georgia, near the mouth of Brier Creek, 2 miles below Silver Bluff on Savannah River in Barnwell County; and one on Ogeechee River bearing the name of that stream, though that was itself perhaps one form of the name Yuchi. Hawkins (1848) mentions former villages at Ponpon and Saltketchers in South Carolina, but these probably belonged to the Yamasee.
The following Yuchi settlements were established after the tribe united with the Lower Creeks:
- Arkansaw River, in Oklahoma.
- Big Pond Town, Polecat Creek, and Sand Creek, in and near Creek County, Oklahoma.
- Blackjack Town.
- Deep Fork Creek, Oklahoma.
- Duck Creek Town.
- Intatchkålgi, on Opilthlako Creek 28 miles above its junction with Flint River, probably in Schley County, Georgia.
- Padshilaika, at the junction of Patchilaika Creek with Flint River, Macon County, Georgia.
- Red Fork, location uncertain.
- Snake Creek, location uncertain.
- Spring Garden Town, above Lake George, Florida.
- Tokogalgi, on Kinchafoonee Creek, an affluent of Flint River, Georgia.
Yuchi History. The chroniclers of the De Soto expedition mention the Yuchi under the name Chisca, at one or more points in what is now Tennessee. In 1567 Boyano, an officer under Juan Pardo, had two desperate encounters with these Indians somewhere in the highlands of Tennessee or North Carolina, and, according to his own story, destroyed great numbers of them. In 1670 Lederer (1912) heard of people called Rickohockans living in the mountains who may have been Yuchi, and two white men sent from Virginia by Abraham Wood visited a Yuchi town on a head stream of the Tennessee in 1674. About this time also, English explorers and settlers in South Carolina were told of a warlike tribe called Westo (probably a division of Yuchi) who had struck terror into all of the coast Indians, and hostilities later broke out between them and the colonists. At this juncture, however, a band of Shawnee made war upon the Westo and drove them from the Savannah. For a time they seem to have given themselves up to a roving life, and some of them went so far inland that they encountered La Salle and settled near Fort St. Louis, near the present Utica, Ill. Later some were located among the Creeks on Ocmulgee River, and they removed with them to the Chattahoochee in 1715. Another band of Yuchi came to live on Savannah River about 20 miles above Augusta, probably after the expulsion of the Westo. They were often called Hogologe. In 1716 they also moved to the Chattahoochee but for a time occupied a town distinct from that of the other Yuchi. It was probably this band which settled near the Shawnee on Tallapoosa River and finally united with them. Still later occurred a third influx of Yuchi who occupied the Savannah between Silver Bluff and Ebenezer Creek. In 1729 a Kasihta chief named Captain Ellick married three Yuchi women and persuaded some of the Yuchi Indians to move over among the Lower Creeks, but Governor Oglethorpe of Georgia guaranteed them their rights to their old land until after 1740, and the final removal did not, in fact, take place until 1751.
A still earlier invasion of southern territories by Yuchi is noted by one of the governors of Florida in a letter dated 1639. These invaders proved a constant source of annoyance to the Spaniards. Finally they established themselves in West Florida not far from the Choctawhatchee River, where they were attacked by an allied Spanish and Apalachee expedition in 1677 and suffered severely. They continued to live in the same region, however, until some time before 1761 when they moved to the Upper Creeks and settled near the Tukabahchee. Eucheeanna in Walton County, Fla. seems to preserve their name.
A certain number of Yuchi remained in the neighborhood of Tennessee River, and at one time they were about Muscle Shoals. They also occupied a town in the Cherokee country, called by the latter tribe Tsistu’yl, and Hiwassee at Savannah Ford. In 1714, the former was cut off by the Cherokee in revenge for the murder of a member of their tribe, instigated by two English traders. Later tradition affirms that the surviving Yuchi fled to Florida, but many of them certainly remained in the Cherokee country for a long time afterward, and probably eventually migrated west with their hosts.
A small band of Yuchi joined the Seminole just before the outbreak of the Seminole War. They appear first in West Florida, near the Mikasuki but later had a town at Spring Garden in Volusia County. Their presence is indicated down to the end of the war in the Peninsula, when they appear to have gone west, probably reuniting with the remainder of the tribe.
The Yuchi who stayed with the Creeks accompanied them west and settled in one body in the northwestern part of the old Creek Nation, in Creek County, Oklahoma.
Yuchi Population. For the year 1650 Mooney (1928) makes an estimate of 1,500 for the Yuchi in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, but this does not include the “Westo,” for whom, with the Stono, he allows 1,600. The colonial census of 1715 gives 2 Yuchi towns with 130 men and 400 souls, but this probably takes into consideration only 1 band out of 3 or 4. In 1730 the band still on Tennessee River was supposed to contain about 150 men. In 1760, 50 men are reported in the Lower Creek town and 15 in one among the Upper Creeks. In 1777 Bartram (1792) estimated the number of Yuchi warriors in the lower town at 500 and their total population as between 1,000 and,1,500. In 1792 Marbury (1792) reports 300 men, or a population of over 1,000, and Hawkins in 1799 says the Lower Creek Yuchi claimed 250 men. According to the census of 183233 there were 1,139 in 2 towns known to have been occupied by Indians of this connection. In 1909 Speck stated that the whole number of Yuchi could “hardly exceed five hundred,” but the official report for 1910 gives only 78. That, however, must have been an underestimate as the census of 1930 reported 216. Owing to the number of Yuchi bands, their frequent changes in location, and the various terms applied to them, an exact estimate of their numbers at any period is very difficult. In the first half of the sixteenth century they may well have numbered more than 5,000.
Connection in which they have become noted. The Yuchi have attained an altogether false reputation as the supposed aborigines of the Gulf region. They were also noted for the uniqueness of their language among the Southeastern tongues. The name is preserved in Euchee, a post hamlet of Meigs County, Tenn.; Eucheeanna, a post village of Walton County, Fla.; Euchee (or Uchee) Creek, Russell County, Ala.; Uchee, a post station of Russell County, Ala.; Uchee Creek, Columbia County, Ga.; and an island in Savannah River near the mouth of the latter.
Kabila la Yuchi. "Hata hivyo, kama Speck (1909), kutoka neno la asili maana ""walio mbali,"" au ""kwa umbali,"" ingawa pia inawezekana kwamba ni lahaja ya O'Shaughnessy au O'Shaughnessy, ambayo ilitumiwa na Hitchiti na washirika wao kwa Wahindi kuzungumza lugha tofauti na yao wenyewe." Pia huitwa: - Ani<unk>-Yu<unk>tsl, jina la Cherokee. - Chiska, pengine tafsiri ya Muskogee ya jina la moja ya bendi zao. - Hughchee, neno la awali linalolingana na hilo. - Watu wa mji wa mviringo, jina lililopewa na wakoloni wa mapema wa Kiingereza. "Hawlton, ""Wafanyakazi wa Mapango"" (Hewitt, Hodge, 1907), labda jina la mapema kwa sehemu yao." - Tahogalewi, kifupi cha Hogologe, jina waliopewa na Delaware na watu wengine Algonquian. - Tamahita, hivyo kuitwa na baadhi ya Wahindi, labda baadhi ya Siouans mashariki. -Tsoyaha, "Watu wa Jua", jina lao wenyewe, au angalau jina la bendi moja. - Westo, labda jina lililotumiwa kwao na Wahindi wa Cusabo wa South Carolina ingawa utambulisho si nje ya swali. Uhusiano wa Yuchi. Lugha ya Kichina ya Uchi ni tofauti na lugha nyingine zote, ingawa kwa muundo wa lugha yao inafanana na lugha za familia za Muskhogean na Siouan. Eneo la Yuchi. Mji wa kwanza wa Yuchi uliokuwa mashariki mwa Tennessee, labda karibu na Manchester, lakini baadhi yao walienea zaidi mashariki, wakati wengine walikuwa magharibi kabisa kama Muscle Shoals. Kwa misingi ya kiakiolojia Profesa T. M. N. Lewis anaamini kwamba kituo kimoja kikuu cha Yuchi kilikuwa kwenye Mto Hiwassee. Tunaona makazi yaliyoorodheshwa kwenye ramani hadi kaskazini hadi Green River, Kentucky. Baadaye sehemu fulani ilikaa Magharibi mwa Florida, karibu na eneo la sasa la Eucheeanna, na sehemu nyingine kwenye Mto Savannah na Mto Ogeechee. (Ona pia Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee, na South Carolina.) Idara ya Yuchi. Inaonekana kwamba kulikuwa na makundi matatu makuu katika nyakati za kihistoria: moja kwenye Mto Tennessee, moja katika Magharibi mwa Florida, na moja kwenye Mto Savannah, lakini ni pendekezo tu la majina ya makundi ya wenyeji ambalo limeokoka. Hivi karibuni Wagner amesikia angalau majina matatu ya mgawanyiko, kutia ndani Tsoyaha, au "Watu wa Jua" na Watu wa Mizizi. Makao yao mengi yanaitwa kwa jina la kabila hilo, Yuchi, au mojawapo ya majina yanayofanana na hilo. Katika nyakati za mapema waliishi katika mji wa mashariki mwa Tennessee ulioitwa na Cherokee Tsistu-y, mahali pa sungura, kwenye ukingo wa kaskazini wa Mto Hiwassee kwenye mlango wa Chestua Creek katika Kaunti ya Polk, Tennessee, na wakati mmoja pia ule wa Hiwassee, au Euphasee, katika Savannah Ford ya Mto Hiwassee. Savannah River Band ilikuwa na vijiji huko Mount Pleasant, labda katika Kaunti ya Scripps, Georgia, karibu na mdomo wa Brier Creek, maili mbili chini ya Silver Bluff kwenye Mto Savannah katika Kaunti ya Barnwell, na moja kwenye Mto Ogeechee, ikiwa na jina la kijito hicho, ingawa hiyo yenyewe ilikuwa labda aina moja ya jina Yuchi. Hawkins (1848) anataja vijiji vya zamani katika Ponpon na Saltketchers katika South Carolina, lakini hizi pengine ni mali ya Yamasee. Makazi yafuatayo ya Yuchi yalianzishwa baada ya kabila hilo kuungana na Lower Creeks: - Mto Arkansaw, katika Oklahoma. - Big Pond Town, Polecat Creek, na Sand Creek, katika na karibu na Creek County, Oklahoma. - Mji wa Blackjack. - Deep Fork Creek, Oklahoma. - Mji wa Duck Creek. Inchclough, katika Mto Opilthlak, kilomita 28 juu ya makutano yake na Mto Flint, labda katika Kaunti ya Schley, Georgia. - Padshilaika, katika makutano ya Patchilaika Creek na Flint River, Macon County, Georgia. - Red Fork, eneo lisilo la uhakika. - Snake Creek, eneo lisilo la uhakika. - Spring Garden Town, juu ya Ziwa George, Florida. - Tokogalgi, kwenye Mto Kinchafoonee, mto unaotokana na Mto Flint, Georgia. Historia ya Yuchi. "Wahusika wa safari ya De Soto wanataja Yuchi chini ya jina la ""Chisca"" katika sehemu moja au zaidi katika eneo ambalo sasa ni Tennessee." Mwaka 1567 Boyano, afisa wa Juan Pardo, alikutana mara mbili na Wahindi hao katika eneo la Tennessee au North Carolina, na, kulingana na hadithi yake mwenyewe, aliwaangamiza wengi wao. Mwaka 1617 Lederer alisikia kuhusu watu wa kabila la Rickohockani waliokuwa wakiishi milimani, ambao huenda walikuwa ni watu wa kabila la Yuchi, na watu wawili wazungu waliotumwa kutoka Virginia na Abraham Wood walitembelea mji wa Yuchi kwenye mto wa Tennessee mwaka 1674. Wakati huo, pia, wavumbuzi na wahamiaji wa Kiingereza katika South Carolina waliambiwa juu ya kabila la kivita lililoitwa Westo (labda mgawanyiko wa Yuchi) ambalo lilikuwa limewatisha Wahindi wote wa pwani, na baadaye uadui uliibuka kati yao na wakoloni. Hata hivyo, wakati huo, kikundi cha Washawnee kiliwapigana Westo na kuwafukuza kutoka Savannah. Kwa muda fulani walionekana kuwa wamejiweka katika maisha ya kutangatanga, na baadhi yao walienda mbali sana ndani ya nchi hadi walipokutana na La Salle na kukaa karibu na Fort St. Louis, karibu na Utica ya sasa, Illinois. Kikundi kingine cha Yuchi kilianza kuishi kwenye Mto Savannah, karibu maili 20 juu ya Augusta, labda baada ya Westo kufukuzwa. Mara nyingi waliitwa Hogologe. Mwaka 1716 walihamia Chattahoochee, lakini kwa muda fulani waliishi katika mji tofauti na ule wa Yuchi. Yaelekea kundi hilo ndilo lililokaa karibu na Shawnee kwenye Mto Tallapoosa na hatimaye kuungana nao. Baadaye, watu wa tatu wa kabila la Yuchi waliingia katika eneo la Savannah kati ya Silver Bluff na Ebenezer Creek. Mwaka 1729 mkuu wa kabila la Kashi, Kapteni Ellick, aliolewa na wanawake watatu wa kabila la Yuchi na kuwashawishi baadhi ya Wahindi wa kabila la Yuchi kuhamia kwenye vijito vya Lower Creek, lakini Gavana Oglethorpe wa Georgia aliwahakikishia haki zao za ardhi yao ya zamani hadi baada ya mwaka 1740, na kuhamishwa kwa mwisho hakukufanyika hadi mwaka 1751. Mmoja wa magavana wa Florida aliripoti juu ya uvamizi wa mapema zaidi wa maeneo ya kusini na Yuchi katika barua ya tarehe 1639. Washambuliaji hao waliwaudhi Wahispania daima. Mwishowe, waliishi magharibi mwa Florida, karibu na Mto Choctawhatchee, ambako walishambuliwa na jeshi la Wahispania na Waapalachee mwaka 1677 na walipatwa na madhara makubwa. Walikuwa wakiishi katika eneo hilo hadi mwaka 1761 walipohamia Upper Creek na kuishi karibu na Tukabaichi. Eucheeanna katika Kaunti ya Walton, Florida. inaonekana kuhifadhi jina lao. Idadi fulani ya Yuchi walibaki katika ujirani wa Mto Tennessee, na wakati mmoja walikuwa karibu na Muscle Shoals. Pia walishika mji katika nchi ya Cherokee, ulioitwa na kabila la mwisho Tsistuyl, na Hiwassee huko Savannah Ford. Mwaka 1714 watu wa kabila la Cherokee waliua mnyama huyo kwa sababu ya kuua mnyama mmoja wa kabila hilo. Utamaduni wa baadaye unathibitisha kwamba Yuchi waliokoka walikimbilia Florida, lakini wengi wao kwa hakika walibaki katika nchi ya Cherokee kwa muda mrefu baadaye, na labda hatimaye walihamia magharibi na wenyeji wao. Kikundi kidogo cha Yuchi kilijiunga na Waseminole kabla tu ya Vita vya Waseminole kuanza. Wao kuonekana kwanza katika Magharibi Florida, karibu na Mikasuki lakini baadaye alikuwa na mji katika Spring Garden katika Volusia County. Uwepo wao unaonyeshwa hadi mwisho wa vita katika Peninsula, wakati wanaonekana kuwa wamekwenda magharibi, pengine kuungana tena na mabaki ya kabila. Wanyama hao waliobaki na Wakri, waliwafuata kuelekea magharibi na kuishi katika sehemu ya kaskazini magharibi ya Taifa la zamani la Wakri, katika Kaunti ya Wakri, Oklahoma. Idadi ya watu wa Yuchi. Mooney (1928) anatabiri kuwa watu 1,500 walikuwa ni watu wa kabila la Yuchi huko Georgia, Alabama, na Tennessee, lakini hilo halijumuishi watu wa kabila la <unk>Westo<unk>, ambao pamoja na watu wa kabila la Stono, walikuwa watu 1,600. Katika sensa ya kikoloni ya mwaka wa 1715, kulikuwa na miji miwili ya Yuchi yenye watu 130 na watu 400, lakini hii inawezekana inazingatia kundi moja tu kati ya makundi matatu au manne. Mwaka 1730 kundi la askari wa Tennessee lilipaswa kuwa na watu 150. Katika mwaka wa 1760, watu 50 waliripotiwa katika mji wa Lower Creek na 15 katika mji mmoja kati ya Upper Creeks. Mwaka 1777, Bartram alikadiria idadi ya wapiganaji wa Yuchi katika mji wa chini kuwa 500 na idadi yao ya jumla kuwa kati ya 1,000 na 1,500. "Mwaka wa 1792, Marbury aliripoti ""watu 300,"" au idadi ya watu zaidi ya 1,000, na Hawkins mwaka wa 1799 anasema ""Yuchi ya Lower Creek"" ilidai watu 250." Kulingana na sensa ya 1833, kulikuwa na watu 1,139 katika miji miwili inayojulikana kuwa ilikaliwa na Wahindi wa uhusiano huu. Katika mwaka wa 1909, Speck alisema kwamba idadi ya Yuchi inaweza <unk> vigumu kuzidi mia tano,<unk> lakini ripoti rasmi kwa ajili ya 1910 inatoa tu 78. Hata hivyo, hiyo ni takwimu ndogo sana kwa kuwa sensa ya mwaka wa 1930 ilionyesha kwamba kulikuwa na watu 216. Kwa sababu ya idadi ya bendi za Yuchi, mabadiliko yao ya mara kwa mara katika eneo, na maneno mbalimbali yanayotumiwa kwao, makadirio sahihi ya idadi yao katika kipindi chochote ni vigumu sana. Katika nusu ya kwanza ya karne ya kumi na sita, huenda idadi yao ilikuwa zaidi ya elfu tano. Uhusiano ambao wamekuwa mashuhuri. Yuchi wamepata sifa bandia kabisa kuwa wenyeji wa eneo la Ghuba. Pia walijulikana kwa sababu ya lugha yao ya pekee miongoni mwa lugha za Kusini-Mashariki. Jina hilo limehifadhiwa katika Euchee, kijiji cha posta cha Kaunti ya Meigs, Tenn.; Eucheeanna, kijiji cha posta cha Kaunti ya Walton, Fla.; Euchee (au Uchee) Creek, Kaunti ya Russell, Ala.; Uchee, kituo cha posta cha Kaunti ya Russell, Ala.; Uchee Creek, Kaunti ya Columbia, Ga.; na kisiwa katika Mto Savannah karibu na mdomo wa mwisho.