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Title
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Ethnohistory: A Documentary Study of Native American Life in the Lower Tombigbee Valley
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Date
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1983
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Bibliographic Citation
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Lankford, George E. III. 1983. Ethnohistory: A Documentary Study of Native American Life in the Lower Tombigbee Valley. In Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Study of the Black Warrior-Tombigbee System Corridor, Alabama, II, edited by Eugene M. Wilson. Department of Geology and Geography, University of South Alabama, Mobile.
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annotates
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This is an ethnohistorical synthesis prepared for the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission to provide a general overview of Native American groups historically present in Alabama. It is a narrative-style summary that draws from published sources, especially historical accounts, linguistic studies, and 20th-century ethnographies.
• Summaries of cultural and linguistic groupings (e.g., Mvskoke, Koasati, Alabama, Choctaw, Chickasaw).
• Brief descriptions of cultural practices, political structures, and social life.
• Commentary on population displacement, European contact, and subsequent tribal reorganization.
• Emphasis on the enduring presence and legacy of Indigenous peoples in Alabama.
The tone is accessible and public-facing. The report is not archaeological and does not include original field data, site numbers, artifact descriptions, or material culture analysis.
Choctaw / Ancestral Choctaw Relevance:
• Yes. The Choctaw are repeatedly and directly referenced as one of the tribes of Alabama. The author notes that Choctaw occupied parts of west-central Alabama and acknowledges their migration into the state from the west. He also references their language, settlement patterns, and interactions with other tribes and colonizers.
• Discussed broadly. The article outlines contact and postcontact shifts, including land loss, treaty cessions, and political realignment. It also mentions intermarriage, survival of Choctaw communities, and diaspora patterns following Removal.
• There is general commentary on mixed-tribal settlements, mission and military influence, and later survival strategies, but the lack of archaeological detail limits fine-grained cultural interpretation.
Assessment for CRM Use / Archaeological Utility:
• This is not an archaeological report and does not provide site-level data.
• However, it may serve as supporting context for CRM or consultation work by identifying tribal groups associated with particular regions of Alabama across time.
• Its value lies in ethnohistorical framing, useful for situating archaeological materials or interpreting regional cultural landscapes in collaboration with descendant communities.
Data Presentation / Decolonizing Commentary:
• The text uses respectful and relatively neutral language for the time. It acknowledges Native resilience and presence without framing Indigenous cultures as vanished or purely historical.
• While it aims to be inclusive, the article simplifies complex intertribal dynamics and occasionally blends disparate tribal histories under generalized statements.
• There is little engagement with oral history or tribal authorship.
• A modern revision would benefit from deeper tribal consultation, inclusion of community knowledge, and correction of any overgeneralized claims (e.g., about settlement uniformity or tribal cohesion).
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owner
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sprice@wiregrassarchaeology.com