The Creek Indians lived in
well fortified villages. Each village was surrounded by a high wall of spiked
logs. Each village had a tall pole in front of the entrance through the
barricade. The pole was painted either red or white. This let everyone know
if the village was a "red" village or a "white" village.
Red Villages:
The red villages were the War Zones. War leaders lived
in the red villages. In these towns, blood could be shed. Warriors came here
to learn. Others came to live. Still others came for short periods to work
out their differences.
White Villages:
The white villages were the Peace Zones. No one could
be attacked in a white village. Everyone who lived in a white village had
to promote peaceful solutions to all problems. If people could not solve
their problems peacefully, they had to move to the red village while they
worked things out.
Homes:
Homes in both villages were long buildings of one or two rooms. Most
had long porches that ran the length of the house. Roofs were thatched with
long grasses. Mats were hung on the walls for color and warmth.
Two Houses:
Each family had two houses in their village, one for
the summer and for the winter. The summer homes were airy and open. The winter
homes were warm and solid. The double house method not only made them
comfortable, but it was a form of trickery. The Creek tricked other tribes
into thinking they had more people in each village than there really
were. All the houses, summer and winter, were built around a huge
central plaza.
Central Plaza:
The Central Plaza was used for many purposes. Kids
played there. The village council met there. They held the Green Corn Ceremony
there. All anger had to be put aside as part of the Green Corn Ceremony.
That carried over to the plaza. All anger had to put aside when entering
or crossing the plaza.
