Yuchi
The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. Their original homeland was in the southeast of the present United States.
Yuchi people dancing the Big Turtle dance, 1909 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2010: 623 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States Today: Oklahoma Historically: Tennessee, later Alabama and Georgia | |
| Languages | |
| English, formerly Yuchi | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Methodist), Stomp Dance, Native American Church | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Muscogee people |
In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, settling near the Muscogee Creek people. Some also migrated to the panhandle of Florida. After suffering many fatalities from epidemic disease and warfare in the 18th century, several surviving Yuchi bands were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s, together with their allies the Muscogee Creek.
Today, the Yuchi live primarily in the northeastern Oklahoma area, where many are enrolled citizens of the federally recognized Muscogee (Creek) Nation. They maintain a distinct cultural identity, and some speak the Yuchi language, a linguistic isolate.