THOMASVILLE — The May meeting of the Thomasville Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) featured a program about the Seminole Indians by Jane Markheim, Treasurer of the Thronateeska Chapter, NSDAR in Albany, Georgia. The speaker was introduced by Chapter Regent Shelba Sellers.

Markheim said the most ancient civilizations in Georgia were Native Americans known as the Mississippians and were called the Mound Builders. In the 1500s, after the arrival of the Spanish, one of the most significant changes experienced by Native Americans was disease and not being able to prevent it.

Markheim said that the Thomasville Chapter’s original name of Ochlocknee when the DAR chapter was organized in 1912 means “yellow river” which is from the Muskogee language. The Muskogee were called Creeks by the Europeans because it was easier for them to say.  They lived near waterways which also separated some of the tribes or bands. Markheim noted that the Creek Indians were the first residents of what is now Albany and it was called “Thronateeska.” Later, there became a division by the Europeans to call them Upper Creeks and Lower Creeks. The Lower Creeks in Southwest Georgia were located by the Chattahoochee River and Flint River. The Upper Creeks in the Central Alabama area along the Coosa River were also called the Red Sticks and the Lower Creeks were known as the White Sticks.

In 1775 when the Revolutionary War began, there were more than a quarter million Native Americans in a portion of the Eastern Seaboard. There were eighty distinct nations, hundreds of chieftains and thousands of bands. In the 1770’s the very first use of the word Seminoles was a handy term and it stemmed from a Spanish word “Cimarron” which means “runaway or wild person.” The Seminole group started to welcome in many and became a very diverse group of men and women. Today the Seminole Nation is recognized federally. Markheim closed her program with a film about Native Americans which she wrote and produced to help people learn more about the Seminoles.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. More than one million women have joined the DAR since it was founded. To learn more about today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org. For information about Thomasville Chapter DAR, visit chapters.georgiastatedar.org/thomasville/ or facebook.com/ThomasvilleChapterNSDAR.