One Hundred Sixty-One Knots, Two Plates, and One Emperor: Creek Information Networks in the Era of the Yamasee War

Abstract

Indian information networks crisscrossed the colonial Southeast. Operating outside European control and hidden from European eyes, these networks' existence and importance have been assumed but never fully explicated. This article explores some of these inter- and intra-Indian connections. Rooted in the Lower Creek town of Coweta and analyzing sources from the vantage point of Indian country, it shows some of the different ways in which Creek Indians remained informed of and connected to developments in the colonial Southeast. Exploring the networks forged by one particular Indian chief—Brims, Mico of Coweta—helps evince the breadth and extent of information channels among native people. The information networks linked, modified, and influenced by Brims show more than the movement of news; they offer insight into the power structures that shaped the colonial Southeast.