The
Quassarte and
Alabama were originally two distinct tribes, who both lived on the banks of the
Alabama River from
Mobile, Alabama to the upper reaches of the river. Both the river and the state are named after the Alabama. The Quassarte are also known as the
Coushatta or
Koasati, in their own language. The two tribes shared many similarities in their language and culture, as they were both Muskogean-speaking. In the early 17th century, after a conflict with French settlers, the tribes formed an alliance. They intermarried freely and became active trading partners. In 1763, the two tribes joined the
Muscogee Nation Confederacy (also called the
Creek Confederacy). Before removal of the
Muscogee people from
Alabama in the 1830s, the Muscogee Nation Confederacy included more than 44 different tribal towns. The Alabama and Quassarte peoples made up six to eight of those towns. Facing increasing encroachment by European-American settlers, some of the Quassarte and Alabama peoples moved into Louisiana and Texas in the late 18th century and early 19th century. These emigrants and their descendants formed what are today the federally recognized
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana and the
Alabama–Coushatta Tribe of Texas. Those who stayed in Alabama joined forces and became a single town. The
Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced the tribal town, along with the rest of the Muscogee, to
Indian Territory west of the
Mississippi River. They settled in what would become Hughes, McIntosh, Okfuskee, and Seminole counties. The
Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 and the
Curtis Act of 1898, intended to increase assimilation, provided for allotments of land to individual households from the communal reservation lands and sale of the "surplus"; in addition, it required the extinguishing of tribal governments and courts. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs took an increased role on the reservations. The Alabama–Quassarte Tribal Town maintained its cultural identity. It practiced traditional dances and beliefs at the Alabama Ceremonial Grounds near Wetumka. Other Native American peoples also survived culturally and preserved their religious practices. The town took the opportunity afforded by the federal
Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 under the President
Franklin D. Roosevelt administration and the
Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936 to set up a government. It organized as a distinct, federally recognized tribe in April 1939. Due to its historic relationship with the
Muscogee Creek Nation, which became federally recognized in 1972, tribal citizens can maintain dual citizenship in both tribes. ==Government==