The now-submerged site of Zimmerman's Island, where ancient Chiaha was located
Mississippian culture chiefdom in Tennessee
Chiaha was a Native American chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley in modern East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. They lived in raised structures within boundaries of several stable villages. These overlooked the fields of maize, beans, squash, and tobacco, among other plants which they cultivated.[1] Chiaha was at the northern extreme of the paramount Coosa chiefdom's sphere of influence in the 16th century when the Spanish expeditions of Hernando de Soto and Juan Pardo passed through the area. The Chiaha chiefdom included parts of modern Jefferson and Sevier counties, and may have extended westward into Knox, Blount and Monroe counties.[2]
The Spanish explorers' accounts of Chiaha provide a rare first-hand glimpse of life in a Dallas phase Mississippian-era village. The Dallas culture, named after Dallas Island near Chattanooga, where its distinct characteristics were first observed, dominated much of East Tennessee between approximately 1300 and 1600 AD.[3] Both the de Soto and Pardo expeditions spent several days at Chiaha's principal village.
In addition, the Pardo expedition constructed a fort nearby called San Pedro. This was one of five forts constructed in the interior west of Joara,[4] the largest Mississippian-era site in modern North Carolina. Pardo constructed his largest fort there first, known as Fort San Juan. All but one of his soldiers were killed by the Native Americans in 1568, and the Spanish did not attempt further colonization in the interior.
The peoples suffered high mortality from infectious diseases carried by the Europeans. Historians believe this resulted in political realignments and the rise of the Cherokee and Creek tribes in these areas. By the time English explorers arrived here in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Chiaha area was dominated by the Cherokee.[5]
^The Editors of Salem Press (October 2000) [1995]. Rasmussen, R. Kent (ed.). American Indian Tribes. Salem Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-89356-063-8. Archived from the original on 2011-06-18. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
^Charles Hudson, The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Explorations of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 2005), 104.
^Gerald Schroedl, Mississippian Culture, The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved: 9 February 2013.
^Beck, Robin A. Jr.; Moore, David G.; Rodning, Christopher B. (2006). "Identifying Fort San Juan: A Sixteenth-Century Spanish Occupation at the Berry Site, North Carolina" (PDF). Southeastern Archaeology. 25 (1): 65–77. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
^Samuel Cole Williams, Early Travels in the Tennessee Country, 1540-1800, Johnson City, TN: The Watauga Press, 1928
35°57′14″N 83°29′47″W / 35.95383°N 83.49644°W / 35.95383; -83.49644 Chiaha was a Native American chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley...
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centuries. Hitchiti was the language of tribal towns such as Hitchiti, Chiaha, Oconee, Okmulgee, Sawokli, and Apalachicola. Based on the number of place...
villages were part of a minor chiefdom centered on a large village known as Chiaha, which was located on an island now submerged by Douglas Lake. The 1540...
consisting of Yuchi, Koasati, Alabama, Coosa, Tuskegee, Coweta, Cusseta, Chehaw (Chiaha), Hitchiti, Tuckabatchee, Oakfuskee, and many others. The basic social unit...
Beaverdam Creek Bell Field Mound Bessemer Biltmore Blair Bussell Island Chauga Chiaha Chota Citico Coosa Dallas phase Dyar Etowah Garden Creek Hoojah Branch Irene...
expedition also recorded encounters with Muskogean-speaking peoples at Chiaha in southeastern modern Tennessee. Linguistic studies have been another way...
Moundville Long Swamp Site Apalachicola Province (predecessor to Lower Towns) Chiaha Leon-Jefferson culture Battle of Taliwa State of Muskogee Forbes purchase...
villages were part of a minor chiefdom centered on a large village known as Chiaha, which was located on an island now submerged by Douglas Lake. The 1540...
for several days at Chiaha, and followed a trail to the upper Little Tennessee River before being forced to turn back. At Chiaha, one of Pardo's subordinates...
referred to the people as Coste, with their nearby neighbors being the Chiaha, Chiska, Yuchi, Tasquiqui, and Tali. In the 17th and 18th centuries, avoiding...
men also traveled west, establishing five more forts, including one at Chiaha. After 18 months, the natives killed the soldiers at Fort San Juan and burned...
(100 warriors) John William De Forest 302 SE Woodlands Southern Colonies Chiaha in South Carolina 500 1600 Carolina - The Native Americans 303 SE Woodlands...
Moundville Long Swamp Site Apalachicola Province (predecessor to Lower Towns) Chiaha Leon-Jefferson culture Battle of Taliwa State of Muskogee Forbes purchase...
Moundville Long Swamp Site Apalachicola Province (predecessor to Lower Towns) Chiaha Leon-Jefferson culture Battle of Taliwa State of Muskogee Forbes purchase...
Flint River. The stream was named after Chief Fullemy (or Philema) of the Chiaha tribe. A variant name is Beaverdam Creek. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic...
Beaverdam Creek Bell Field Mound Bessemer Biltmore Blair Bussell Island Chauga Chiaha Chota Citico Coosa Dallas phase Dyar Etowah Garden Creek Hoojah Branch Irene...
Beaverdam Creek Bell Field Mound Bessemer Biltmore Blair Bussell Island Chauga Chiaha Chota Citico Coosa Dallas phase Dyar Etowah Garden Creek Hoojah Branch Irene...
cluster of towns around Ochese Creek, as did the Hitchiti-speaking town of Chiaha from western North Carolina. The Ochese Creek cluster also included Westo...
visited was called Chiaha, the northernmost outpost of the territory dominated by the Coosa paramount chiefdom. The location of Chiaha was on Zimmerman...
Moundville Long Swamp Site Apalachicola Province (predecessor to Lower Towns) Chiaha Leon-Jefferson culture Battle of Taliwa State of Muskogee Forbes purchase...
inhabitants and burning the town. Moyana then marched another four days to Chiaha. Chiaha was also surrounded by a palisade, and Moyana settled for building a...
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