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Poarch Creek Indian Reservation

Native American reservation in Alabama

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 19, 2025
Entity authorityQ2100049 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Poarch Creek Indian Reservation is a Creek Indian reservation in the state of Alabama. It is the home of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the only federally recognized Native American tribe in the state.

The reservation is located entirely within Escambia County, eight miles (13 km) northwest of Atmore. Of the Poarch Band's 2,340 members, about 1,000 lived on or near the 230-acre (0.93 km2) reservation as of 2006. The Poarch Band also holds other trust lands in Alabama and Florida.

History

Despite the forced removal of Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama in 1836, some Creeks in the Tensaw district of Alabama maintained a distinct community around the small town of Poarch, with segregated schools established by 1908. The federal government held a tract of land at Poarch in trust for the Indians until 1924. In the 1940s the community began to organize politically in its own interest, and from 1950 to 1970 tribal leader Calvin McGhee spearheaded a campaign for recognition of Creek land claims in the southeastern states. The Poarch Band raised funds largely through an annual Thanksgiving Day Pow Wow.

Established as a federal reservation in 1984, the Poarch Creek Indian Reservation is governed by a nine-member tribal council and provides police, fire, judicial, and social services.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Poarch Creek Indian Reservation” as native American reservation in Alabama. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2006, 1836, 1908, 1924—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1984. The account is most persuasive where Poarch, Creek and Indian can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as native American reservation in Alabama. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2100049. Authority coordinates are 31.098, -87.557. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2006, 1836, 1908 and 1924.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Poarch Creek Indian Reservation”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Poarch Creek Indian Reservation primary sources, Poarch Creek Indian Reservation archive and Poarch research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Poarch Creek Indian Reservation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.