"Nearly two centuries ago, thousands of acres of land were stripped from the Muscogee Indian tribes in the Southeast. Along Big Escambia Creek, one tribe is beginning to get the land back.

"We have been purchasing land all adjacent to Big Escambia Creek and four miles along Sizemore Creek," said Billy Smith, the man in charge of the 4,700-acre Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve owned by the Poarch Band of Creeks.

"We have land for tribal members to hunt if they want, and we have a campground and tubing on the creek. That's been really popular with the tribe and the public alike."

Smith said all the land along the creek was part of tribal lands before the Indian Removal in the 1800s. Now, a piece at a time, the tribe is buying it back.

"All this land was Creek land once," Smith said. "Once we buy the land now, we can get it into the trust and it will be Poarch Creek land forever.""

Get the Story:
Poarch Creeks slowly reclaim lost tribal lands (The Mobile Register 1/8)

Relevant Links:
Poarch Band of Creek Indians - http://www.poarchcreekindians.org

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