Description
The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. Their original homeland was in the southeast of the present United States. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. After suffering many fatalities from epidemic disease and warfare in the 18th century, several surviving Yuchi bands were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s, together with their allies the Muscogee Creek.
Language
Yuchi is classified as a language isolate, because it is not known to be related to any other language.
Culture
They relied on intensive hoe agriculture of corn, beans, and squash, and hunting of white-tailed deer, bear, and elk. Before 1715 the Yuchis lived in permanent towns which were considered either red (war) or white (peace). Each town typically contained a square ground, a hot house, and a ball field, as well as one-room domestic structures. The square ground was the focus of male daily life, and it surrounded the sacred fire. The Busk, or Green Corn Ceremony, was the ceremonial focus of the year.