Creek Religion and Medicine

Combining an array of historical sources with oral accounts gathered from fieldwork, this study provides an overview of traditional Creek (Muskogee) religion and medicine. The author visited the Creek Nation in the early 20th century and learned about many aspects of Creek religious life and medicine. Subjects covered in this book include Creek conceptions of the cosmos; religious stories; death and the afterlife; spiritual forces and beings; rituals, including the Busk ceremony; prohibitions; the power and skills of different religious practitioners; the cultural force of witchcraft; and herbal and spiritual remedies. Many of these beliefs and practices have been present throughout Creek history and persist at the end of the 20th century.