Georgia Historical Society

Encounter and Exchange in a New Colony

 
Numerous "push and pull factors" encouraged a wide range of peoples to leave the Old World, and even other colonies, to settle Georgia, and this created new encounters and exchanges among groups that otherwise might never have met. Furthermore, lessons had been learned during the establishment of the other twelve English colonies, and all of the imperial nations had learned a thing or two about how to incorporate the Native Americans into their plans for colonial expansion.
 
Georgia's Famous First Friendship: Oglethorpe and Tomochichi
James Edward Oglethorpe recognized the need to forge new friendships with the Indians of Georgia if his colony hoped to be a success. Likewise, many local natives understood from past experience that establishing a peaceful trade system with the white settlers kept them competitive with rival villages or nations and offered a powerful ally in case of attack by other white nations such as Spain. In fact, debates on these issues became heated among Native Americans. In coastal Georgia, questions of alliances caused a split among Creek and Yamasee Indians. Some of these Indians formed a new tribe, called the Yamacraw, and it was their chief, Tomochichi, who greeted Oglethorpe.
 
The first official exchange, a ceremony of speeches and gifts, granted Oglethorpe and the passengers of the Ann permission to settle on Yamacraw Bluff. One of the gifts from Tomochichi to Oglethorpe, a buffalo skin, indicated the chief's knowledge of European power and his hope for future good relations. The skin, he said, represented strength, and the eagle painted on it signified speed, both of which described the English. Additionally, he added that the Eagle's feathers were soft, and stood for love, and that the skin, a symbol of warmth, meant protection. These he hoped to receive from the English.

From Cordray-Foltz Collection, Georgia Historical Society

Tomochichi proved to be a good ally to the fledgling colony. At Oglethorpe's request, Tomochichi arranged for a delegation of Lower Creeks to come to Savannah to renegotiate previous agreements that had prevented English settlement to cross the Savannah River from South Carolina. For his part, Oglethorpe drew up a schedule of prices to be used in trading exchanges to prevent English traders from taking advantage of the Indians (although this caused some negative encounters and exchanges with South Carolina traders). Georgia's founder also took the chief, some of his family, and five other natives to England. The trip was in part a marketing ploy for the new colony as well as a chance to impress Georgia's Indians with England's power, something Oglethorpe undoubtedly hoped would spread by word of mouth once the Indians returned home.

Dedication to the Memorial of Tomochichi, Rare Pamphlet Collection,F294.S2 C475 1917. This is a portion of the Address of Walter G. Charlton given on April 21, 1899.

Oglethorpe's negotiating skills with the Indians and his seemingly genuine concern for them as people greatly benefited Georgia by establishing borders between Indians and white settlers and by making crucial allies against the Spanish. Likewise, if it were not for Tomochichi and the Yamacraws, perhaps Georgia would have failed as a buffer colony. But without one person in particular, a trader of both Indian and European blood, the meeting between Oglethorpe and Georgia's Indians might have been one of misunderstanding, suspicion, and war.
 
Teaching Tip

Using the above dedication speech memorializing Tomochichi, ask the students to write about or discuss the following:

1. What is heritage and why do we strive to preserve it?
2. What place do memorials hold in our society?
3. What is their purpose?

Note the way in which Charlton speaks of the Spanish. To what international event of his own time did he refer when he said, "Apparently they shot as they do now?" Might there have been more than mere coincidence in the timing of Tomochichi's memorial?

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