Principal Chief David Hill’s keynote remarks from the 210th Anniversary of Horseshoe Bend

Editor’s Note: The following is Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill’s keynote speech from the 210th Anniversary of Horseshoe Bend.

“We have descendants from four of those towns with us today. I know that being here stirs many emotions. So thank you all for coming. As we honor the fallen, we also recall the actions that led up to this battle. A favored tactic of the federal government in those days was division. Representatives of the U.S. government sought to turn brother against brother, son against father, and families against families. And so began the conflict that ended here 210 years ago. 

The slaughter of men, women and children at Horseshoe Bend launched Andrew Jackson to fame and ultimately the Presidency, where he signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830.

However, in seeking to divide and destroy us, the U.S. government ultimately united us. Bound by shared anguish, our ancestors endured the Trail of Tears and the early years in Oklahoma. Combined, these events caused the death of 8,000 of our people. We stood together to battle allotment policies and unflaggingly confronted every effort to extinguish our Nation. 

As a result, our Nation not only endures today, but we are a thriving culture of over 100,000 citizens. We have built colleges to educate the next generation and hospitals to care for our elders. We have assembled a justice system to protect our people and revitalized our language to preserve our culture. 

We are better together.

And that principle extends to our partnerships with others as well. I want to offer a special thanks to Park Superintendent Barbara Tagger, Ranger Matt Robinson, and all of our friends at the National Park Service. We appreciate your hospitality and work to host this event. And we are especially grateful for our relationship with you. Your welcoming approach is a true example of collaboration and friendship.  

We are better together. 

And as we look to the future, partnerships like the one here at the park are so critical. Much work remains to protect sacred places all across our homeland – places that we were forced to leave behind in the months and years after this Battle at Horseshoe Bend. 

In Georgia, we have formed deep relationships with local partners to develop a National Park that will forever protect one of our most sacred places. The site where our Creator set us upon this earth – the Ocmulgee Mounds. In Alabama, just a few short miles from here, lies another cherished site. Hickory Ground was the capital of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation before removal. Some of our most prominent leaders were buried there. 

Today, a casino sits atop that sacred place. 

Our ancestors were removed from their final resting places, put into boxes, and even housed in a simple garden shed. We continue to seek justice for this desecration and will never back down until our ancestors rest in peace. We fight these fights simply because it is right to do so. In rising to these challenges, we honor the struggles of our ancestors, whose sacrifices made it all possible. So, while we gather on this one day for a ceremony to remember those who fought and died here, our actions also honor them on a daily basis. 

Every new relationship we build. Every site we preserve, every child that we educate, and every elder we cherish – we honor them. 

And in partnering with us, so do you. So, I invite you all to embrace the spirit of justice and perseverance that defined our ancestors. 

Fight the good fights, simply because it is right to do so. 

Division gave birth to the atrocities committed here 210 years ago. Unity can once again heal us. 

Because it remains as true today as it was two centuries ago – we are better together.  

Mvto. Thank you.”