According to most history publications, the Shawnee people were a nomadic tribe that moved across different places in North America, often settling in various places for long periods of time where they retained small family units before moving on. In Alabama, the Shawnee have called the region home for a very long time. Most historians report that the Shawnee may have existed in the region long before it was geographically mapped.
Archeologists date 1685 as the year that indicates the first evidence of the Shawnee having lived in Alabama. While they are only using evidence that they have collected so far, oral traditions and tales recount of the Shawnee having lived in Alabama for way longer than that. Archeologists have discovered ancient burial sites of the members of the Shawnee community at piquashawnee.blogspot.com/2017/09/piqua-shawnee-green-corn-ceremony.html which indicates that they would have been in the region longer than it was earlier thought.
It might be confusing to draw evidence of the Shawnee people in Alabama from earlier maps since what is now known as the Alabama state used to be a territory of Georgia. However, mapping the earliest versions of the map to newer ones show that the Shawnee lived in present day Alabama for a long time. Maps drawn by the French show that the Shawnee were in the Upper Creek territory in Alabama. The most notable among these places are those near modern Alabama towns. There is a village in the region that is known as Talladega or to the English, Shawnee town.
In the 1750s, the French undertook a census and in it, they mentioned Sylacauga and Cayomulgi, which are Shawnee towns. The latter is now known as Kyamulga town and was listed in the 1832 census. Another town that was mentioned this time in the 1761 census by the English was Tallapoosa town. It was also named in the 1792 census by the Marbury. According to these census readings, the Shawnee at https://piquashawnee.blogspot.com are said to have been living in creeks and waterways around the area. Some of these creeks were named differently depending on the tribe that lived there at the time.
Nowadys, the Piqua Shawnee tribe has expanded to include clans that live in Alabama and members in areas such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, Indiana, South Carolina, Missouri, and Maryland. They also exist in some places in Canada. In order to preserve their culture and remember where they are from, the Shawnee hold at least four tribal gatherings every year. Know more about Shawnee tribes at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawnee,_Oklahoma.
