A controversial eighteenth-century Creek leader, Alexander
McGillivray (c. 1750-1793) pushed to centralize Creek authority,
negotiated treaties, alliances, and trade with Great Britain,
Spain, and the United States, signed secret diplomatic deals
that augmented his private holdings, and helped control much of
the Indian trade in the Lower South. As a result, he amassed a
tremendous fortune in slaves, cattle, and land and became one of
the most powerful Creek Indians of his era, arousing the
animosity of a large Creek opposition. McGillivray, also known
as Hoboi-Hili-Miko, was born around 1750 in the Creek village of
Little Tallassee, located near present-day Montgomery. His
mother, Sehoy, belonged to the powerful Creek Wind Clan, and his
father, Lachlan McGillivray, was a prominent Scottish trader.
Alexander spent his first six years fully immersed in the
matrilineal Creek society, under the guidance of his mother and
other members of her clan. In addition to learning the Muskogee
language, he also was immers