Migration and Displacement

This chapter makes the case that displacement was one of the major responses by Native Americans to the encroachment of European powers. It first considers the nature of Native American movements in the Southeast during the centuries immediately prior to the arrival of the first Spaniards in Florida. Then, displacement is further broken down into several categories of population relocation: serial migration, diaspora, and flows to frontiers. Reasons for displacement vary greatly: destructive wars, depredations of slave trading, and incursions of colonial settlements undermined settlement stability to a historically unprecedented degree, while perceived opportunities provided yet another major stimulus for migration and relocation, as families and towns moved to locations advantageous for trade, travel, and communication. This examination of population movement opens social, environmental, and political discussions concerning the paths of Native American peoples in North America.