Early Life
Born in the Muscogee Creek Nation in Indian Territory after the tribe was removed from Alabama in the 1830s, Wilson Jones was a full-blood Muscogee Creek Indian. He was better known by his Creek name of Chitto Harjo, meaning "Crazy Snake." Chitto means "snake" and harjo means "one who is brave beyond description, or foolhardy." He became a traditionalist, belonging to the minority of the tribe who remained loyal to the Union during the American Civil War.
Later in the century, traditionalists worked to reinstate the tribal government of 1867 and to enforce treaty rights with the United States. They opposed the extinguishing of government and allotment of lands to households under the Dawes Commission.
Read more about this topic: Chitto Harjo
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