Chitto Harjo was part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation who led the Snake Rebellion. The Snake Rebellion was a resistance campaign that tried to stop the dispossession and allotment of Native American land. It was a big movement in the Native American community at the time that really brought together the Native American political activism spirit that still inspired many other movements by native Americans.
Like many other native tribes in the United States at the time, the Muscogee nation had a lot of land that was eventually taken by the United States government under treaties that were meant to “protect Native American interests” while simultaneously manipulating tribes into giving away lab for unclear purposes. A treaty between the government and the Muscogee Confederacy worked out a treaty in 1832 that was honored to trade lands. Muscogee Nation land spanned over present day Alabama, Georgeo, Florida, and South Carolina was traded for lands in the “Indian Territory” of Oklahoma. This move proved difficult for many Creek people who had deep ties to a land their ancestors settled in. While the United States Army had to forcibly move Native Americans to their new territory, there was no large collected rebellion.
When the Dawes Act in 1898 was passed, Native Americans were not considered in the making of this law so there was no form of communication between tribes and the US government when they decided to split Native American reservation land into personal property. When this happened Harjo took his first resistance political stance in his movement against the actions of the US government. Harjo tried many strategies to stop the Dawes Act. In the early 1900s, he led a delegation in front of the president to uphold the 1832 treaty. Additionally, he led various rebellions with the goal of reversing the Dawes Act such as trying to rebel and establish an independent government with a group of Creek in Alabama.
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