Though he died at the age of thirty-four, the Muscogee (Creek) poet, journalist, and humorist Alexander Posey (1873–1908) was one of the most prolific and influential American Indian writers of his time. This volume of nine stories, five orations, and nine works of oral tradition is the first to collect these entertaining and important works of Muscogee literature. Many of Posey’s stories reflect trickster themes; his orations demonstrate both his rhetorical prowess and his political stance as a “Progressive” Muscogee; and his works of oral tradition reveal his deep cultural roots. Most of these pieces, which first appeared between 1892 and 1907 in Indian Territory newspapers and magazines, have since become rarities, many of the original pieces surviving only as single clippings in a few archives.   While Muscogee oral tradition greatly influenced Posey’s prose, his work was also infused with the Euro-American influences that formed much of his literary education. As this collection demonstrates, Posey used his knowledge of Euro-American literature and history to help write works that championed his own people at a time of profound oppression at the hands of the United States government. Posey’s vivid literary style merges rich regional humor with Muscogee oral tradition in a way that makes him a unique figure in American Indian literature and politics. Chinnubbie and the Owl brings these works of great literary, cultural, and historical value to a new generation of readers. Matthew Wynn Sivils is a doctoral student in English at Oklahoma State University. Chinnubbie and the Owl Muscogee (Creek) Stories, Orations, and Oral Traditions By Alexander Posey University of Nebraska Press Copyright © 2005 University of Nebraska Press All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8032-3746-9 Contents Acknowledgments..............................................................................viiA Note on the Text...........................................................................ixIntroduction.................................................................................11. STORIESIntroduction.................................................................................27Chinnubbie and the Owl.......................................................................35Chinnubbie Scalps the Squaws.................................................................41Indian Anecdotes.............................................................................47Uncle Dick and Uncle Will....................................................................49Uncle Dick's Sow.............................................................................54"Jes 'Bout a Mid'lin', Sah"..................................................................58Mose and Richard.............................................................................63Two Famous Prophets..........................................................................67A Foxy Old Buck..............................................................................732. ORATIONSIntroduction.................................................................................77The Indian: What of Him?.....................................................................82Sequoyah.....................................................................................85Room at the Top..............................................................................88Col. McIntosh: A Few Words to His Memory.....................................................92The Creek Opening Guns.......................................................................953. MUSCOGEE (CREEK) ORAL TRADITIONSIntroduction.................................................................................103The Origins of Music According to the Creek Medicine-Men.....................................106The 'Possum and the Skunk: Or How the 'Possum Lost the Hair Off His Tail.....................110A Creek Fable................................................................................112Fable of the Foolish Young Bear..............................................................115The Devil's Parodies.........................................................................117A Fable (January 31, 1902)...................................................................118A Fable (February 7, 1902)...................................................................119A Fable (February 14, 1902)..................................................................120Story by an Indian Raconteur.................................................................122Bibliography.................................................................................125ILLUSTRATIONSAlexander Posey, about 1890 FrontispieceCol. Daniel N. McIntosh, Muscogee statesman and Confederate colonel..........................93Isparhecher, chief of the Muscogees (1895-99)................................................96