Osceola


Osceola , born as Billy Powell, became an influential leader of the Seminole in Florida. Of mixed parentage, Creek, ScotsIrish, and English, he was raised as a Creek by his mother, as the tribe had a matrilineal kinship system. They migrated to Florida when he was a child, with other Red Stick refugees, after their defeat in 1814 in the Creek Wars.

Osceola was named Billy Powell at birth in 1804 in the Creek village of Talisi. now known as Tallassee, Alabama, in current Elmore County. The people in the town of Tallassee...were mixedblood Native AmericanEnglishIrishScottish, and some were black. Billy was all of these. His mother was Polly Coppinger, a Creek woman, and his father was William Powell, an English trader. Polly was the daughter of Ann McQueen and Jose Coppinger. Because the Creek have a matrilineal kinship system, Polly and Anns other children were all considered to be born into their mothers clan they were reared as traditional Creek and gained their status from their mothers people. Ann McQueen was also mixedrace Creek her father, James McQueen, was ScotsIrish. Ann was probably the sister or aunt of Peter McQueen, a prominent Creek leader and warrior. Like his mother, Billy was raised in the Creek tribe.

Source: Wikipedia