10/12/2026
Today is Indigenous Peoples Day. Georgia Rivers is proud to call the Muscogee Nation a partner and their people our friends. We honor their connection to and history with Georgia rivers.
Last month, some 40 citizens of the Muscogee Nation returned to the Ocmulgee River for a 10-mile journey that encompassed historic Muscogee trading paths, village sites and fisheries. Georgia Rivers staff and volunteers had the privilege of assisting in the journey.
For citizens of the Muscogee Nation, it’s 850 miles and nearly 200 years from Okmulgee, Oklahoma, to Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Site in Macon, Georgia. The rivers still bear the names the Muscogee gave them: Ocmulgee, Oconee, Chattahoochee, Ogeechee and more.
“This was reclamation,” said Dr. Monte Randall, president of the College of the Muscogee Nation, who helped organize the event with Sons of Muscogee and Muscogee Youth Services. “I’m sure Muscogee people have paddled that river since removal, but this was the first time our nation has been on that river in these numbers and in this way.”
The venture was part of the Muscogee Nation’s efforts to reconnect tribal members with their homelands and preserve their culture. “We’re in a fight for our lives, culturally,” said Randall. “We’re continuing to reclaim portions of our identity.”
Read more about this paddle trip experience from Joe Cook's perspective on the Georgia Rivers Blog: https://garivers.org/muscogee-ancestral-paddle/
Posters are by Muscogee artist Maddie Sanders (Holatte)
