Choctaw Cherokee Seminole's and Purple Martins

[Jones4381]

Does anyone have any recommended resources on the relationships between various American natives and the Martin? It appears the history of human/PM interaction begins here but really no time lines or stories of real substance has been passed down. I've seen various drawings and one paragraph stories but where is the good stuff?

A recent trip down the Wacissa river in Tallahassee and observing the native lands of the Seminoles got me wondering how, when, why, it began.

[John Miller]

I'm not finding the specific reference right now, but Alexander Wilson, sometimes called the "father of American ornithology" references seeing native Americans hosting purple martins -- think he said Choctaw -- during his travels through the south -- probably Alabama area -- in the late 1700s. He also mentions -- from my memory -- seeing martins nesting in gourds at "slave cabins." https://archive.org/details/americanorn ... ple+martin

The PMCA founder, Jamie Hill, also wrote about native American heritage/martins...need to find.

While the native American practice holds significance, I suspect the habit of martins nesting in human-supplied housing was accelerated by early colonists putting up housing for doves/pigeons, and martins moved in. Mark Catesby, an English naturalist and artist, wrote about this while visiting his sister in Virginia about 1731...he described "martins nesting in lockers for pigeons.. attached to sides of houses."

John Miller

[Jones4381]

I'm not finding the specific reference right now, but Alexander Wilson, sometimes called the "father of American ornithology" references seeing native Americans hosting purple martins -- think he said Choctaw -- during his travels through the south -- probably Alabama area -- in the late 1700s. He also mentions -- from my memory -- seeing martins nesting in gourds at "slave cabins." https://archive.org/details/americanorn ... ple+martin

The PMCA founder, Jamie Hill, also wrote about native American heritage/martins...need to find.

While the native American practice holds significance, I suspect the habit of martins nesting in human-supplied housing was accelerated by early colonists putting up housing for doves/pigeons, and martins moved in. Mark Catesby, an English naturalist and artist, wrote about this while visiting his sister in Virginia about 1731...he described "martins nesting in lockers for pigeons.. attached to sides of houses."

John Miller

Thank you for the reply John Miller and the references I can further explore. Bird Buddy on ChatGPT also mentioned the Creek, Chickasaw, and the Iroquois Federation (Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, and Onondaga) as other tribes that were documented to practice housing for martins. I'll continue searching as history loss or better yet civilization loss increases our speed on the road to nowhere.

[John Miller]

Took me awhile, but if you go to the posted link to Wilson's work, and on the link to page 34, reads: Individuals (purple martins) have been noted to return to the same box for several successive years. Even the solitary Indian seems to have a particular respect for this bird. The Chactaws and Chickasaws cut all the top branches from a sapling near their cabins, leaving the prongs a foot or two in length, on each of which they hang a gourd, or calabash, hollowed out for their (martins) convenience. On the banks of the Mississippi, the negroes stick up long canes, with the same species of apartment fixed to their tops, in which the matins regularly breed. Wherever I have traveled in this country, I have seen with pleasure the hospitality of the inhabitants to this favourite bird.


https://archive.org/details/americanorn ... ple+martin

[Jones4381]

Thank you for taking the time to aid in this quest John Miller. What are your thoughts on times before these writings? Have Purple Martins ever lived in natural cavities in their current range being colony nesters? Is there any evidence of this? Could Native Americans been offering housing for 1000 years but just no history of it? So many unknown questions that we may never have the answers too or maybe we have the answers and I haven't been exposed to them yet. Thank you again for sharing your knowledge on this subject and sharing the documents.