By Renée S. Gordon | The Philadelphia Sun
“People dancing all in the street, See the rhythm all in their feet, Life is good wild and sweet, Let the music play on….”
–Lionel Ritchie, Alabama Native
Native Americans inhabited the region that is now Alabama for thousands of years prior to European contact and those years are divided into periods that are defined by the characteristics of the societies that populated the area. Scientists believe that around 10,000 years ago Alabama’s climate basically became as it is today and, because of its sunlight and water access, became one of the most biologically diverse states in the nation. www.alabama.travel
The Alibamu, who gave their name to the state, and the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Koasati, Taensa and Maubillia tribes populated the region when the first European explorers arrived. Maps indicate that Spanish explorers, as early as 1500, sailed into the bay of the Holy Spirit, today’s Mobile Bay. Admiral Alvarez de Pineda was the first fully documented European to sail into Mobile Bay in 1519 and twenty years later Hernando de Soto was first to step ashore. Over the course of the next ten years he destroyed the native town of Mauvila and the area was named a derivation of the Indian name, Mobile. See full article>>
