Selocta Chinnabby

Selocta Chinnabby's name is also written as Shelocta, Se-loc-ta, Chinnabee, and Apuckshunubee.{{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=John Henry |title=The Life of Andrew Jackson |date=1824 |publisher=S.F. Bradford |location=Philadelphia}}{{cite book | last=McKenney | first=Thomas Loraine |author-link=Thomas L. McKenney |title=History of the Indian Tribes of North America |date=1872 |publisher=D.Rice & Co. |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |page=221 |edition=1}}

Chinnabby was possibly born in 1765 near Choccolocco Creek and was the son of a Natchez chief, Moss Micco Chinnabby, and a Muscogee mother.{{cite book |last1=East |first1=Don |title=A Historical Analysis of the Creek Indian Hillabee Towns |date=December 2008 |publisher=iUniverse, Inc |isbn=978-1-4401-0163-2 |pages=56–7}} After the Natchez revolt, a portion of the Natchez moved to central Alabama and settled in an abandoned village near the Coosa River on Tallaseehatchee Creek. This new village was known as Natchee, Natchez Town, or Notchietown.

Chinnabby's father accompanied Alexander McGillivray to New York City to participate in the signing of the 1790 Treaty of New York.{{cite book |last1=Pickett |first1=Albert James |author-link=Albert J. Pickett |title=History of Alabama, and Incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the Earliest Period |date=1878 |publisher=Willo Publishing Company |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama |page=404 |isbn=978-1-363-31084-5}} Chinnabby had a brother whose name was Salarta/Salarto Fixico (General Coffee).

During the Creek War, Chinnabby sided with the United States in fighting the Red Sticks. In 1813, a defensive stockade named Fort Chinnabee was built three miles north of Chinnabby's village, which was on the north shore of Choccolocco Creek near the influx of Wolfskull Creek.{{efn|Wolfskull Creek joins Choccolocco Creek six miles east of Oxford.}}{{cite book |title=Dead Towns of Alabama |last=Harris |first=W. Stuart |year=1977 |publisher=University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama |page=38 |isbn=0-8173-1125-4 }} Chinnabby fought in a number of battles, including the Battle of Talladega, Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek, and Battle of Horseshoe Bend.{{cite book |title=Tohopeka: Rethinking the Creek War & the War of 1812 |last=Braund |first=Kathryn E. Holland |year=2012 |publisher=University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama |page=152 |isbn=978-0-8173-5711-5 }} Prior to the Battle of Talladega, it was reported that Chinnabby escaped Fort Leslie covered in the skin of a wild hog and was able to warn Jackson at Fort Strother that Fort Leslie was under siege by Red Stick warriors.{{cite book |title=Lost Towns of Central Alabama |last=Walls |first=Peggy Jackson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JBQ0EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT16 |year=2021 |publisher=The History Press |location=Charleston, South Carolina |page=16 |isbn=978-1-43967-305-8 }} Prior to the Battle of Emuckfaw Creek, Chinnabby led warriors allied with the United States in an attack on a Hillabee village. Chinnabby's brother was killed in this attack.{{cite book |last1=Weir |first1=Howard |title=A Paradise of Blood: The Creek War of 1813–14 |date=2016 |publisher=Westholme |location=Yardley, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-1-59416-270-1 |page=359}}

Chinnabby was present at the signing of the Treaty of Fort Jackson. He supported yielding Muscogee lands along the Alabama River in exchange for keeping land west of the Coosa River in Muscogee possession. Jackson did not agree with this arrangement, as he felt this allowed Great Britain a connection to supply inland Native Americans in their continued conflicts with the United States. However, Chinnabby later pleaded with Jackson that the ones who helped him should keep their land. He died just before the Trail of Tears.{{cite book |last1=Cozzens |first1=Peter |title=A Brutal Reckoning |date=2023 |publisher=Atlantic Books |isbn=978-1-83895-905-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3IWmEAAAQBAJ |access-date=3 August 2023}}

Chinnabby also fought with Jackson in the First Seminole War.

Chinnabby also controlled bands of Cherokee,{{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=John Henry |title=The Life of Andrew Jackson |date=1824 |publisher=Best Books on |isbn=978-1-62376-825-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRIKBAAAQBAJ |access-date=20 July 2023}} who called him Apuckshunubee, as well as Chickasaw that had previously been under the rule of his brother, Taski Etoka.

Chinnabby signed the 1826 Treaty of Washington, along with Opothleyahola and Menawa.{{cite web |title=Treaty with the Creeks, 1826 |url=https://treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-creeks-1826-0264 |website=Tribal Treaties Database |publisher=Oklahoma State University Libraries |access-date=February 4, 2023}} After signing the treaty, he was given a silver medal by President John Quincy Adams.

An early source stated that Chinabby died after a horse race. He was intoxicated and rode headfirst into a tree.{{cite book |last1=Camp |first1=Rev. Joseph |title=An Insight into an Insane Asylum |date=1882 |publisher=The University of Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama}} Other sources indicate Chinnabby was traveling to Mardisville on October 15, 1834 to purchase supplies prior to his death. His death has also been recorded as occurring on February 10, 1835. He was buried with his silver medal near the community of Munford, and his cabin was ceremonially burned. Chinnabby's grave marker is located at {{coord|33|29|11|N|85|57|43|W}}.{{Google maps |url= https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4863389,-85.9620264,3a,16.2y,314.97h,75.1t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sKccLHeON6vj7UajbNl9V-A!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DKccLHeON6vj7UajbNl9V-A%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D247.19568%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en |title= Selocta Chinnabby marker |access-date= February 2, 2023}}

Chinnabee, Alabama in Talladega County is named for Chinnabby.{{cite book |last=Foscue |first=Virginia |date=1989 |title=Place Names in Alabama |location=Tuscaloosa |publisher=The University of Alabama Press |page=33 |isbn=0-8173-0410-X }}

The Lake Chinnabee Recreation Area, located inside the Talladega National Forest, is named for Chinnabby. The recreation area includes the Chinnabee Silent Trail, which was constructed by a Boy Scout troop from the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. A waterfall along the trail is named Chinaabaee.{{cite book |last1=Mohlenbrock |first1=Robert H. |author-link=Robert H. Mohlenbrock |title=This Land: A Guide to Eastern National Forests |date=2006 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=0-520-23984-9 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gupOE0x1BKYC}}

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Category:Chiefs of the Muscogee

Category:People of the Creek War

Category:People from Talladega County, Alabama

Category:Accidental deaths in Alabama

Category:Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States

Category:Year of death uncertain

Category:Natchez people