Facing relentless pressure to dissolve their sovereign status as the Creek Nation, Creeks ceded large tracts of their ancestral homeland to the United States of America in 1832, retaining individual allotments because they believed that was the best way to remain in their homeland. But by 1840, continued harassment led most of the Creeks to emigrate to Indian Territory, and many were removed by force. Creek Indians still consider this their ancestral homeland, and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians is the only federally recognized tribe in Alabama.