The Alabama nation was recognized as early as the 1500s in the chronicles of the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, and their relationship with the French dates as far back as the establishment of Fort Toulouse in Alabama in 1717. Their long history was recognized when the state of Alabama took it's name and called its principle river the Alabama. The Alabama or Alibamu (Albaamaha in the Alabama language) are a Southeastern culture people of Native Americans, originally from Alabama. They were members of the Muscogee Creek Confederacy, a loose trade and military organization of autonomous towns; their home lands were on the upper Alabama River.