What characteristics distinguished the " civilized tribes from the wild" tribes? (Site 1)

The so called Civilized Native American tribes were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw and Seminole. They were called Civilized by the Colonists because they had began to and adopted several European customs and methods of doing things such as;

Having Centralized Governments - Some of them established Government institutions to unite their tribes under a single Government. The Cherokee for instance, came up with a written constitution. Literacy - They began to educate themselves by fist learning to read and write. They learnt English primarily so they could communicate with the Colonists. Patrilineal Descent - Where before the family name was usually passed down the female line, the five tribes adopted the European method of descent where family names were passed down the male line. Converting to Christianity - A lot of the members of the 5 tribes adopted Christianity.