Choctaw

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Choctaw

Choctaw portraits
Total population
160,000  [1]
Regions with significant populations
United States (Oklahoma, California, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama)
Languages
English, Choctaw
Religion
Protestantism, traditional beliefs
Related ethnic groups
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole

The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States (Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana). They are of the Muskogean linguistic group. The word Choctaw (alternatively spelt as Chahta, Chactas, Chato, Tchakta, and Chocktaw) may derive from the Castilian word chato, meaning flat; however, noted anthropologist John Swanton suggested that the name was derived from a Choctaw leader.^[2] Henry Halbert, a historian, suggests that their name is derived from the Choctaw phrase "Hacha hatak" (river people).^[3] The Choctaw were a part of the Mississippian culture which was located throughout the Mississippi River valley. The early Spanish explorers of the 16th century encountered their ancestors.^[4] In the 19th century, Choctaws were known as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" because they had adopted and integrated numerous cultural and technological practices of their European American colonial neighbors. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are the two primary Choctaw associations, although smaller Choctaw groups are located in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.

During the American Revolution, most Choctaws supported the Thirteen Colonies' bid for independence from the British Crown. The Choctaws and the United States agreed to nine treaties. The last three treaties (Treaty of Doak's Stand, Washington City, and Dancing Rabbit) were designed to deracinate most Choctaws west of the Mississippi River. U.S. President Andrew Jackson made Choctaw exiles a model of Indian removal. They were the first Native Americans to march the Trail of Tears. The Choctaws were exiled (to the area now called Oklahoma) because the U.S. desired to expand^[5], wanted to save them from extinction^[6], and wanted to acquire their natural resources^[7].

With ratification in 1831 of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, those Choctaws who chose to stay in the newly formed state of Mississippi were the first major non-European ethnic group to become U.S. citizens. The Choctaw began to seek political representation in the Congress of the United States in 1830.^[8] During the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849) nearly twenty years prior to the founding of the Red Cross, the Choctaw were noted for their generosity in providing humanitarian relief for the people of Ireland.^[9] During the American Civil War, the Choctaw in both Oklahoma and Mississippi mostly sided with the Confederate States of America.

After the Civil War, the Mississippi Choctaws fell into obscurity and the Choctaws in Oklahoma struggled to maintain a nation. In World War I, they served in the U.S. military as the first Native American codetalkers using the Choctaw language as a natural code. After World War II Choctaws attracted and developed business industries such as wire harnessing. Today they operate business ventures (both in Mississippi and Oklahoma) in Gaming, Electronics, and Hospitality industries, and they continue to practice their language and cultural traditions.

Contents 1 History 1.1 New World antiquity 1.1.1 Coalesce from the Moundbuilders 1.2 Post-Columbian era 1.2.1 Spanish Exploration (1540) 1.2.2 French Colonization (1682) 1.3 United States relations 1.3.1 Hopewell (1786) 1.3.2 War of 1812 1.3.3 Doak's Stand (1820) 1.3.4 Delegation to Washington City (1824) 1.3.5 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830) 1.4 Removal era 1.4.1 Pre-Civil War (1840) 1.4.2 American Civil War (1861) 1.5 Reconstruction (1865) 1.5.1 Mississippi Choctaw 1.5.2 Choctaw Nation 1.5.3 Territory transition to Oklahoma statehood (1889) 1.6 World War I (1918) 1.7 Reorganization (1934) 1.8 World War II (1941) 1.9 Post-Reorganization (1946) 2 Choctaws today 3 Culture 3.1 Games 3.2 Language 3.3 Religion 3.4 Traditional clothing 4 Treaties 5 Reservations 6 Influential leaders 7 See also 8 References 8.1 Further reading 9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] New World antiquity

Nearly 12,000 years ago, Native Americans or Paleo-indians appeared in what is today referred to as "The South."^[10] Paleo-Indians in the Southeast were hunter-gatherers who pursued a wide range of animals, including the megafauna, which became extinct following the end of the Pleistocene age.^[10] Nineteenth-century historian Horatio Cushman noted Choctaw accounts suggested their ancestors had known of mammoths in the Tombigbee River area; this suggests that the Choctaw ancestors had been in the Mississippi area for at least 4,000–8,000 years.^[11] Cushman wrote: "the ancient Choctaw through their tradition (said) 'they saw the mighty beasts of the forests, whose tread shook the earth."^[11] Scholars believe that Paleo-Indians were specialized, highly mobile foragers who hunted late Pleistocene fauna such as bison, mastodons, caribou, and mammoths. Direct evidence in the Southeast is meager, but archaeological discoveries in related areas support this hypothesis.^[10]

[edit] Coalesce from the Moundbuilders

Contemporary historian Patricia Galloway argues from fragmentary archaeological and cartographic evidence that the Choctaw did not exist as a unified people before the 17th century. Only then did various southeastern peoples, remnants of Moundville, Plaquemine, and other Mississippian cultures, coalesce to form a self-consciously Choctaw people.^[12] The homeland of the Choctaw, or of the peoples from whom the Choctaw nation arose, includes Nanih Waiya. Nanih Waiya is an earthen mound considered sacred ground to Choctaws.

In Histoire de La Louisiane (Paris, 1758), French explorer Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz recounted that "...when I asked them from whence the Chat-kas [sic] came, to express the suddenness of their appearance they replied that they had come out from under the earth." American scholars took this account as intended to explain the Choctaws' immediate appearance, and not a literal creation account. It was perhaps the first European writing to contain the seed of the Choctaw origin story.^[13]

“	A people who by many peculiar customs, are very different from the other red men on the continent ... they are the Chactaws [sic], more commonly known by the name of the Flatheads. These people are the only nation from whom i [sic] could learn any idea of a traditional account of a first origin; and that is their coming out of a hole in the ground, which they shew between their nation and the Chicsaws [sic]; they tell us also that their neighbours were surprised at seeing a people rise at once out of the earth.	”
—Bernard Romans- Natural History of East and West Florida[14]

Early 19th century and contemporary Choctaw storytellers describe that the Choctaw people emerged from either Nanih Waiya (an Indian mound) or a cave nearby. The companion story describes their journey from the west, when they were directed by the use of a sacred pole.

“	The Choctaws, a great many winters ago, commenced moving from the country where they then lived, which was a great distance to the west of the great river and the mountains of snow, and they were a great many years on their way. A great medicine man led them the whole way, by going before with a red pole, which he stuck in the ground every night where they encamped. This pole was every morning found leaning to the east, and he told them that they must continue to travel to the east until the pole would stand upright in their encampment, and that there the Great Spirit had directed that they should live.	”
—George Catlin- Smithsonian Report[15]

[edit] Post-Columbian era

The Choctaw ancestors were part of the Mississippian culture in the Mississippi river valley. The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from 800 to 1500 C.E. When the Spanish made their first forays inland in the 16th century from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, the political centers of the Mississippians were already in decline, or had disappeared.^[16] The Mississippian culture is what the earliest Spanish explorers encountered, beginning on April 2, 1513, with Juan Ponce de León's Florida landing and the 1526 Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón expedition in South Carolina and Georgia region.^[17][18]

[edit] Spanish Exploration (1540)

After castaway Cabeza de Vaca of the ill-fated Narváez expedition returned to Spain, he described to the Court of Hernando de Soto that the New World was the "richest country in the world." Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first expedition into the interior of the North American continent. De Soto, convinced of the "riches", wanted Cabeza de Vaca to accompany him on the expedition. Cabeza de Vaca declined because of a payment dispute of a ship.^[19] From 1540–1543, Hernando de Soto travelled through Florida and Georgia, and then down into the Alabama and Mississippi area that would later be inhabited by the Choctaw.^[20]

De Soto had the best-equipped militia at the time. His well-known successes attracted people to his expedition in a quest for untold riches in the New World. As the brutalities of the de Soto expedition became known, ancestors to the Choctaw rose in defense. This battle, known as the Battle of Mabila, was a turning point for the De Soto venture. The battle "broke the back" of the campaign, and they never fully recovered.^{[citation needed]}

“	Hernando de Soto, leading his well-equipped Spanish fortune hunters, made contact with the Choctaws in the year 1540. He had been one of a triumvirate which wrecked and plundered the Inca empire and, as a result, was one of the wealthiest men of his time. His invading army lacked nothing in equipage. In true conquistador style, he took as hostage a chief named Chief Tuskaloosa	”
—Bob Ferguson- Choctaw Chronology[citation needed]

[edit] French Colonization (1682)

In 1682 La Salle was the first French explorer to venture into the southeast along the Mississippi River.^[21] His expedition did not meet with the Choctaw; it established a post along the Arkansas River.^[21] The post signaled to the English that the French were serious at colonization attempts in the American Deep South.^[21] The Choctaw had to make allies with French colonists because the English had been taking Choctaws for the slave trade.^[21]

The first direct recorded contact between the Choctaw and the French was with Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1699; indirect contact had likely occurred between the Choctaw and British settlers through other tribes, including the Creek and Chickasaw. The Choctaw, along with other tribes, had formed a relationship with New France, French Louisiana.^[22] Illegal fur trading may have led to further unofficial contact.^{[citation needed]}

The archaeological record for this period between 1567 and 1699 is not complete or well-studied. It appears that some settlements were abandoned well before the 17th century. Similarities in pottery coloring and burials suggest the following scenario for the emergence of the distinctive Choctaw society.^{[citation needed]}

The Choctaw region (generally located between the Natchez bluffs to the south and the Yazoo basin to the north) was slowly occupied by Burial Urn people from the Bottle Creek area in the Mobile delta, along with remnants of the Moundville chiefdom that had collapsed some years before. Facing severe depopulation, they fled westward, where they combined with the Plaquemines and a group of “prairie people” living near the area. When this occurred is not clear, but in the space of several generations, they created a new society which became known as Choctaw (albeit with a strong Mississippian background).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] United States relations

During the American Revolution, Choctaws, divided over whether to support Britain or Spain, decided to support the American colonists. But, head chief Franchimastabe led a Choctaw war party with British forces against American colonial rebels in Natchez.^{[citation needed]}

Other Choctaw companies joined Washington's army during the war, and served the entire duration.^[11] Bob Ferguson, a Southeastern Indian historian, noted, "[In] 1775 the American Revolution began a period of new alignments for the Choctaws and other southern Indians. Choctaw scouts served under Washington, Morgan, Wayne and Sullivan."^[23] After the Revolutionary War, the Choctaws were reluctant to ally themselves with countries hostile to the United States. John R. Swanton wrote, "the Choctaw were never at war with the Americans. A few were induced by Tecumseh (a Shawnee leader who sought support from various Native American tribes) to ally themselves with the hostile Creeks, but the Nation as a whole was kept out of anti-American alliances by the influence of Apushmataha, greatest of all Choctaw chiefs."^[24] Ferguson also wrote that with the end of the Revolution, " 'Franchimastabe', Choctaw head chief, went to Savannah, Georgia to secure American trade." In the next few years, some Choctaw scouts served in Ohio with U.S. General Anthony Wayne in the Northwest Indian War.^{[citation needed]}

George Washington (first U.S. President) and Henry Knox (first U.S. Secretary of War) proposed the cultural transformation of Native Americans.^[25] Washington believed that Native Americans were equals but that their society was inferior to that of the European Americans. He formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process, and Thomas Jefferson continued it.^[26] Historian Robert Remini wrote, "[T]hey presumed that once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans."^[27]

Washington's six-point plan included impartial justice toward Indians; regulated buying of Indian lands; promotion of commerce; promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Indian society; presidential authority to give presents; and punishing those who violated Indian rights.^[28] The government appointed agents, such as Benjamin Hawkins, to live among the Indians and to teach them through example and instruction, how to live like whites.^[25] The Choctaws accepted Washington's policy as they established schools, adopted yeoman farming practices, converted to Christianity, and built houses like their colonial neighbors.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Hopewell (1786)

Starting in October 1785, Taboca, a Choctaw prophet/chief, led over 125 Choctaws to the Keowee, near Seneca Old Town, now known as Hopewell, South Carolina.^[29] After two months of travel, they met with U.S. representatives Benjamin Hawkins, Andrew Pickens, and Joseph Martin. In high Choctaw ceremonial symbolism, they named, adopted, smoked, and performed dances, revealing the complex and serious nature of Choctaw diplomacy.^[30] One such dance was the eagle tail dance. The Choctaw explained that the Bald Eagle, who has direct contact with the upper world of the sun, is a symbol of peace.^[31] Choctaw women painted in white would adopt and name commissioners as kin.^[32] Smoking sealed agreements between peoples and the shared pipes sanctified peace between the two nations.^[33]

After the rituals, the Choctaws asked John Woods to live with them to improve communication with the U.S. In exchange they allowed Taboca to visit the United States Congress.^[30] On January 3, 1786, the Treaty of Hopewell was signed.^[34] Article 11 stated, "[T]he hatchet shall be forever buried, and the peace given by the United States of America, and friendship re-established between the said states on the one part, and all the Choctaw nation on the other part, shall be universal; and the contracting parties shall use their utmost endeavors to maintain the peace given as aforesaid, and friendship re-established."^[34]

The treaty required Choctaws to return escaped slaves to colonists, to turn over any Choctaws convicted of crimes by the U.S., establish borderlines between the U.S. and Choctaw Nation, and the return any property captured from colonists during the Revolutionary War.^[35]

[edit] War of 1812

Protraits of Pushmataha (left) and Tecumseh. "These white Americans ... give us fair exchange, their cloth, their guns, their tools, implements, and other things which the Choctaws need but do not make ... They doctored our sick; they clothed our suffering; they fed our hungry ... So in marked contrast with the experience of the Shawnees, it will be seen that the whites and Indians in this section are living on friendly and mutually beneficial terms." Pushmataha, 1811 - Sharing Choctaw History.[36] --------------------- "Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mochican, the Pocanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white man, as snow before the summer sun ... Sleep not longer, O Choctaws and Chickasaws ... Will not the bones of our dead be plowed up, and their graves turned into plowed fields?" Tecumseh, 1811 - The Portable North American Indian Reader.[37]

Early in 1811, Tecumseh attempted to recover lands from U.S. settlers. Tecumseh met the Choctaws to persuade them to join the alliance. Pushmataha, considered by historians to be the greatest Choctaw leader, countered Tecumseh's influence. As chief for the Six Towns district, Pushmataha strongly resisted such a plan, arguing that the Choctaw and their neighbors the Chickasaw had always lived in peace with European-Americans, had learned valuable skills and technologies, and had received honest treatment and fair trade.^[36] The joint Choctaw-Chickasaw council then voted against alliance with Tecumseh. On Tecumseh's departure, Pushmataha accused him of tyranny over his own Shawnee tribe and other tribes. Pushmataha warned Tecumeseh that he would fight against those who fought the United States.^[38]

With the outbreak of war, Pushmataha led the Choctaws in alliance with the U.S., arguing in favor of opposing the Creek's alliance with Britain after the massacre at Fort Mims.^[39] Pushmataha arrived at St. Stephens, Alabama in mid-1813 with an offer of alliance and recruitment. He was escorted to Mobile to speak with General Flournoy, then commanding the district. Flournoy initially declined Pushmataha's offer, offending the chief. However, Flournoy's staff quickly convinced him to reverse his decision. A courier with a message accepting the offer of alliance caught up with Pushmataha at St. Stephens.^[40]

Returning to Choctaw territory, Pushmataha raised a company of 125 Choctaw warriors with a rousing speech and was commissioned (as either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Brigadier General) in the United States Army at St. Stephens.^[41] After observing that the officers and their wives would promenade along the Alabama River, Pushmataha summoned his own wife to St. Stephens.

Pushmataha joined the U.S. Army under General Claiborne in mid-November, and some 125 Choctaw warriors took part in an attack on Creek forces at Kantachi (near present day Econochaca, Alabama) on 23 December 1813.^[40][42] With this victory, Choctaws began to volunteer in greater numbers from the other two districts of the tribe. By February 1814, a larger band of Choctaws under Pushmataha had joined General Andrew Jackson's force for the sweeping of the Creek territories near Pensacola, Florida. Many Choctaws departed from Jackon's main force after the final defeat of the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. By the Battle of New Orleans, only a few Choctaws remained with the army; however, they were the only Native American tribe represented in the battle.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Doak's Stand (1820)

In October 1820, Andrew Jackson and Thomas Hinds were sent as commissioners representing the United States, to conduct a treaty that would require the Choctaw to surrender to the United States a portion of their country located in present day Mississippi. They met with chiefs, mingos (leaders), and headsmen such as Colonel Silas Dinsmore and Chief Pushmataha at Doak's Stand on the Natchez Trace.^{[citation needed]}

The convention began on October 10 with a talk by "Sharp Knife", the nickname of Jackson, to more than 500 Choctaws. Pushmataha accused Jackson of deceiving them about the quality of land west of the Mississippi. Pushmataha responded to Jackson's retort with "I know the country well ... The grass is everywhere very short ... There are but few beavers, and the honey and fruit are rare things." Jackson resorted to threats, which pressured the Choctaws to sign the Doak's Stand treaty. Historian Anna Lewis stated that Apuckshunubbee, a Choctaw district chief, was blackmailed by Jackson to sign the treaty.^[43] On October 18, the Treaty of Doak's Stand was signed.^[44]

“	Finally Jackson resorted to threats and a temper tantrum to gain their consent. He warned them of the loss of American friendship; he promised to wage war against them and destroy the Nation; finally he shouted his determination to remove them whether they liked it or not.	”
—- Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson[44]

Article 4 of the Treaty of Doak's Stand prepared Choctaws to become U.S. citizens when he or she became "civilized." This article would later influence Article 14 in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.^{[citation needed]}

“	ARTICLE 4. The boundaries hereby established between the Choctaw Indians and the United States, on this side of the Mississippi river, shall remain without alteration until the period at which said nation shall become so civilized and enlightened as to be made citizens of the United States ...	”
—- Treaty with the Choctaw, 1820

[edit] Delegation to Washington City (1824)

Apuckshunubbee, Pushmataha, and Mosholatubbee, the principal leaders of the Choctaws, went to Washington City (the 19th century name for Washington, D.C.) to discuss European-Americans' squatting on Choctaw lands. They sought either expulsion of the settlers or financial compensation for the loss of their lands.^[11] The group also included Talking Warrior, Red Fort, Nittahkachee; Col. Robert Cole and David Folsom, both half-breed (mixed-race) Indians; Captain Daniel McCurtain, and Major John Pitchlynn, the U.S. interpreter, who also was mixed-race, with European ancestry.^[45]

Pushmataha met with President James Monroe and gave a speech to Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, reminding him of the longstanding alliances between the United States and the Choctaws. He said, "[I] can say and tell the truth that no Choctaw ever drew his bow against the United States ... My nation has given of their country until it is very small. We are in trouble."^[46] On January 20, 1825, the Treaty of Washington City was signed, by which the Choctaw ceded even more territory to the United States.^{[citation needed]}

“	Mingo [Apuckshunubee] died the last of October or first of November 1824. In attempting to go to the river in Maysville, he missed his way and was precipitated over the abutments below, a distance of from 15 to 20 feet and received so severe a contusion on his head with other injuries as to render his recovery hopeless ... His remains were conveyed to the narrow house of the grave and interred with military honors. He was about 80 years of age ...	”
—- Maysville Eagle, 1824.

Apuckshunubbee died in Maysville, Kentucky; and Pushmataha died in Washington. Apuckshunubbee was reported to have died from a broken neck caused by a fall from a hotel balcony.^[47] Other historians said he fell from a cliff, an account carried in a local paper. Pushmataha died of croup, even though the disease usually only afflicts infants and young children. Pushmataha was given full U.S. Military burial honors in a ceremony of burial at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The deaths of these two leaders effectively crippled the Choctaw Nation. Within six years the Choctaw were forced to cede their last remaining territory in Mississippi to the United States.^{[citation needed]}

“	The Choctaws would ultimately form a territory by themselves, which should be taken under the care of the general government; or that they should become citizens of the State of Mississippi, and thus citizens of the United States.	”
—- Cherokee Phoenix, and Indians' Advocate, Vol. II, No. 37., 1829.[48]

[edit] Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830)

On August 25, 1830, the Choctaws were supposed to meet with Andrew Jackson in Franklin, Tennessee, but Greenwood Leflore, a district Choctaw chief, informed Secretary of War John H. Eaton that the warriors were fiercely opposed to attending.^[49] President Jackson was angered. Journalist Len Green writes "although angered by the Choctaw refusal to meet him in Tennessee, Jackson felt from LeFlore's words that he might have a foot in the door and dispatched Secretary of War Eaton and John Coffee to meet with the Choctaws in their nation."^[50] Jackson appointed Eaton and General John Coffee as commissioners to represent him to meet the Choctaws at the Dancing Rabbit Creek near present-day Noxubee County, Mississippi.^{[citation needed]}

The commissioners met with the chiefs and headmen on September 15, 1830, at Dancing Rabbit Creek.^[51] In carnival-like atmosphere, the policy of removal was explained to an audience of 6,000 men, women, and children.^[51] The Choctaws would now face migration or submit to U.S. law as citizens.^[51] The treaty would sign away the remaining traditional homeland to the United States; however, a provision in the treaty made removal more acceptable.^{[citation needed]}

“	ART. XIV. Each Choctaw head of a family being desirous to remain and become a citizen of the States, shall be permitted to do so, by signifying his intention to the Agent within six months from the ratification of this Treaty, and he or she shall thereupon be entitled to a reservation of one section of six hundred and forty acres of land ...	”
—- Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, 1830

On September 27, 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed. It represented one of the largest transfers of land that was signed between the U.S. Government and Native Americans without being instigated by warfare. By the treaty, the Choctaws signed away their remaining traditional homelands, opening them up for European-American settlement. Article 14 allowed for nearly 1,300 Choctaws to remain in the state of Mississippi and to become the first major non-European ethnic group to become U.S. citizens.^{[52][53][54][55]} Article 22 sought to put a Choctaw representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.^[52] The Choctaw at this crucial time split into two distinct groups: the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The nation retained its autonomy, but the tribe in Mississippi submitted to state and federal laws.^{[citation needed]}

“	To the voters of Mississippi. Fellow Citizens:-I have fought for you, I have been by your own act, made a citizen of your state; ... According to your laws I am an American citizen, ... I have always battled on the side of this republic ... I have been told by my white brethren, that the pen of history is impartial, and that in after years, our forlorn kindred will have justice and "mercy too" ... I wish you would elect me a member to the next Congress of the [United] States.	”
— Mushulatubba, Christian Mirror and N.H. Observer, July 1830.[56]

[edit] Removal era

After ceding nearly 11,000,000 acres (45,000 km²), the Choctaw emigrated in three stages: the first in the fall of 1831, the second in 1832 and the last in 1833.^[57] Nearly 15,000 Choctaws made the move to what would be called Indian Territory and then later Oklahoma.^[58] About 2,500 died along the Trail of Tears. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 25, 1831, and the President was anxious to make it a model of removal.^[57] George W. Harkins wrote a letter to the American people before the removals began.

“	It is with considerable diffidence that I attempt to address the American people, knowing and feeling sensibly my incompetency; and believing that your highly and well improved minds would not be well entertained by the address of a Choctaw ... We as Choctaws rather chose to suffer and be free ...	”
—-George W. Harkins, George W. Harkins to the American People[59]

Alexis de Tocqueville, noted French political thinker and historian, witnessed the Choctaw removals while in Memphis, Tennessee in 1831:

“	In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and destruction, something which betrayed a final and irrevocable adieu; one couldn't watch without feeling one's heart wrung. The Indians were tranquil, but sombre and taciturn. There was one who could speak English and of whom I asked why the Chactas were leaving their country. "To be free," he answered, could never get any other reason out of him. We ... watch the expulsion ... of one of the most celebrated and ancient American peoples.	”
—- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America[60]

Approximately 4,000–6,000 Choctaws remained in Mississippi in 1831 after the initial removal efforts.^[53][61] U.S. agent William Ward, who was responsible for registration under article XIV, violently opposed the Choctaws’ treaty rights. He reluctantly registered some 1,300 Choctaws as citizens out of token compliance.^[62] For the next ten years the Choctaws in Mississippi were objects of increasing legal conflict, racism, harassment, and intimidation. The Choctaws describe their situation in 1849, "we have had our habitations torn down and burned, our fences destroyed, cattle turned into our fields and we ourselves have been scourged, manacled, fettered and otherwise personally abused, until by such treatment some of our best men have died."^[63] Joseph B. Cobb, who moved to Mississippi from Georgia, described Choctaws as having "no nobility or virtue at all, and in some respect he found blacks, especially native Africans, more interesting and admirable, the red man's superior in every way. The Choctaw and Chickasaw, the tribes he knew best, were beneath contempt, that is, even worse than black slaves."^[64] Removal continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1846 1,000 Choctaws removed, and in 1903 three hundred Mississippi Choctaws were persuaded to move to the Nation in Oklahoma.^[23] By 1930 only 1,665 remained in Mississippi.^[24]

[edit] Pre-Civil War (1840)

In the 1840s, the Choctaw chief Greenwood LeFlore stayed in Mississippi after the signing of Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek and became an American citizen, a successful businessman, and a state politician. He was a Mississippi representative and senator, a fixture of Mississippi high society, and a personal friend of Jefferson Davis. He represented his county in the house for two terms and served as a senator for one term. Some of the elite used Latin language, an indulgence used by some politicians. LeFlore, in defense of his heritage, spoke in the Choctaw language and asked the Senate floor which was better understood, Latin or Choctaw.^{[citation needed]}

Midway through the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), a group of Choctaws collected $710 (although many articles say the original amount was $170 after a misprint in Angi Debo's The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Nation) and sent it to help starving Irish men, women and children. "It had been just 16 years since the Choctaw people had experienced the Trail of Tears, and they had faced starvation ... It was an amazing gesture. By today's standards, it might be a million dollars" according to Judy Allen, editor of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's newspaper, Bishinik, based at the Oklahoma Choctaw tribal headquarters in Durant, Oklahoma. To mark the 150th anniversary, eight Irish people retraced the Trail of Tears ^[9] In the late 20th century, Irish President Mary Robinson extolled the donation in a public commemoration.^{[citation needed]}

For the Choctaw Indians who remained in or returned to Mississippi after 1855, the situation deteriorated. Many lost their lands and money to unscrupulous whites.^[66] Mississippi refused them any participation in government.^[66] Their tenuous understanding of the English language caused them to live in isolated groups. In addition, white society prohibited them from admissions at the few institutions of higher learning. There were no public schools in the state before the Civil War.^[66]

“	Choctaws ... were at the mercy of the whites who could commit crimes against them without fear of the law. Even black slaves had more legal rights than did the Choctaws during this period.	”
—Charles Hudson- The Southeastern Indians[67]

[edit] American Civil War (1861)

At the beginning of the American Civil War, Albert Pike was appointed as Confederate envoy to Native Americans. In this capacity he negotiated several treaties, including the Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws in July 1861. The treaty covered sixty-four terms, covering many subjects like Choctaw and Chickasaw nation sovereignty, Confederate States of America citizenship possibilities, and a entitled delegate in the House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America.^[65]

As slaveholders, many Choctaws identified with the Southern cause. In addition, they well remembered and resented the Indian removals from thirty years earlier. The main reason the Choctaw Nation agreed to sign the treaty, however, was for protection from regional tribes. Soon Confederate battalions were formed in Indian Territory and later in Mississippi in support of the southern cause.^{[citation needed]}

The Confederacy wanted to recruit Indians east of the Mississippi River in 1862, so they opened up a recruiting camp in Mobile, Alabama "at the foot of Stone Street."^[68] The Mobile Advertiser and Register advertised for recruits:

“	A Chance for Active Service. The Secretary of War has authorized me to enlist all the Indians east of the Mississippi River into the service of the Confederate States, as Scouts. In addition to the Indians, I will receive all white male citizens, who are good marksmen. To each member, Fifty Dollars Bounty, clothes, arms, camp equipage &c: furnished. The weapons shall be Enfield Rifles. For further information address me at Mobile, Ala. (Signed) S.G. Spann, Comm'ing Choctaw Forces.	”
—- Jacqueline Anderson Matte, They Say the Wind is Red[68]

Major S. G. Spann, Commander of Dabney H. Maury Camp of Meridian, Mississippi, wrote about the deeds of the Choctaw years after the Civil War had ended.^[69]

“	Many earnest friends and comrades insist that the Choctaw Indian as a Confederate soldier should receive his proper place on the scroll of events during the American Civil War. This task having been so nearly ignored, I send some reminiscences that will be an exponent of the extraordinary merit of the Choctaw Indian on the American Continent. My connection with the Choctaw Indians was brought about incidentally: Maj. J.W. Pearce, of Hazelhurst, Miss., organized a battalion of Choctaw Indians, of Kemper, DeKalb, Neshoba, Jasper, Scott], and Newton Counties, Miss., known as 'First Battalion of Choctaw Indians, Confederate army'.	”
—Maj. S. G. Spann, Confederate Veteran Magazine Volume XIII

[edit] Reconstruction (1865)

[edit] Mississippi Choctaw

From about 1865 to 1918, Mississippi Choctaws were largely ignored by governmental, health, and educational services and fell into obscurity. In the aftermath of the Civil War, their issues were pushed aside in the struggle between defeated Confederates, freedmen and Union sympathizers. Records about the Mississippi Choctaw during this period are non-existent. They had no legal recourse, and were often bullied and intimidated by local whites.^[70] They chose to live in isolation and practiced their culture as they had for generations.

Following Reconstruction and conservative Democrats' regaining power in the late 1870s, European-American state legislators passed laws establishing Jim Crow laws and legal segregation by race. In addition they disfranchised Native Americans by constitutional changes in 1890 regarding voter registration and elections.^[71] Such legislators included Mississippi Choctaws in the "colored" population, subjecting them to racial segregation and exclusion from public facilities along with freedmen and their descendants. The Choctaw were non-white, landless, and had minimal legal protection.^[67]

At the turn of the century, only 1,253 Choctaw Indians remained in Mississippi. "The beginning of the 20th century found Mississippi Choctaws struggling to overcome poverty, discrimination, and lack of opportunity." ^[72]

After a US Congressional investigation discovered their poor living conditions, in 1918 the US Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) established the Choctaw Agency. Under segregation, few schools were open to Choctaw children, who were included with other non-whites. The Choctaw agency was based in Philadelphia, Mississippi, a center of several Indian communities. It set up elementary schools and worked to address the poor health conditions of the Choctaw, building a hospital in Philadelphia for tribal members.^[73] Dr. Frank McKinley was the first superintendent. Prior to McKinley's arrival, the Choctaws had grouped themselves in six communities.^{[citation needed]}

Because the state remained dependent on agriculture, despite the declining price of cotton, most landless men earned a living by becoming sharecroppers. The women created and sold traditional hand-woven baskets. Choctaw sharecropping declined in the 1950s after farming mechanization had become more prevalent.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Choctaw Nation

The Confederacy’s loss was also the Choctaw Nation’s loss. Prior to removal, the Choctaws had interacted with Africans in their native homeland of Mississippi.^[74] Slavery was a European-American institution which the Choctaws had adopted.^[74] During the pre-civil war period, enslaved African-Americans had more formal legal protection than did the Choctaw.^[67] Moshulatubbee, an important Choctaw chief, had slaves, as did many of the Europeans who married into the Choctaw nation.^[74] The Choctaw Nation, in what will be Oklahoma, kept slavery until 1866. After the Civil War, they were required by treaty with the United States to free the slaves within their nation. Former slaves of the Choctaw Nation were called the Choctaw Freedmen.^[74] After considerable debate, Choctaw Freedmen were granted Choctaw Nation citizenship in 1885.^[75] In post-war treaties, the US government also acquired land in the western part of the territory and access rights for railroads to be built across Indian Territory. Choctaw chief Allen Wright suggested Oklahoma (red people) as the name of the newly ceded territory.^{[citation needed]}

The improved transportation afforded by the railroads drew large-scale mining and timber operations. These added to tribal receipts. The railroads and industries also attracted European-American settlers, including new immigrants to the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Continuing the struggle over land and assimilation, the US proposed the end to the tribal lands held in common, and allotment of lands to tribal members in severalty (individually). This would also enable new settlers to buy land from those Native Americans who wished to sell. The US government set up the Dawes Commission to manage the land allotment policy.^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 1894, the Dawes Commission was established to register Choctaw and other families of the Indian Territory, so that the former tribal lands could be properly distributed among them. The final list included 18,981 citizens of the Choctaw Nation, 1,639 Mississippi Choctaw, and 5,994 former slaves, most held by Choctaws in the Indian/Oklahoma Territory. (At the same time, the Dawes Commission registered members of the other Five Civilized Tribes.)^{[citation needed]}

Following completion of the land allotments, the US proposed to end tribal governments of the Five Civilized Tribes and admit the territories as a state.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Territory transition to Oklahoma statehood (1889)

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (March 2009)

The establishment of Oklahoma Territory following the Civil War was a required land cession by the Five Civilized Tribes, who had supported the Confederacy. The government used its railroad access to the Oklahoma Territory to stimulate development there. The Indian Appropriations Bill of 1889 included an amendment by Illinois Representative William McKendree Springer, that authorized President Benjamin Harrison to open the two million acres (8,000 km²) of Oklahoma Territory for settlement, resulting in the Land Run of 1889. The Choctaw Nation was overwhelmed with new settlers and could not regulate their activities.^{[citation needed]}

In 1905, the Five Civilized Tribes met at the Sequoyah Convention to counter proposed dissolution of their governments by creating an alternate State of Sequoyah. Although they took a thoroughly developed proposal to Washington, DC, seeking approval, there was political opposition from eastern states' representatives. President Theodore Roosevelt ruled that the Oklahoma and Indian territories would be merged to be admitted as one state, Oklahoma. Nonetheless, many of the Native American representatives from the Sequoyah Convention participated in the new state convention. Its constitution was based on many elements of the one developed for the State of Sequoyah.^[65]

In 1906 the U.S. dissolved the governments of the Five Civilized Tribes in an attempt to assimilate the tribes as citizens of the United States. This action was part of continuing negotiations by Native Americans and European Americans over the best proposals for the future. The Choctaw Nation continued to protect resources not stipulated in treaty or law.^{[citation needed]} On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was admitted to the union as the 46th state.

[edit] World War I (1918)

In the closing days of World War I, a group of Choctaws serving in the U.S. Army used their native language as the basis for secret communication among Americans, as Germans could not understand it.^[76][77][78] The Choctaws were the Native American innovators who served as code talkers.^[76] Captain Lawrence, a company commander, overheard Solomon Louis and Mitchell Bobb conversing in the Choctaw language. He asked them if there were more Choctaws and found out there were eight men in the battalion.^[79]

Fourteen Choctaw Indian men in the Army's 36th Division trained to use their language for military communications. Their communications, which could not be understood by Germans, helped the American Expeditionary Force win several key battles in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign in France, during the last big German offensive of the war. Within 24 hours after the US Army starting using their Choctaw speakers, the tide of the battle had turned. In less than 72 hours the Germans were retreating and the Allies were on full attack.^[79] The 14 Choctaw Code Talkers were Albert Billy, Mitchell Bobb, Victor Brown, Ben Caterby, James Edwards, Tobias Frazer, Ben Hampton, Solomon Louis, Pete Maytubby, Jeff Nelson, Joseph Oklahombi, Robert Taylor, Calvin Wilson, and Walter Veach.^[79]

More than 70 years passed before the contributions of the Choctaw Code talkers were fully recognized. On November 3, 1989, in recognition of the important role the Choctaw Code Talkers played during World War I, the French government presented the Chevalier de L'Ordre National du Mérite (the Knight of the National Order of Merit) to the Choctaws Code Talkers.^{[citation needed]}

The US Army again used Choctaw speakers for coded language during World War II.

[edit] Reorganization (1934)

During the Great Depression and the Roosevelt Administration, officials began numerous initiatives to alleviate some of the social and economic conditions in the South. The 1933 Special Narrative Report described the dismal state of welfare of Mississippi Choctaws, whose population by 1930 had declined to 1,665 people.^[24] John Collier, the US Commissioner for Indian Affairs (now BIA), used the report as instrumental support in a proposal to re-organize the Mississippi Choctaw as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. This enabled them to establish their own tribal government, as well as to have a beneficial relationship with the federal government.

In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Indian Reorganization Act. This law proved critical for survival of the Mississippi Choctaw. Baxter York, Emmett York, and Joe Chitto worked on gaining recognition for the Choctaw.^[80] They realized that the only way to gain recognition was to adopt a constitution.^[80] A rival organization, the Mississippi Choctaw Indian Federation, opposed tribal recognition because of fears of dominance by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). They disbanded after leaders of the opposition were moved to another jurisdiction.^[80] The first Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians tribal council members were Baxter and Emmett York with Joe Chitto as the first chairperson.^[80]

With the tribe's adoption of government, in 1944 the Secretary of the Interior declared that 18,000 acres (73 km²) would be held in trust for the Choctaw of Mississippi. Lands in Neshoba and surrounding counties were set aside as a federal Indian reservation. Eight communities were included in the reservation land: Bogue Chitto, Bogue Homa, Conehatta, Crystal Ridge, Pearl River, Red Water, Tucker, and Standing Pine.^{[citation needed]}

Under the Indian Reorganization Act, the Mississippi Choctaws re-organized on April 20, 1945 as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. This gave them some independence from the state government, which continued with its system of racial segregation under the Democratic Party.

[edit] World War II (1941)

World War II was a significant turning point for Choctaws and Native Americans in general. Although the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek stated Mississippi Choctaws had U.S. citizenship, they had become associated with "colored people" as non-white in a state that had imposed racial segregation under Jim Crow laws. State services for Native Americans were non-existent. The state was poor and still dependent on agriculture. In its system of segregation, services for minorities were consistently underfunded. The state constitution and voter registration rules dating from the turn of the century kept most Native Americans from voting, serving on juries or being eligible for any local offices.^[81]

A Mississippi Choctaw veteran stated, "Indians were not supposed to go in the military back then ... the military was mainly for whites. My category was white instead of Indian. I don't know why they did that. Even though Indians weren't citizens of this country, couldn't register to vote, didn't have a draft card or anything, they took us anyway."^[82]

Van Barfoot, a Choctaw from Mississippi, who was a Second Lieutenant and Sgt. in the U.S. Army, 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division, received the Medal of Honor. Barfoot was commissioned a second lieutenant after he destroyed two German machine gun nests, took seventeen prisoners, and disabled an enemy tank.^[83]

[edit] Post-Reorganization (1946)

The Choctaw people continued to struggle economically due to bigotry, cultural isolation, and lack of jobs. With reorganization and establishment of tribal government, however, over the next decades they took control of "schools, health care facilities, legal and judicial systems, and social service programs."^[84]

In the 1950s, successive Republican administrations (supported by conservative Democrats in the South, still a one-party region) became impatient with gradual assimilation of Native Americans. They settled on a policy to terminate tribes as quickly as possible. Out of concern for the isolation of many Native Americans in rural areas, the federal government created relocation programs to cities to try to expand their job and cultural opportunities. Indian policy experts hoped to expedite assimilation of Native Americans to the larger American society, which was becoming urban.^{[citation needed]}

Democratic President John F. Kennedy decided against implementing additional terminations. He did enact some of the last terminations in process, such as with the Ponca.^[85] Both presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon repudiated termination of the federal government's relationship with Native American tribes. In 1959, the Choctaw Termination Act was passed.^[86] Unless repealed by the federal government, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma would effectively be terminated as a sovereign nation as of August 25, 1970.^[86]

“	We must affirm the right of the first Americans to remain Indians while exercising their rights as Americans. We must affirm their rights to freedom of choice and self-determination.	”
—- President Lyndon Johnson.[citation needed]

Phillip Martin, who had served in the U. S. Army in Europe during World War II, returned to visit his former Neshoba County, Mississippi home. After seeing the poverty of his people, he decided to stay to help.^[87] Martin served as chairperson in various Choctaw committees up until 1977. Martin was then elected as Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. He served a total of 30 years, being re-elected until 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Will Campbell, a Baptist minister and Civil Rights activist, witnessed the destitution of the Choctaw. He would later write, "the thing I remember the most ... was the depressing sight of the Choctaws, their shanties along the country roads, grown men lounging on the dirt streets of their villages in demeaning idleness, sometimes drinking from a common bottle, sharing a roll-your-own cigarette, their half-clad children a picture of hurting that would never end."^[87]

The Choctaws witnessed the social forces that brought Freedom Summer to their ancient homeland. The Civil Rights Era produced significant social change for the Choctaws in Mississippi, as their civil rights were also enhanced. Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, most jobs were given to whites, then blacks.^[87]

The Choctaws, who for 150 years had been neither white nor black, were "left where they had always been"-- in poverty.^[87] Donna Ladd wrote that a Choctaw, now in her 40s, remembers "as a little girl, she thought that a 'white only' sign in a local store meant she could only order white, or vanilla, ice cream. It was a small story, but one that shows how a third race can easily get left out of the attempts for understanding."^[88] The end of legalized racial segregation permitted the Choctaws to participate in public institutions and facilities that had been reserved exclusively for white patrons.^{[citation needed]}

On June 21, 1964 James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner (renowned civil rights workers) disappeared; their remains were later found in a newly constructed dam. A crucial turning point in the FBI investigation came when the charred remains of the murdered Mississippi civil rights workers' station wagon was found on a Mississippi Choctaw reservation.^[88] Two Choctaw women, who were in the back seat of a deputy's patrol car, said they witnessed the meeting of two conspirators who expressed their desire to "beat-up" the boys.^[89]

[edit] Choctaws today

In the social changes around the Civil Rights era, between 1965 and 1982 Native Americans renewed their commitments to the value of their ancient heritage. Working to celebrate their own strengths and exercise appropriate rights; they dramatically reversed the trend toward abandonment of Indian culture and tradition.^[90] During the 1960s, Community Action programs connected with Native Americans were based on citizen participation. In the 1970s, the Choctaws repudiated the extremes of Indian activism. The Oklahoma Choctaw sought a local grassroots solution to reclaim their cultural identity and sovereignty as a nation. The Mississippi Choctaw would lay the foundations of business ventures. Policy continued toward the ideology of Self-Determination.^{[citation needed]}

“	Forced termination is wrong, in my judgment, for a number of reasons. First, the premises on which it rests are wrong ... The second reason for rejecting forced termination is that the practical results have been clearly harmful in the few instances in which termination actually has been tried ... The third argument I would make against forced termination concerns the effect it has had upon the overwhelming majority of tribes which still enjoy a special relationship with the Federal government ... The recommendations of this administration represent an historic step forward in Indian policy. We are proposing to break sharply with past approaches to Indian problems.	”
—- President Richard Nixon, Special Message on Indian Affairs, July 8, 1970.[91]

Soon after this, Congress passed the landmark Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, completing a 15-year period of federal policy reform with regard to American Indian tribes. The legislation included means by which tribes could negotiate contracts with the BIA to manage more of their own education and social service programs. In addition, it provided direct grants to help tribes develop plans for assuming responsibility. It also provided for Indian parents' involvement on school boards.^[92]

Beginning in 1979 the tribal council worked on a variety of economic development initiatives, first geared toward attracting industry to the reservation. They had many people available to work, natural resources and no taxes. Industries have included automotive parts, greeting cards, direct mail and printing, and plastic-molding. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is one of the state's largest employers, running 19 businesses and employing 7,800 people.^[93]

Starting with New Hampshire in 1963, numerous state governments began to operate lotteries and other gambling to raise money for government services. In 1987 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that federally recognized tribes could operate gaming facilities on reservation land free from state regulation. In 1988 the U.S. Congress enacted the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). It set the terms for Native American tribes to operate casinos.^[94]

After years of waiting under the Ray Mabus administration, Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice in 1992 gave permission for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to develop Class III gaming. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) has one of the largest casino resorts in the nation; it is located in Choctaw, Mississippi. The Silver Star Casino opened its doors in 1994. The Golden Moon Casino opened in 2002. The casinos are collectively known as the Pearl River Resort.^{[citation needed]}

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has its own gaming operations: the Choctaw Casino Resort and Choctaw Casino Bingo, popular gaming destinations in Durant. Near the Oklahoma-Texas border, they serve residents of Southern Oklahoma and North Texas. The largest regional population base from which they draw is the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.^{[citation needed]}

Purporting to represent Native Americans before Congress and state governments in this new field, Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon used fraudulent means to gain profits of $15 million in payment from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Congressional hearings were held and charges were brought against Abramoff and Scanlon.^[95] In an e-mail sent January 29, 2002, Abramoff tells Scanlon "I have to meet with the monkeys from the Choctaw tribal council."^[96]

After nearly two hundred years, the Choctaw have retaken control of the ancient site of Nanih Waiya. For years protected as a Mississippi state park, Nanih Waiya was returned to the Choctaw in 2006, under Mississippi Legislature State Bill 2803.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Culture

Choctaw culture has greatly evolved over the centuries, combining mostly European-American influences; however, interaction with Spain, France, and England greatly shaped it as well. They were known for their rapid incorporation of modernity, developing a written language, transitioning to yeoman farming methods, and accepting European-Americans and African-Americans into their society. In mid-summer the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians celebrate their culture during the Choctaw Indian Fair with ball games, dancing, cooking and entertainment.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Games

Choctaw stickball, the oldest field sport in North America, was also known as the "little brother of war" because of its roughness and substitution for war.^[97] When disputes arose between Choctaw communities, stickball provided a civil way to settle issues. The stickball games would involve as few as twenty or as many as 300 players. The goal posts could be from a few hundred feet apart to a few miles. Goal posts were sometimes located within each opposing team's village. A Jesuit priest referenced stickball in 1729, and George Catlin painted the subject. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians continue to practice the sport.

Chunkey was a game that consisted of a stone-shaped disk that was about 1–2 inches in length.^[98] The disk was thrown down a 200-foot (61 m) corridor so that it could roll past the players at great speed. As the disk rolled down the corridor, players would throw wooden shafts at it. The object of the game was to strike the disk or prevent your opponents from hitting it.^[98]

Other games included corn, cane, and moccasin games.^[99] The corn game included five to seven kernels of corn. One side was blackened and the other side white. Points were assigned for each color. One point was awarded for the black side and 5-7 points for the white side. There were usually only two players.^[99]

[edit] Language

The Choctaw language is a member of the Muskogean family and was well known among the frontiersmen, such as U.S. President Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison, of the early 19th century. The language is closely related to Chickasaw, and some linguists consider the two dialects a single language. The Choctaw language is the essence of tribal culture, tradition, and identity.^[100] Many Choctaw adults learned to speak the language before speaking English. The language is a part of daily life on the Mississippi Choctaw reservation. The following table is an example of Choctaw text and its translation:

Chata Anumpa: Hattak yuka keyu hokʊtto yakohmit itibachʊfat hieli kʊt, nan isht imaiʊlhpiesa atokmʊt itilawashke; yohmi ha hattak nana hohkia, keyukmʊt kanohmi hohkia okla moma nana isht aim aiʊlhpiesa, micha isht aimaiʊlhtoba he aima ka kanohmi bano hosh isht ik imaiʊlhpieso kashke. Amba moma kʊt nana isht imachukma chi ho tuksʊli hokmakashke.[101]

English Language: That all free men, when they form a special compact, are equal in rights, and that no man or set of men are entitled to exclusive, separate public emolument or privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services.[101]

[edit] Religion

The Choctaws believed in a good spirit and an evil spirit. They may have been sun, or Hushtahli, worshippers. The historian Swanton wrote, "[T]he Choctaws anciently regarded the sun as a deity ... the sun was ascribed the power of life and death. He was represented as looking down upon the earth, and as long as he kept his flaming eye fixed on any one, the person was safe ... fire, as the most striking representation of the sun, was considered as possessing intelligence, and as acting in concert with the sun ... [having] constant intercourse with the sun ..."^[24] The word nanpisa (the one who sees) expressed the reverence the Choctaw had for the sun.^[102]

“	Anthropologist theorize that the Mississippian ancestors of the Choctaw placed the sun at the center of their cosmological system. Mid-eighteenth-century Choctaws did view the sun as a being endowed with life. Choctaw diplomats, for example, spoke only on sunny days. If the day of a conference were cloudy or rainy, Choctaws delayed the meeting, usually on the pretext that they needed more time to discuss particulars, until the sun returned. The sun made sure that all talks were honest. The sun as a symbol of great power and reverence is a major component of southeastern Indian cultures.	”
—- Greg O'Brien, Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830[30]

Prayers may have been introduced by missionaries; however, Choctaw prophets were known to have addressed the sun. Swanton wrote, "an old Choctaw informed Wright that before the arrival of the missionaries, they had no conception of prayer. However, he adds, 'I have indeed heard it asserted by some, that anciently their hopaii, or prophets, on some occasions were accustomed to address the sun ...'"^[24]

[edit] Traditional clothing

The colorful dresses worn by today's Choctaw are made by hand and adapted from 19th century European-American designs. Choctaws today wear Choctaw clothing mainly for special events. Choctaw elders, especially the Choctaw women, dress in their traditional garb every day. Choctaw dresses are trimmed by full diamond, half diamond or circle and crosses that represent stickball sticks.^[103]

[edit] Treaties

Land was the most valuable asset Native Americans held in collective stewardship. Choctaw land was systematically obtained through treaties, legislation, and threats of warfare. Although there were treaties made with Great Britain, France, Spain, and Confederate States of America; only nine treaties were signed between the Choctaws and the United States.^[104] Some treaties, like the Treaty of San Lorenzo, indirectly affected the Choctaws.

[edit] Reservations

Reservations can be found in Alabama-(MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians), Louisiana-(Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; United Houma Nation; Choctaw-Apache of Ebarb; Bayou Lacombe Choctaw; Clifton Choctaw), Texas-(Mount Tabor Indian Community), Mississippi-(Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians), and Oklahoma-(Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma). Other population centers include California, Oregon, Dallas, Houston and Chicago.

[edit] Influential leaders

• Tuscaloosa (?-d. October 1540) retaliated against Hernando de Soto at the Battle of Mabilia. The battle was the first major conflict in North America between Native Americans and Europeans.
• Franchimastabe (?- d. 1800s) was a transitional benefactor and a contemporary of Taboca. To some Americans he was the "leading chief of the Choctaws." He led a war party with British forces against American rebels.
• Taboca (?- d. 1800s) was a traditional "prophet-chief" who led a delegation starting in October 1785 to Hopewell, South Carolina.
• Apuckshunubbee (c. 1740-d. 1824) was chief of the Okla Falaya (Tall People) district in old Choctaw nation. He died in Kentucky on his way to Washington D.C. to conduct negotiations.
• Pushmataha (Apushmataha) (b. 1760s-d. December 24, 1824) was a chief in old Choctaw nation. He negotiated treaties with the United States and fought on the American's side in the War of 1812. He died in Washington D.C. and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C.
• Mosholatubbee (b. 1770-d. 1836) was a chief in the Choctaw nation before the removal and after. He went to Washington D.C. to negotiate for the tribe in 1824 and was the only major leader to return. In the summer of 1830, he ran for a seat in the Congress of the United States to represent the state of Mississippi.
• Greenwood LeFlore (b. June 3, 1800–d. August 31, 1865) was a District Chief of the Choctaws in Mississippi. He was an influential state representative and senator in Mississippi.
• George W. Harkins (b. 1810-d. 1890) was a district Choctaw chief in Indian Territory (1850-1857) prior to the Civil War and author of the "Farewell Letter to the American People".
• Peter Pitchlynn (b. January 30, 1806-d. January 17, 1881) was a highly influential leader during the removal era and long after. He represented the Choctaws in Washington D.C. for some years and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery. Charles Dickens described him "as stately and complete a gentleman of nature's making as ever I beheld."
• Phillip Martin (b. March 13, 1926) was the Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians from 1979-2007 and worked in tribal government for over fifty years. He encouraged outside investment and reduced unemployment to nearly 0% on the reservation.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Choctaw

• Choctaw Culture
• Choctaw mythology
• Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
• Choctaw Trail of Tears
• Gallery of Choctaw Native Americans
• Jena Band of Choctaw Indians
• List of Choctaw Treaties
• Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
• MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians
• List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition
• William Bartram
• Cyrus Byington
• Gideon Lincecum

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

• Official websites of Choctaw Governments:
  • Chattin Choctaw Newsletter (official site)
  • Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (official site)
  • Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (official site)
  • Jena Band of Choctaw Indians (official site)
  • MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians (official website)
• "Choctaw" entry at Encyclopedia of North American Indians
• Choctaw Indian Fair
• Choctaws by Dr. D.L. Birchfield
•  "Choctaws". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

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