Choctaw
Choctaws are Native Americans who traditionally lived in what today is part of the southeastern United States. Before 1820 Choctaw territory encompassed more than 23 million acres, primarily in present-day Mississippi, and extended into sections of present-day Alabama and Louisiana. A Choctaw legend traces the origin of the Choctaw to Nanih Waiya, an ancient earthwork mound located in east-central Mississippi near the town of Noxapter. (The name Nanih Waiya can be translated as “productive mound.”) The etymology of the name Choctaw is uncertain. One theory is that it derives from the word chahta, meaning “flat head,” and might be related to the practice once followed by the Choctaw of flattening the forehead of boy infants by means of a strapped board.
In the mid-eighteenth century the Choctaw population was estimated to be about 20,000. The Choctaw had come together as a people from three or more major independent groups sometime between the mid-sixteenth to the late seventeenth centuries. Although the Choctaw were an agricultural people, their economy also relied on trade.
Today Choctaws live primarily in the states of Oklahoma and Mississippi. In Oklahoma the Choctaw Nation encompasses ten and one-half counties in the southeastern part of the state, and in Mississippi the Choctaw live on several noncontiguous blocks—together larger than the state of Massachussetts—that are located primarily in east-central Mississippi. The Choctaw people ended up in Oklahoma because of a series of forced removals by the United States government from 1831 to 1834. About 11,500 Choctaw were removed to present-day Oklahoma, but an estimated 6,000 individuals remained in Mississippi. The primary populations of Choctaw today are descendants of these two groups.
According to the American Community Survey administered by the U.S. Census Bureau, 195,764 Choctaw citizens resided in the United States in 2010, a number comparable to the population of Little Rock, Arkansas. Of this number, about 127,000 have membership in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which has headquarters in Durant, Oklahoma. The population of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is estimated at around 10,000 people. Much of the Choctaw population maintains a distinctive identity through its affiliation with these two groups, but there are also Choctaw communities in Alabama, California, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.
Entry from Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America
Books & eBooks
Choctaw Resurgence in Mississippi by ISBN: 0803240449Publication Date: 2014-07-01When the Choctaws were removed from their Mississippi homeland to Indian Territory in 1830, several thousand remained behind, planning to take advantage of Article 14 in the removal treaty, which promised that any Choctaws who wished to remain in Mississippi could apply for allotments of land. When the remaining Choctaws applied for their allotments, however, the government reneged, and the Choctaws were left dispossessed and impoverished. Thus begins the history of the Mississippi Choctaws as a distinct people. nbsp; Despite overwhelming poverty and significant racial prejudice in the rural South, the Mississippi Choctaws managed, over the course of a century and a half, to maintain their ethnic identity, persuade the Office of Indian Affairs to provide them with services and lands, create a functioning tribal government, and establish a prosperous and stable reservation economy. The Choctaws’ struggle against segregation in the 1950s and 1960s is an overlooked story of the civil rights movement, and this study of white supremacist support for Choctaw tribalism considerably complicates our understanding of southern history. Choctaw Resurgence in Mississippi traces the Choctaw’s remarkable tribal rebirth, attributing it to their sustained political and social activism. nbsp; nbsp;
Living in the Land of Death by ISBN: 0870138839Publication Date: 2004-07-31With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Choctaw people began their journey over the Trail of Tears from their homelands in Mississippi to the new lands of the Choctaw Nation. Suffering a death rate of nearly 20 percent due to exposure, disease, mismanagement, and fraud, they limped into Indian Territory, or, as they knew it, the Land of the Dead (the route taken by the souls of Choctaw people after death on their way to the Choctaw afterlife). Their first few years in the new nation affirmed their name for the land, as hundreds more died from whooping cough, floods, starvation, cholera, and smallpox. Living in the Land of the Dead depicts the story of Choctaw survival, and the evolution of the Choctaw people in their new environment. Culturally, over time, their adaptation was one of homesteads and agriculture, eventually making them self-sufficient in the rich new lands of Indian Territory. Along the Red River and other major waterways several Choctaw families of mixed heritage built plantations, and imported large crews of slave labor to work cotton fields. They developed a sub-economy based on interaction with the world market. However, the vast majority of Choctaws continued with their traditional subsistence economy that was easily adapted to their new environment. The immigrant Choctaws did not, however, move into land that was vacant. The U.S. government, through many questionable and some outright corrupt extralegal maneuvers, chose to believe it had gained title through negotiations with some of the peoples whose homelands and hunting grounds formed Indian Territory. Many of these indigenous peoples reacted furiously to the incursion of the Choctaws onto their rightful lands. They threatened and attacked the Choctaws and other immigrant Indian Nations for years. Intruding on others' rightful homelands, the farming-based Choctaws, through occupation and economics, disrupted the traditional hunting economy practiced by the Southern Plains Indians, and contributed to the demise of the Plains ways of life.
Pushmataha by ISBN: 9780817351151Publication Date: 2004-05-07Valuable, original, and difficult-to-find resources on Choctaw history and culture. This important book comprises two articles that appeared in the 1904 and 1906 volumes of Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society. In "Life of Apushimataha," Gideon Lincecum tells the story of Choctaw chief Pushmataha, who was born in Mississippi in 1764. A fearless warrior, his name literally means "one whose tomahawk is fatal in war or hunting." As a charismatic leader, his foresight in making an alliance with General Andrew Jackson brought the Choctaws into war with the Creek Nation and into the War of 1812 but served to their benefit for many years with the United States government. In 1824, Pushmataha traveled to Washington, D.C., to negotiate the Treaty of Doak's Stand as pressure grew for Choctaw removal to Oklahoma Territory, but he fell ill and died there. He was buried with full military honors in the Congressional Cemetery at Arlington. In "Choctaw Traditions about Their Settlement in Mississippi and the Origin of Their Mounds," Lincecum translates a portion of the Skukhaanumpula--the traditional history of the tribe, which was related to him verbally by Chata Immataha, "the oldest man in the world, a man that knew everything." It explains how and why the sacred Nanih Waya mound was erected and how the Choctaws formed new towns, and it describes the structure of leadership roles in their society.
Choctaw Tales by ISBN: 1283363623Publication Date: 2014-05-09Including stories from the 1700s to today, "Choctaw Tales" showcases the mythic, the legendary and supernatural, the prophecies and histories, the animal fables and jokes that make up the rich and lively Choctaw storytelling tradition. The stories display intelligence, artistry, and creativity as Choctaw narrators, past and present, express and struggle with beliefs, values, humor, and life experiences. Photographs of the storytellers complement the text. For sixteen tales, the Choctaw-language version appears in addition to the English translation. Many of these stories, passed down through generations, address the Choctaw sense of isolation and tension as storytellers confront eternal, historical, and personal questions about the world and its inhabitants. "Choctaw Tales," the first book to collect these stories, creates a comprehensive gathering of oral traditions from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Each story brings to life the complex and colorful world of the Choctaw tribe and its legend and lore. The shukha anumpa include tall tales, jokes, and stories of rabbit and turtle and bear. The stories of the elders are populated by spirits that bring warnings and messages to the people. As a whole, these tales provide a spectrum of legend and a glimpse of a vibrant, thriving legacy. Tom Mould is a professor of folklore at Elon University and is the author of "Choctaw Prophecy: A Legacy of the Future."
