Choctaw

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

The Choctaw (also Chahtas, Tchaktas, and Chocktaw) are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States (Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana) of the Muskogean linguistic group. They were a part of the Mississippian culture which was located throughout the Mississippi River valley. The early Spanish explorers are believed to have encountered their antecedents. In the 19th century, Choctaws were known as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" because they had integrated numerous cultural and technological practices of their European American colonial neighbors. Although smaller Choctaw groups are located in the southern region, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are the two primary Choctaw associations.

Andrew Jackson made the Choctaw exiles a model of Indian removal as the first to march the Trail of Tears. In 1831 when the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was ratified, 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. They are also remembered for their generosity in providing humanitarian relief during the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), twenty years prior to the founding of the Red Cross. During the American Civil War the Choctaw in both Oklahoma and Mississippi mostly sided with the Confederacy. In World War I, they served in the U.S. Army as codetalkers using the Choctaw language. The Choctaw are known for their economic success and for setting an unparalleled precedent in Indian Country.

History

New World antiquity

Nearly 12,000 years ago, Native Americans or Paleo-indians appeared in the what today is referred to as the South. Paleoindians in the Southeast were fairly generalized hunter-gatherers who pursued a wide range of animals including the megafauna that soon became extinct following the end of the Pleistocene age. Noted historian Horatio Cushman indicates that the Choctaw witnessed the extinction of mammoths in the Tombigbee River area, which suggests that they have been in the Mississippi area for at least 4,000-8,000 years. Cushman writes, "the ancient Choctaw through their tradition (said) 'they saw the mighty beasts of the forests, whose tread shook the earth." Cushman continues with "these mighty animals broke off the low limbs of the trees in eating the leaves, and also gnawed the bark off the trees, which, in the course of time, caused them to wither and die; that they roamed in different bands, which engaged in desperate battles whenever and wherever they met, and thus caused them to rapidly decrease in numbers." It is commonly assumed that Paleoindians were specialized, highly mobile foragers that hunted late Pleistocene fauna such as bison, mastodons, caribou, and mammoths, although direct evidence is meager in the Southeast.

Mythical origins

French explorer Antoine du Pratz, in his Histoire de La Louisiane (Paris, 1758) recounted that [archaic spelling] "...when I asked them from whence the Chat-kas came, to express the suddenness of their appearance they replied that they had come out from under the earth." Despite an authorial assumption that this story was intended to "express the suddenness of their appearance" and not a literal creation story, this is perhaps the first European writing to contain the seed of the story.

These people are the only nation from whom I 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 Chickasaws; they tell us also that their neighbours were surprised at seeing a people rise at once out of the earth.|20px|20px|Bernard Romans- Natural History of East and West Florida

As told by both early 19th century as well as contemporary Mississippi Choctaw storytellers, it was either Nanih Waiya or a cave nearby from which the Choctaw people emerged. The companion story describes their journey from the west.

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.|20px|20px|George Catlin- Smithsonian Report

Patricia Galloway argues from fragmentary archaeological and cartographic evidence that the Choctaw did not exist as a unified people before the 17th century, and only at that time did various southeastern peoples, who are remnants of Moundville; Plaquemine; and other Mississippian cultures, coalesce to form a self-consciously Choctaw people. Regardless of the time frame, however, the homeland of the Choctaw or of the peoples from whom the Choctaw nation arose includes Nanih Waiya. The mound and the surrounding area are sacred ground to Choctaws and are a central point of connection between the Choctaws and their homeland.

Post Columbian era

The antecedents of the Choctaw were part of the Mississippian culture in the Mississippi river valley. At the time that the Spanish made their first forays inland from the gulf shores, the political centers of the Mississippians were already in decline or gone. The region is best described as a collection of moderately-sized native chiefdoms (such as the Coosa chiefdom on the Coosa River) interspersed with completely autonomous villages and tribal groups. 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.

Pánfilo De Narváez (1528)

In 1528, Pánfilo De Narváez travelled through what was likely the Mobile Bay area, encountering southeastern American Indians like the Apalachee. A devastating storm, possibly a hurricane, destroyed their vessels leaving them to journey on foot on along the coastline. Only four men survived the expedition: Álvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca, Alonso Del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes De Carranza and Estevanico. Cabeza De Vaca, whose La Relación chronicles the nine year journey from Florida to California, was a fortune-seeking Spanish nobleman and served as the expedition's treasurer. Upon returning to Spain, the Narváez expedition created a sensation after Cabeza De Vaca published La Relación which paved the way for the journeys of Marcos De Niza, Hernando De Soto, and Francisco Vázquez De Coronado. When Niza returned to New Spain, they told the stories of cities with great riches, like Cíbola.

Hernando De Soto (1540)

After Cabeza De Vaca returned to Spain, he described to the Court of Hernando that the New World was the "richest country in the world." De Soto, convinced of the "riches", wanted Cabeza De Vaca to go on the expedition, but Cabeza De Vaca later declined his offer because of a payment dispute of a ship. 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. Reading between the lines of his accounts of Native interactions provides a region full of tribes of various sizes and with various degrees of control over neighboring areas.

De Soto had the best-equipped army at the time. His successes were well-known throughout Spain, and many people from all backgrounds joined his quest for untold riches to be plundered in the New World. However, the brutalities of the De Soto expedition were known by the antecedents of the Choctaw, so they decided to aggressively defend their country.

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 Tuscaloosa (Black Warrior), demanding of him carriers and women. The carriers he got at once. The women, Tuscaloosa said, would be waiting in Mabila (Mobile). The chief neglected to mention that he had also summoned his warriors to be waiting in Mabila. On October 18, 1540, De Soto entered the town and received a gracious welcome. The Choctaws feasted with him, danced for him, then attacked him.|20px|20px|Bob Ferguson- Choctaw Chronology

The Battle of Maubila was a turning point for the De Soto venture; the battle "broke the back" of the campaign, and they never fully recovered.

Le Moyne d'Iberville (1699)

The first direct contact recorded between the Choctaw and a European 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. Illegal fur trading may have led to further unofficial contact. The archaeological record for this period between 1567 and 1699 is not complete or well-studied, but there are similarities in pottery coloring and burials that suggest the following scenario for the emergence of the distinctive Choctaw culture: 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 Plaquemine and a group of “prairie people” living near the area. When this occurred is not clear, but in the space of several generations, a new culture had been born (albeit with a strong Mississippian background).

Impact of Old World diseases

The impact of European diseases is unclear. Reports of De Soto’s journeys do not describe illness among his men, although pigs traveling with them often escaped and may have been carriers of dangerous microbes. The two subsequent brief forays into the Southeast by Tristán De Luna y Arellano in 1559 and Juan Pardo in 1565-1567 do not provide any evidence for widespread epidemics. After Pardo, the historical picture ends. There would be no official European contact in the area at all for more than a century, and during that time the group identities of the region completely transformed.

United States relations

George Washington and Henry Knox proposed the cultural transformation of Native Americans. Washington believed that Indians were equals but that their society was inferior. He formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process, and Thomas Jefferson continued it. They 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. 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. The government appointed agents, like Benjamin Hawkins, to live among the Indians and to teach them, through example and instruction, how to live like whites. The Choctaws bided with Washington's policy as they established schools, adopted yeoman farming practices, converted to Christianity, and built homes like their colonial neighbors.

During the American Revolution, Choctaws, divided over whether to support Britain or Spain, decided to support the newly formed United States of America; however, head chief of the Choctaw Franchimastabe led a war party with British forces against American rebels in Natchez. Choctaw companies joined Washington's army during the war and served the entire duration. Ferguson states, "[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." After the Revolutionary War, the Choctaws were reluctant to ally themselves with countries hostile to the U.S. John R. Swanton wrote, "the Choctaw were never at war with the Americans. A few were induced by Tecumseh 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."

Ferguson also writes that "1783 [was the] End of American Revolution. Franchimastabe, Choctaw head chief, went to Savannah, Georgia to secure American trade." Some Choctaw scouts served with U.S. General Anthony Wayne in the Northwest Indian War.

Although there were many treaties with other European nations, only nine treaties were signed between the Choctaws and the United States between 1786 and 1830. Ferguson writes, "nine treaties were signed during a forty-four-year period, from 1786 to 1830. I shall stress the amounts of Choctaw land involved in these treaties, even though they included agreements relating to other matters, because land was the Indians' most valuable resource." The nine treaties are Treaty of Hopewell (1786), Treaty of Fort Adams (1801), Treaty of Fort Confederation (1802), Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopa (1803), Treaty of Mount Dexter (1805), Treaty of Fort St. Stephens (1816), Treaty of Doak's Stand (1820), Treaty of Washington City (1825), and Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830).

Hopewell (1786)

Starting in October 1785, Taboca led over 125 Choctaws to the Keowee, near Seneca Old Town, now known as Hopewell, South Carolina. 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. One such dance was the eagle tail dance. They explained that the Bald Eagle, who has direct contact with the upper world of the sun, is a symbol of peace. Choctaw women painted in white would adopt and name commissioners as kin. Smoking sealed agreements between peoples and sanctified peace between the two nations. After the rituals, the Choctaws asked for John Woods to live with them to improve communication with the U.S. and in exchange allow Taboca to visit the United States Congress. On January 3, 1786, the Treaty of Hopewell was signed. Article 11 stated, "the 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 friend ship re-established."

The treaty required the return of escaped slaves, turning over of any Choctaws who had been convicted of crimes by the U.S., establishment of borderlines between the U.S. and Choctaw Nation, and the return of any property which had been captured during the Revolutionary War.

War of 1812

Early in 1811, Tecumseh came to garner support for his British-backed attempt to recover lands from the United States settlers. 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 white Americans, had learned valuable skills and technologies, and had received honest treatment and fair trade. 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 and warned him that he would fight against those who fought the United States.

With the outbreak of war, Pushmataha led the Choctaws in alliance with the U.S., arguing in favor of opposing the Creek alliance with Britain after the massacre at Fort Mims. He 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, and a courier with a message accepting the offer of alliance caught up with Pushmataha at St. Stephens.

Returning to Choctaw territory, Pushmataha raised a company of 500 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. After observing that the officers and their wives would promenade along the Alabama River, Pushmataha summoned his own wife to St. Stephens and also took part in this custom, helping to elevate women's status in his tribe.

Pushmataha joined the U.S. Army under General Claiborne in mid-November, and 150 Choctaw warriors took part in an attack on Creek forces at Kantachi, or Econochaca, Alabama, on 23 December 1813. 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 of these departed 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. Some sources say Pushmataha was among them, while others disagree.

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 surrender a portion of Choctaw country in Mississippi. They met with tribal representatives including at Doak's Stand on the Natchez Trace. They met with chiefs, mingos, and headsmen like Colonel Silas Dinsmore and Chief Pushmataha. 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 finally resorted to threats to pressure the Choctaw to sign a treaty. He shouted "Many of your nation are already beyond the Mississippi, and others are every year removing .... If you refuse ... the nation will be destroyed." On October 18, the Treaty of Doak's Stand was signed.

Delegation to Washington City (1824)

Apuckshunubbee, Pushmataha, and Mosholatubbee, the principle leaders of the Choctaws, went to Washington City (the 19th century name for Washington, D.C.) to discuss encroaching settlement and to seek the expulsion of settlers or financial compensation. The group also included Talking Warrior, Red Fort, Nittahkachee, Col. Robert Cole and David Folsom, both half breed Indians, Captain Daniel McCurtain, and Major John Pitchlynn, the U.S. Interpreter.

The proposed route to Washington was to travel the Natchez trace to Nashville, Tennessee, then to Lexington, Kentucky, onward to Maysville, Kentucky, across the Ohio River northward to Chillicothe, Ohio, (former principal town of the Shawnee), then finally east over the “National Highway” to Washington City.

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.

While in Washington, Pushmataha sat for a portrait by Charles Bird King in his Army uniform; it hung in the Smithsonian Institution until 1865.

Pushmataha also met with the Marquis de Lafayette, who was visiting Washington, D.C. He said, "Nearly fifty snows have melted since you drew your sword with Washington and fought the enemies of the United States ... Our hearts have longed to see you.

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. Other historians say he fell from a cliff.

According to the report in the Maysville Eagle, Apuckshunnubbe, the great Medal Chief, after supping at Captain Langhorne’s on Wednesday last, in the evening attempted to go to the river, missed his way, and was precipitated over the abutment of the road and received so severe contusions to his head and other injuries, as to render his recovery hopeless. He lingered until Friday night, in a perfectly senseless condition, when his soul winged to the presence of the Great Spirit.|20px|20px|Earl White- Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Pushmataha died of croup, even though the disease usually only afflicts infants and young children. Apuckshunubee's successor was Robert Cole and later Greenwood LeFlore. Pushmataha's successor was Nittakechi. 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.

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 informed Secretary of War John H. Eaton that the warriors were fiercely opposed to attending. President Jackson was angered. He appointed Eaton and General John Coffee as commissioners to represent him to meet the Choctaws where the rabbits gather to dance.

The commissioners met with the chiefs and headmen on September 15, 1830, at Dancing Rabbit Creek. In carnival-like atmosphere, the policy of removal was explained to a massive audience of 6,000 men, women and children. The Choctaws would now face migration or submit to U.S. law as citizens. The treaty would sign away the remaining traditional homeland to the United States. A provision in the treaty made removal more palatable. Choctaws who eventually choose to remain in their ancient home country signed up for a collective 500 square miles.

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, to be bounded by sectional lines of survey; in like manner shall be entitled to one half that quantity for each unmarried child which is living with him over ten years of age; and a quarter section to such child as may be under 10 years of age, to adjoin the location of the parent. If they reside upon said lands intending to become citizens of the States for five years after the ratification of this Treaty, in that case a grant in fee simple shall issue; said reservation shall include the present improvement of the head of the family, or a portion of it. Persons who claim under this article shall not lose the privilege of a Choctaw citizen, but if they ever remove are not to be entitled to any portion of the Choctaw annuity.|20px|20px|- Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek

On September 27, 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed. It was one of the largest ever signed between the U.S. Government and American Indians without being instigated by warfare. The treaty was the first to be ratified by the United States Senate on February 25, 1831, to implement removal policy. More importantly, the treaty signed away the remaining traditional homelands and open it up for official settlement. Article 14 allowed for Choctaws to remain in the state of Mississippi and to become the first major non-European ethnic group to become U.S. citizens.

The Choctaw at this crucial time became two distinct groups—the Nation in Oklahoma and the Tribe in Mississippi. The nation retained its autonomy to regulate itself, but the tribe left in Mississippi had to submit to state and U.S. laws.

Removal era

After ceding nearly 11 million acres, the Choctaw emigrated in three stages: the first in the fall of 1831, the second in 1832 and the last in 1833. 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. 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. But having determined to emigrate west of the Mississippi river this fall, I have thought proper in bidding you farewell to make a few remarks expressive of my views, and the feelings that actuate me on the subject of our removal ... We as Choctaws rather chose to suffer and be free, than live under the degrading influence of laws, which our voice could not be heard in their formation ... Much as the state of Mississippi has wronged us, I cannot find in my heart any other sentiment than an ardent wish for her prosperity and happiness.|20px|20px|-George W. Harkins, George W. Harkins to the American People

Approximately 5,000 Choctaws remained in Mississippi in 1831 after the initial removal efforts. For the next ten years they were objects of increasing legal conflict, 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." Racism was rampant. 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." The removals continued well into the early 20th century. In 1903, three hundred Mississippi Choctaws were persuaded to move to the Nation in Oklahoma.

Great Irish Famine aid (1847)

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.

American Civil War (1861-1865)

Peter Pitchlynn, who was in Washington City in 1861 when the war started, immediately returned home, hoping to escape the expected strife. He had been there to address national affairs of the Choctaws. Soon Confederate battalions where formed in Oklahoma and later in Mississippi in support of the southern cause. The Choctaws who were expecting support from the Confederates got little. Garrison describes their response, when Confederate Brig. Gen. Albert Pike authorized the raising of regiments during the fall of 1860, Creeks, Choctaws, and Cherokees responded with considerable enthusiasm. Their zeal for the Confederate cause, however, began to evaporate when they found that neither arms nor pay had been arranged for them. A disgusted officer later acknowledged that "with the exception of a partial supply for the Choctaw regiment, no tents, clothing, or camp and garrison equippage was furnished to any of them."

In Oklahoma, Jackson McCurtain, who would later become a district chief, was elected as representative from Sugar Loaf County to the National Council in October 1859. On June 22, 1861, he enlisted in the First Regiment of Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles. He was commissioned Captain of Company G under the command of Colonel Douglas H. Cooper of the Confederate Army. In 1862 he became a Lieutenant Colonel of the First Choctaw Battalion.

The Confederacy wanted to recruit Indians in 1862, so they opened up a recruiting camp in Mobile, Alabama "at the foot of Stone Street." The Mobile Advertiser and Register would advertise for a chance at military service.

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.|20px|20px|- Jacqueline Anderson Matte, They Say the Wind is Red

General Arnold Spann organized the first battalion of Choctaws in Mississippi in February 1863. Their most significant event was not conducted on a battlefield but as a rescue mission. After a disastrous train wreck, referred to as the Chunky Creek Train Wreck of 1863, near Hickory, Mississippi, the Choctaw Battalion, which had been organized days earlier, led rescue and recovery efforts. Spann described the scene, "the engineer was under military orders, and his long train of cars was filled with Confederate soldiers, who, like the engineer, were animated with but one impulse-to Vicksburg! to victory or death! Onward rushed the engineer. All passed over except the hindmost car. The bridge had swerved out of plumb, and into the raging waters with nearly one hundred soldiers the rear car was precipitated. 'Help!' was the cry, but there was no help." Boggan writes of the rescue, "help came quicker than expected. The First Battalion of Choctaw Indians, under the command of Major S. G. Spann, was based at a Confederate military training camp near the crash scene. Led by Jack Amos and Elder Williams, the Indians rushed to the scene, stripped, and plunged into the flooded creek. Many of the passengers were rescued due to their heroic acts." Kidwell writes, "in an act of heroism in Mississippi, Choctaws rescued twenty three survivors and retrieved ninety bodies when a Confederate troop train plunged off a bridge and fell into the Chunky River."

Maj. 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.

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."|20px|20px|Maj. S. G. Spann- Confederate Veteran Magazine Volume XIII

Mississippi Choctaws were captured in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, and several died in a Union prison in New York. Spann describes the incident, "[Maj. J.W. Pearce] established two camps—a recruiting camp in Newton County and a drill camp at Tangipahoa—just beyond the State boundary line in Louisiana in the fall of 1862. New Orleans at that time was in the hands of the Federal Gen. B.F. Butler. Without notice a reconnoitering party of the enemy raided the camp, and captured over two dozen Indians and several noncommissioned white officers and carried them to New Orleans. All the officers and several of the Indians escaped and returned to the Newton County camp; but all the balance of the captured Indians were carried to New York, and were daily paraded in the public parks as curiosities for the sport of sight-seers."

Choctaw freedmen (1866)

Prior to removal, the Choctaws had been exposed to Africans in their native homeland of Mississippi. Estevanico, part of the Pánfilo de Narváez expedition, became the first documented person born in Africa known to have set foot in what is now the southern United States. Slavery was a part of European culture which the Choctaws adapted. Moshulatubbee had slaves, as did many of the Europeans who married into the Choctaw nation. Slavery remained in the Choctaw Nation until 1866. Former slaves of the Choctaw Nation were called the Choctaw Freedmen.

Territory transition to statehood (1889)

The Indian Appropriations Bill of 1889 was passed and signed into law with an amendment by Illinois Representative William McKendree Springer, that authorized President Benjamin Harrison to open the two million acres (8,000 km²) for settlement. By the early twentieth century, the Choctaw Nation had lost much of their sovereignty and tribal rights in preparation for the Indian Territory becoming the state of Oklahoma in 1907.

Code talkers (1917)

In the closing days of World War I, A group of Choctaws serving in the U.S. Army used their native language as a secret code. The Choctaws were the forerunners to Native Americans from various nations, most notably the Navajo, who served as telephone and radio operators, or code talkers, during World War II. Captain Lawrence, who was 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.

Eventually fourteen Choctaw Indian men in the Army's 36th Division, trained to use their language, helped the American Expeditionary Force win several key battles in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign in France, the final big German push of the war. Within 24 hours after the Choctaw language was pressed into service, the tide of the battle had turned, and in less than 72 hours the Germans were retreating and the Allies were on full attack. The Code Talker Recognition Act (HR 4597 and S 1035) will recognize these veterans, and those of all tribes, who were often until recently ignored for their service performed for the United States. 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.

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 were treated as if they were not citizens, and they did not have other amenities citizens had. 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."

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.

Post war era

In 1945, land in Neshoba County, Mississippi and surrounding counties was set aside as a federal Indian reservation. There are eight communities of reservation land: Bogue Chitto, Bogue Homa, Conehatta, Crystal Ridge, Pearl River, Red Water, Tucker, and Standing Pine. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 allowed the Choctaws to become official on April 20, 1945.

In the 1950s, Phillip Martin, who had served in the U. S. Army in Europe during World War II, intended only to visit Neshoba county; but after seeing the dire straits of his people, he was compelled by conscience to stay. Will Campbell witnessed the plight 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.

Indian termination policy was a policy that the United States Congress legislated in 1953 to assimilate the Native American communities with mainstream America. In 1959, the Choctaw Termination Act was passed. Unless repealed by the federal government, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma would effectively be terminated as a sovereign nation as of August 25, 1970.

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. Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, most jobs were given to whites, then blacks. The Choctaws, who for 150 years had been neither white nor black, were left where they had always been. Donna Ladd wrote 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." The end of racial segregation permitted the Choctaws to participate in institutions that were reserved exclusively for white patrons.

On June 21, 1964 three 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 worker's station wagon was found on one of the Mississippi reservations. 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.

Recent history

The 1970s was a crucial and defining decade for the Choctaw. To a large degree, the Choctaw repudiated the Indian activism and sought a local, grassroots solution to reclaim their cultural identity and sovereignty as a nation. 1975 also marked the year that the United States Congress passed the landmark Indian Self-determination and Education Act. This law revolutionized the relationship between Indian Nations and the federal government.

In 1987 the Supreme Court of the United States recognized that federally recognized tribes could operate gaming facilities free from state regulation. U.S. Congress soon enacted the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which sets the terms for how Native American tribes are permitted to operate casinos. In 1992 Governor Kirk Fordice finally gave permission, after a long wait under the Ray Mabus administration, for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw to develop a Class III gaming casino and resort.

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) has one of the largest casinos 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. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma also operates the Choctaw Casino Resort and Choctaw Casino Bingo, popular gaming destinations in Durant (near the Oklahoma-Texas border) for residents of Southern Oklahoma and North Texas, most notably the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon inflated and divided profits from $15 million in payment from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Congressional hearings were held and charges were brought against Abramoff and Scanlon for their behavior toward the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. In an e-mail sent January 29, 2002, Abramoff tells Scanlon "I have to meet with the monkeys from the Choctaw tribal council."

After nearly two hundred years, Nanih Waiya was returned. Nanih Waiya was a state park of Mississippi until the Mississippi Legislature State Bill 2803 officially returned control to Choctaws in 2006.

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), Mississippi-(Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians), and Oklahoma-(Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma). Other population centers include California and Chicago.

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.

Influential leaders

Tuscaloosa ("Dark Warrior") retaliated against Hernando de Soto at the Battle of Mabilia.
Franchimastabe 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 was a traditional "prophet-chief" who led a delegation starting in October 1785 to Hopewell, South Carolina.
Apuckshunubbee was chief of his district in Mississippi; he was one of the three great Choctaw Leaders for which the districts in Indian Territory were named. He died in Kentucky on his way to Washington D.C. to negotiate for the tribe in 1824. One of the three arrows on the Choctaw Nation seal represents his deeds.
Pushmataha (Apushmataha) was a Choctaw Chief in Mississippi from 1764 to 1824. 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. in 1824 and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C. He is represented by one of the 3 arrows on the Choctaw Nation seal. A district in Indian Territory was named for him.
Mosholatubbee ("He Who Puts Out and Kills") was also a chief in Mississippi before the removal era. He went to Washington D.C. to negotiate for the tribe in 1824 and was the only leader to return. He is represented by one of the arrows on the Choctaw Nation seal. A district in Indian Territory was named for him.
Greenwood LeFlore was a District Chief of the Choctaws in Mississippi. LeFlore County in Oklahoma is named for him.
Thomas LeFlore (1792-1859) was an Apuckshunubbee District Chief in Indian Territory (1834-1838,1842-1850); House at Swink, Oklahoma, for 16 years. He is buried at Wheelock where he built his second home. The house at Swink is the oldest house still on its original site in the state.
George W. Harkins 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 (Hat-choo-tuck-nee or "The Snapping Turtle") This Principal Chief was a highly influential leader during the removal era and long after. He represented the tribe in Washington D.C. for some years and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery. His Mother Sophia Folsom Pitchlynn has the oldest known date on a tombstone in the state. His cousin Frances Folsom (1864-1947) married President Grover Cleveland in the White House.
Phillip Martin, Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians from 1979-2007. He encouraged outside investment and reduced unemployment to nearly 0% on the reservation.
Gregory E. Pyle, Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma from 1997-present day. Chief Pyle was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2007.

Notes

References

Bartram, William. Travels Through...Country of the Chactaws..., Philadelphia: printed by James & Johnson, 1791.
Bushnell, David I. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 48: The Choctaw of Bayou Lacomb, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1909.
Byington, Cyrus. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 46: A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1915.
Carson, James Taylor. Searching for the Bright Path: The Mississippi Choctaws from Prehistory to Removal. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999.
Clarke, Hewitt. Thunder At Meridian, Lone Star Press, Spring, Texas, 1995.
Galloway, Patricia (1998). Choctaw Genesis 1500-1700 Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-7070-4.
Haag, Marcia and Henry Willis. Choctaw Language & Culture: Chahta Anumpa. Norman, Okla: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.
Jimmie, Randy and Jimmie, Leonard. NANIH WAIYA Magazine, 1974, Vol I, Number 3.
Lincecum, Gideon. Pushmataha: A Choctaw Leader and His People. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2004.
Mould, Tom. Choctaw Tales. Jackson, Miss: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
O'Brien, Greg. Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002.
O'Brien, Greg. "Mushulatubbee and Choctaw Removal: Chiefs Confront a Changing World." http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=12 2001.
O'Brien, Greg. "Pushmataha: Choctaw Warrior, Diplomat, and Chief." http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/index.php?id=14 2001.
Pesantubbee, Michelene E. Choctaw Women in a Chaotic World: The Clash of Cultures in the Colonial Southeast. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico, 2005.
Tingle, Tim. Walking the Choctaw Road. El Paso, Tex: Cinco Puntos Press, 2003.
Mississippi Choctaw Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Mississippi United States Census Bureau

Video links

External links

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 08:43:15 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation