Choctaw

Last updated
Choctaw
Chahta
Louisiana Indians Walking Along a Bayou - Alfred Boisseau (New Orleans Mus of Art 56.34).jpg
Louisiana Indians Walking Along a Bayou Alfred Boisseau – 1847
Total population
Approximately 214,884 total

212,000 (Nation of Oklahoma 2023) [1]

284 (Jena Band 2011) [2]

11,000 (Mississippi Band 2020) [3]
Regions with significant populations
United States
(Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana)
Languages
American English, Choctaw
Religion
Protestant, Roman Catholic, traditional beliefs
Related ethnic groups
Chickasaw, Muscogee, Natichez, Alabama, Koasati, and Seminole
PeopleChahta
Language Chahta anumpa,
Hand Talk
CountryChahta Yakni

The Choctaw (Choctaw : Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are enrolled in three federally recognized tribes: the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana. [4]

Contents

The Choctaw were first noted by Europeans in French written records of 1675. [5] Their mother mound is Nanih Waiya, a great earthwork platform mound located in central-east Mississippi. Early Spanish explorers of the mid-16th century in the Southeast encountered ancestral Mississippian culture villages and chiefs. [6]

The Choctaw coalesced as a people in the 17th century and developed at least three distinct political and geographical divisions: eastern, western, and southern. These different groups sometimes created distinct, independent alliances with nearby European powers. These included the French, based on the Gulf Coast and in Louisiana; the English of the Southeast, and the Spanish of Florida and Louisiana during the colonial era.

Most Choctaw allied with the Americans during American Revolution, War of 1812, and the Red Stick War, most notably at the Battle of New Orleans. European Americans considered the Choctaw to be one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" of the Southeast. The Choctaw and the United States agreed to a total of nine treaties. By the last three, the US gained vast land cessions in the Southeast. As part of Indian Removal, despite not having waged war against the United States, the majority of Choctaw were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1833. [7] [8] The Choctaw government in Indian Territory had three districts, each with its own chief, who together with the town chiefs sat on their National Council.

Those Choctaw who chose to stay in the state of Mississippi were considered state and U.S. citizens; they were one of the first major non-European ethnic groups to be granted citizenship. [9] [10] [11] Article 14 in the 1830 treaty with the Choctaw stated Choctaws may wish to become citizens of the United States under the 14th Article of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek on all of the combined lands which were consolidated under Article I from all previous treaties between the United States and the Choctaw. [12]

During the American Civil War, the Choctaw in both Indian Territory and Mississippi mostly sided with the Confederate States of America. Under the late 19th-century Dawes Act and Curtis Acts, the US federal government broke up tribal land holdings and dissolved tribal governments in Indian Territory in order to extinguish Indian land claims before admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907. From that period, for several decades the US Bureau of Indian Affairs appointed chiefs of the Choctaw and other tribes in the former Indian Territory.

During World War I, Choctaw soldiers served in the US military as some of the first Native American codetalkers, using the Choctaw language. Since the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Choctaw people in three areas have reconstituted their governments and gained federal recognition. The largest are the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma.

Since the 20th century, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians were federally recognized in 1945, [13] the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in 1971, [14] and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in 1995. [15]

Etymology

The Choctaw autonym is Chahta. Choctaw is an anglization of Chahta, whose meaning is unknown. The anthropologist John R. Swanton suggested that the Choctaw derived their name from an early leader. [16] Henry Halbert, a historian, suggests that their name is derived from the Choctaw phrase Hacha hatak (river people). [17]

History

Culture

Tullockchishko (Drinks the Juice of the Stones) was the greatest of Choctaw stickball players, 1834. Tullockchishko.jpg
Tullockchishko (Drinks the Juice of the Stones) was the greatest of Choctaw stickball players, 1834.

The Choctaw people are believed to have coalesced in the 17th century, perhaps from peoples from Alabama and the Plaquemine culture. Their culture continued to evolve in the Southeast. The Choctaw practiced head flattening as a ritual adornment for its people, but the practice eventually fell out of favor. Some of their communities had extensive trade and interaction with Europeans, including people from Spain, France, and England greatly shaped it as well. After the United States was formed and its settlers began to move into the Southeast, the Choctaw were among the Five Civilized Tribes, who adopted some of their ways. They transitioned to yeoman farming methods, and accepted European Americans and African Americans into their society. In mid-summer the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians celebrate their traditional culture during the Choctaw Indian Fair with ball games, dancing, cooking and entertainment. [18]

Clans

Within the Choctaws were two distinct moieties: Imoklashas (elders) and Inhulalatas (youth). Each moiety had several clans or Iksas; it is estimated there were about 12 Iksas altogether. The people had a matrilineal kinship system, with children born into the clan or iksa of the mother and taking their social status from it. In this system, their maternal uncles had important roles. Identity was established first by moiety and iksa; so a Choctaw first identified as Imoklasha or Inhulata, and second as Choctaw. Children belonged to the Iksa of their mother. The following were some major districts: [19]

By the early 1930s, the anthropologist John Swanton wrote of the Choctaw: "[T]here are only the faintest traces of groups with truly totemic designations, the animal and plant names which occur seeming not to have had a totemic connotation." [20] Swanton wrote, "Adam Hodgson ... told ... that there were tribes or families among the Indians, somewhat similar to the Scottish clans; such as, the Panther family, the Bird family, Raccoon Family, the Wolf family." [20] The following are possible totemic clan designations: [20]

Games

A Mississippian era engraved shell discovered at Eddyville, Kentucky Chunkeyplayer painting HRoe 2006.jpg
A Mississippian era engraved shell discovered at Eddyville, Kentucky

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. [21] 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 using a disk-shaped stone that was about 1–2 inches in length. [22] :155 Players would throw the disk 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. [22] :155

Other games included using corn, cane, and moccasins. [23] The corn game used five to seven kernels of corn. One side was blackened and the other side white. Players won points based on each color. One point was awarded for the black side and 5–7 points for the white side. There were usually only two players. [23]

Language

Modern geographic distribution of the Choctaw language. Choctaw USC2000 PHS.svg
Modern geographic distribution of the Choctaw language.

The Choctaw language is a member of the Muskogean family and was well known among the frontiersmen, such as Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison, of the early 19th century. The language is closely related to Chickasaw, and some linguists consider the two as dialects of a single language. The Choctaw language is the essence of tribal culture, tradition, and identity. [24] 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:

Chahta Anumpa: Hattak yuka keyu hokυtto yakohmit itibachυfat hieli kυt, nan isht imaiυlhpiesa atokmυt itilawashke; yohmi ha hattak nana hohkia, keyukmυt kanohmi hohkia okla moma nana isht aim aiυlhpiesa, micha isht aimaiυlhtoba he aima ka kanohmi bano hosh isht ik imaiυlhpieso kashke. Amba moma kυt nana isht imachukma chi ho tuksυli hokmakashke. [25]

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. [25]

Religion

The Choctaw believed in a good spirit and an evil spirit. They may have been sun, or Hvshtahli, worshippers. The historian John 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 ... [22]

The word nanpisa (the one who sees) expressed the reverence the Choctaw had for the sun. [26]

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 until the sun returned, usually on the pretext that they needed more time to discuss particulars. They believed 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 [27]

Choctaw prophets were known to have addressed the sun. John Swanton wrote, "an old Choctaw informed Wright that before the arrival of the missionaries, they had no conception of prayer. He added, "I have indeed heard it asserted by some, that anciently their hopaii, or prophets, on some occasions were accustomed to address the sun ..." [22]

Traditional clothing

Mississippi Choctaw group wearing traditional garb, c. 1908. Choctaw group.png
Mississippi Choctaw group wearing traditional garb, c. 1908.

The colorful dresses worn by today's Choctaw are made by hand. They are based on designs of their ancestors, who adapted 19th-century European-American styles to their needs. Today many Choctaw wear such traditional clothing mainly for special events. Choctaw elders, especially the 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. [28]

Communal economy

Early Choctaw communities worked communally and shared their harvest. [29] [30] They had trouble understanding why English settlers allowed their poor to suffer from hunger. [31] In Ireland, the generosity of the Choctaw nation during their Great Famine in the mid-nineteenth century is remembered to this day and recently marked by a sculpture, 'Kindred Spirits', in a park at Midleton, Cork. [32] [33]

Treaties

Land was the most valuable asset, which the Native Americans held in collective stewardship. The United States systematically obtained Choctaw land for conventional European-American settlement through treaties, legislation, and threats of warfare. Although the Choctaw made treaties with Great Britain, France, Spain, and the Confederate States of America; the nation signed only nine treaties with the United States. [34] Some treaties which the US made with other nations, such as the Treaty of San Lorenzo, indirectly affected the Choctaw.

Reservations

Reservations can be found in Louisiana (Jena Band of Choctaw Indians), Mississippi (Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians), and Oklahoma (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma). The Oklahoma reservation is defined by treaty. Other population centers can be found throughout the United States.

Influential leaders

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian removal</span> Early 19th-century United States domestic policy

Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi River – specifically, to a designated Indian Territory. The Indian Removal Act, the key law which authorized the removal of Native tribes, was signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. Although Jackson took a hard line on Indian removal, the law was enforced primarily during the Martin Van Buren administration. After the enactment of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, approximately 60,000 members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands, with thousands dying during the Trail of Tears.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscogee</span> Indigenous people from Southeastern Woodlands

The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy, are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands in the United States. Their historical homelands are in what now comprises southern Tennessee, much of Alabama, western Georgia and parts of northern Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trail of Tears</span> Forced relocation and ethnic cleansing of the southeastern Native American tribes

The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to newly designated Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River after the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The Cherokee removal in 1838 was brought on by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega, Georgia, in 1828, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chickasaw</span> Indigenous people of Southeastern Woodlands of the USA

The Chickasaw are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as a member of the Muskogean language family. In the present day, they are organized as the federally recognized Chickasaw Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Civilized Tribes</span> Native American grouping

The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by European Americans in the colonial and early federal period in the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminoles. Americans of European descent classified them as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of the Anglo-American culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek</span> 1831 land cession treaty between the U.S. Government and the Choctaw tribe

The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty which was carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act. The treaty ceded about 11 million acres (45,000 km2) of the Choctaw Nation in what is now Mississippi in exchange for about 15 million acres (61,000 km2) in the Indian territory, now the state of Oklahoma. The principal Choctaw negotiators were Chief Greenwood LeFlore, Mosholatubbee, and Nittucachee; the U.S. negotiators were Colonel John Coffee and Secretary of War John Eaton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natchez people</span> Native American people originally from the Lower Mississippi Valley

The Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi, in the United States. They spoke a language with no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek Confederacy. An early American geographer noted in his 1797 gazetteer that they were also known as the "Sun Set Indians".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma</span> Indian reservation

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a Native American territory covering about 6,952,960 acres, occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States and the second-largest Indian reservation in area after the Navajo. As of 2011, the tribe has 223,279 enrolled members, of whom 84,670 live within the state of Oklahoma and 41,616 live within the Choctaw Nation's jurisdiction. A total of 233,126 people live within these boundaries, with its tribal jurisdictional area comprising 10.5 counties in the state, with the seat of government being located in Durant, Oklahoma. It shares borders with the reservations of the Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Cherokee, as well as the U.S. states of Texas and Arkansas. By area, the Choctaw Nation is larger than eight U.S. states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stomp dance</span> Eastern Native American ceremonial dance

The stomp dance is performed by various Eastern Woodland tribes and Native American communities in the United States, including the Muscogee, Yuchi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Delaware, Miami, Caddo, Tuscarora, Ottawa, Quapaw, Peoria, Shawnee, Seminole, Natchez, and Seneca-Cayuga tribes. Stomp dance communities are active in Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pushmataha</span> Choctaw chief (d. 1824)

Pushmataha, the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians considered him the "greatest of all Choctaw chiefs". Pushmataha was highly regarded among Native Americans, Europeans, and white Americans, for his skill and cunning in both war and diplomacy.

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is one of three federally recognized tribes of Choctaw people, and the only one in the state of Mississippi. On April 20, 1945, this tribe organized under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Their reservation included lands in Neshoba, Leake, Newton, Scott, Jones, Attala, Kemper, and Winston counties. The Mississippi Choctaw regained stewardship of their mother mound, Nanih Waiya mounds and cave in 2008. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw have declared August 18 as a tribal holiday to celebrate their regaining control of the sacred site. The other two Choctaw groups are the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the third largest tribe in the United States, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, located in Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanih Waiya</span> United States historic place

Nanih Waiya is an ancient platform mound in southern Winston County, Mississippi, constructed by indigenous people during the Middle Woodland period, about 300 to 600 CE. Since the 17th century, the Choctaw and Chickasaw have venerated Nanih Waiya mound and a nearby cave as their sacred origin location.

The "Farewell Letter to the American People" was a widely published letter by Choctaw Chief George W. Harkins in February 1832. It denounced the removal of the Choctaw Nation to Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Pitchlynn</span> Chief of the Choctaw Republic

Peter Perkins Pitchlynn was a Choctaw chief of mixed Native and European heritage. He was principal chief of the Choctaw Republic from 1864-1866 and surrendered to the Union on behalf of the nation at the end of the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of the Choctaw</span> Culture of a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States

The culture of the Choctaw has greatly evolved over the centuries combining mostly European-American influences; however, interaction with Spain, France, and England greatly shaped it as well. The Choctaws, or Chahtas, are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States. They were known for their rapid incorporation of modernity, developing a written language, transitioning to yeoman farming methods, and having European-American and African-Americans lifestyles enforced in their society. The Choctaw culture has it roots in the Mississippian culture era of the mound builders.

Apuckshunubbee was one of three principal chiefs of the Choctaw Native American tribe in the early nineteenth century, from before 1800. He led the western or Okla Falaya District of the Choctaw, of which the eastern edge ran roughly southeast from modern Winston County to Lauderdale County, then roughly southwest to Scott County, then roughly south-southeast to the western edge of Perry County. His contemporaries were Pushmataha and Moshulatubbee, who respectively led the southern district Okla Hannali and the north-eastern district Okla Tannap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choctaw Trail of Tears</span> Attempted ethnic cleansing of the Choctaw Nation

The Choctaw Trail of Tears was the attempted ethnic cleansing and relocation by the United States government of the Choctaw Nation from their country, referred to now as the Deep South, to lands west of the Mississippi River in Indian Territory in the 1830s by the United States government. A Choctaw Miko (chief) was quoted by the Arkansas Gazette as saying that the removal was a "trail of tears and death." Since removal, the Choctaw have developed since the 20th century as three federally recognized tribes: the largest, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kialegee Tribal Town</span> Kialegee Tribal Town

The Kialegee Tribal Town is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma, as well as a traditional township within the former Muscogee Creek Confederacy in the American Southeast. Tribal members pride themselves on retaining their traditions and many still speak the Muscogee language. The name "Kialegee" comes from the Muscogee word, eka-lache, meaning "head left."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Pontotoc Creek</span> 1832 treaty between the United States and Chickasaw

The Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was a treaty signed on October 20, 1832 by representatives of the United States and the Chiefs of the Chickasaw Nation assembled at the National Council House on Pontotoc Creek in Pontotoc, Mississippi. The treaty ceded the 6,283,804 million acres of the remaining Chickasaw homeland in Mississippi in return for Chickasaw relocation on an equal amount of land west of the Mississippi River.

The History of the Choctaws, or Chahtas, are a Native American people originally from the Southeast of what is currently known as the United States. They are known for their rapid post-colonial adoption of a written language, transitioning to yeoman farming methods, and having European-American and African-Americans lifestyles enforced in their society.

References

  1. "Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma | Choctaw Nation". www.choctawnation.com.
  2. "Jena Band of the Choctaw Tribe". 64 Parishes.
  3. "Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians".
  4. "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Federal Register. US Department of the Interior. January 29, 2021. pp. 7554–58. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  5. Galloway and Kidwell, "Choctaw in the East, 511
  6. Walter, Williams (1979). "Southeastern Indians before Removal, Prehistory, Contact, Decline". Southeastern Indians: Since the Removal Era. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. pp. 7–10.
  7. Zinn, Howard (2003). "As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs". A People's History of the United States: 1492–Present. HarperCollins. p.  126. ISBN   0-06-052842-7.
  8. PBS (2007). "Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil & the Presidency". PBS. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  9. Kappler, Charles (1904). "INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES Vol. II, Treaties". Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  10. Baird, David (1973). "The Choctaws Meet the Americans, 1783 to 1843". The Choctaw People. United States: Indian Tribal Series. p. 36. LCCN   73-80708.
  11. Council of Indian Nations (2005). "History & Culture, Citizenship Act – 1924". Council of Indian Nations. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  12. Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek September 30th 1830 ratified on February 24th 1831 (7 Stat. 333)
  13. "Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians". Office of Environmental Management. Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  14. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Malmaison, Palace in a Wilderness, Home of General LeFlore". Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  15. "Jena Band of the Choctaw Tribe". 64 Parishes. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  16. Swanton, John R. (2001) [1931]. Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians. The University of Alabama Press. p. 29. ISBN   0-8173-1109-2.
  17. O'Brien, Greg (2005) [2002]. "The Multiethnic Confederacy". Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750–1830. University of Nebraska Press. p. 21. ISBN   0-8032-8622-8.
  18. "Choctaw Indian Fair". Information.com. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  19. Mieirs, Jennifer. "Choctaw Clans, and the People" . Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  20. 1 2 3 Swanton, John R. (2001) [1931]. "Clans and Local Groups". Source material for the social and ceremonial life of the Choctaw Indians. University of Alabama Press. p. 79. ISBN   0-8173-1109-2 . Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  21. "Choctaw Indians". 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Swanton, John (2001) [1931]. "Choctaw Social and Ceremonial Life". Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians. The University of Alabama Press. p. 5. ISBN   0-8173-1109-2.
  23. 1 2 Swanton, John Reed (2001) [1931]. Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians. The University of Alabama Press. pp. 158–160. ISBN   0-8173-1109-2.
  24. A Living Tradition: An Overview of Choctaw Cultural Arts. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. 2006. p. 5.
  25. 1 2 "Choctaw Language Alphabet and Pronunciation". 1998–2008. Retrieved 1 May 2008.
  26. Swanton, John R. (2001) [1931]. Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians. The University of Alabama Press. pp. 194–196. ISBN   0-8173-1109-2.
  27. O'Brien, Greg (2005) [2002]. "Choctaw and Power". Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750–1830. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 60–61.
  28. "Traditional Choctaw Dress". Choctaw website. 2004. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
  29. Carolyn Reeves (2014). The Choctaw Before Removal. University of Mississippi Press. p. 57. ISBN   9781604736991.
  30. "Economic Development history". Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. 2013.
  31. Ronald Takaki (1993). A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Little, Brown and Co. p. 89.
  32. "Sculpture marks Choctaw generosity to Irish famine victims". BBC News. June 18, 2017. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  33. "The Choctaw-Irish Bond Lives On". choctawnation.com. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. March 30, 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-04-06.
  34. Ferguson, Bob (2001). "Treaties". Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Retrieved 6 February 2008.

Bibliography

Choctaw governments

History and culture