Chahta Okla(The Choctaw People)

By Dr. Ian Thompson, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Historic Preservation Dept.

Isht Ia Ammona(Beginnings)

• Journeyed from the West with the Chickasaw

• Emerged from under the earth near Nvnih Waiya

Nvnih Waiya Chiluk(Nvnih Waiya Cave)

Nvnih Waiya(Leaning Mound)

Chahta Chashpo Anoli (Ancient Choctaw Stories)

• Corn (AD 1000)• Bow and arrow (AD 650)• Ceramic technology (1000-500 BC)• Extinction of Megafauna (12,000 BC)

Chahta Aiishtia(Formation of the Contemporary Choctaw Tribe)

Galloway 1995

Hvshi Akuchaka Hattak Chashpo(Moundville)

Hvshi Aiokatula Hattak Chashpo(Plaquemine)

Chahta Iyakni (Choctaw Lands)

Yakni Ifehna (The Importance of Land)

• Indigenous knowledge comes from the land through the relationships Indigenous Peoples develop and foster with the essential forces of nature. These relationships are encoded in the structure of Indigenous languages and in Indigenous political and spiritual systems. They are practiced in traditional forms of governance, and they are lived in the hearts and minds of Indigenous Peoples (Simpson 2004:378).

Chahta Tikba Okla (The Ancestral Choctaw People)

Chahta Ohoyo Imahalaia(Choctaw Women’s Responsibilities)

• Life-givers• Foundation of the community• Home-owners• Agricultural producers• Domestic activities

Chahta Hattak Imahalaia(Choctaw Men’s Responsibilities)

• Hunting• Protecting the community• Playing Stickball• Interacting with other groups• Doing heaviest work • Serving as orators/historians

Tofa Toksali(Warm-Season Activities)

• Community– Disburse to family homesteads– Field-planting (beginning around equinox)– Collection of wild plants

• Men/Boys– Small-game hunting– Fishing– Stickball

• Women/Girls– Field-maintenance

Chukka(Summer Houses)

Osapa Hokchi(Planting a Field)

Vpawaya(Edible Plants)

Toffa Vpawaya ItahobliCollecting Summer Fruits

Hammer 2005

Hattak-vt Napossi Hoyo(Hunting Small Game)

Nanokweli(Fishing)

Isht Taboli(Stickball)

Hvshtola Toksali(Cold-Season Activities)

• Community– Harvest fields– Move into winter residence– Feasts

• Men– Hunt large game

• Women/Girls– Preserve and prepare food produce

Anunka(Winter House)

Onafapi Nan Illimpawaya Ahoyo

(The Fall Harvest)

De Bry 1591

Bushnell 1915

Issi Hoyo(Deer Hunts)

Ilhpak Atahli(Preparing Food)

Chepulechi(Feasting)

Binolhichi (Colonization)

• Spanish, French, English, United States• Thousands of Choctaw died from disease and war• Land base reduced by 99.84%• Ecosystem destruction• Choctaw family and governmental structures altered• Tribe fragmented• Language, people, and traditional

knowledge marginalized

Tvnnvp (Warfare)

Yakni Hota (The Taking of Land)

Anowa Yaiya (Trail of Tears)

Hobachit Ikbi (Assimilation)

Lokaffit Isht Ia (Recovery)

• A reassertion of sovereignty and self-determination• Development of Tribal social programs• Culture camps• Language classes• Tribal fairs• Revival of Choctaw Stomp Dance• Southeastern Native Seed Bank• Rehabilitation of Mississippi

canebrakes• Recovery of Nvnih Waiya

Mississippi Chahta(Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians)

Okla(People)

• Population = 10,000• Remained in

Mississippi through

Removal

Yakni(Land)

• 8 Reservation Communities in east MS: 32.5 sq. mi– Tucker– Standing Pine– Conehatta– Crystal Ridge– Bogue Chitto– Pearl River– Bogue Homa– Red Water

Jena Chahta(Jena Band of Choctaw Indians)

• Population = 241• Descents of

Choctaw families

that moved into

Louisiana in the

1870s.

Okla(People)

• Reservation 62.53 acres in Central Louisiana

Yakni(Land)

Oklahumma Chahta Okla(Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma)

• Population = 205,000+• Descendants of

Trail of Tears

Survivors

Okla(People)

Yakni(Land)

Chahta Okla-yvt Tvmaha Chito Ashwa

(Urban Choctaws)

Okla(People)

• 26,000 Choctaws in CA alone• Moved to large towns

as a result of the Urban

relocation Program,

the Dust Bowl,

or to find opportunity.

Himmak Pilla(The Future)

“ I could cheerfully hope, that those of another age and generation may not feel the effects of those oppressive measures that have been so illiberally dealt out to us; and that peace and happiness may be their reward”.

Chief Harkins, setting out on the Trail of Tears, 1832