All about the ancient tribes
Choctaw Indian Nation traces its ancestry to Mississippi and some sections of Alabama. Legends tell that the Choctaw people originated from “Nanih Waya”, a sacred hill near what is now known as Noxapter, Mississippi. “Nanih Waiya” means “Productive Mound” and is often referred to as “The Mother Mound”.
The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi.
While by the late twentieth century, the Choctaw had considered accepting mixed-race Choctaw of partial white ancestry as Indian citizens, they continued to classify Choctaw Freedmen strictly as descendants of African Americans.
The history of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma began in 1820 when tribal leaders in central Mississippi signed the Treaty of Doak’s Stand, ceding rich cotton lands in the delta region east of the Mississippi River for approximately thirteen million acres in the Canadian, Kiamichi, Arkansas, and Red River watersheds in
Choctaw and Cherokee Native American tribes both inhabited the Southeastern part of the United States, but they are not the same tribe.
To prove tribal heritage with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, you must be a descendant of someone listed as Choctaw or Mississippi Choctaw with a blood quantum on the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory (also known as the Dawes Roll).
With the first wave in 1831, Choctaws were the first tribe to cover the Trail of Tears, so named because of the suffering and loss of life on the march.
The Choctaw dress of today is usually of solid color of green, red, blue, purple, or other bright color with contrasting color trim. The decorative trim symbolizes the mountains and valleys with a path or trail beside them. The circle and cross symbolizes the sun and the stars.
To be an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians requires individuals to be at least one/half blood quantum. Other tribes’ membership is based on each specific tribe’s own qualifications.
The Choctaw were a tribe of Native American Indians who originated from modern Mexico and the American Southwest to settle in the Mississippi River Valley for about 1800 years. Known for their head-flattening and Green Corn Festival, these people built mounds and lived in a matriarchal society.
The Choctaw observed many practices; one was called head flattening, which involved attaching a board to the heads of male infants in order to flatten them. This was a common custom among the southeast Indians.
The Choctaws are original people of the American southeast, particularly Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. Most Choctaws were forced to move to Oklahoma in the 1800’s along the Trail of Tears. Their descendants live in Oklahoma today.
The United States wanted to issue allotments to make tribal people private landowners in order to assimilate them into American society. After the U.S. government passed the Curtis Act in 1898, Choctaws were forced to accept allotment and move towards ending their tribal governments.
The Comanches, known as the “Lords of the Plains”, were regarded as perhaps the most dangerous Indians Tribes in the frontier era. One of the most compelling stories of the Wild West is the abduction of Cynthia Ann Parker, Quanah’s mother, who was kidnapped at age 9 by Comanches and assimilated into the tribe.
Prior to European settlement of the Americas, Cherokees were the largest Native American tribe in North America. They became known as one of the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes,” thanks to their relatively peaceful interactions with early European settlers and their willingness to adapt to Anglo-American customs.
Choctaw Girl Names