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74-711: By the middle of the 19th century, the United States Government had started leasing land from the Five Civilized Tribes (ex. Choctaw and Chickasaw) in the western, more arid, part of Indian Territory. These leased lands were used to resettle several Plains Indian tribes that tended to be nomadic in nature, embracing the Horse culture . At the extreme, the Comanche society was based on patrilinear and patrilocal extended family sharing

148-507: A totem the people were consulting on how they might proceed on their journey. A leader named "Chahta" proposes that the totem indicates they should proceed to the north while another leader, Chahta's brother "Chiksa'", proposes the indication is to proceed to the east. The people chose which leader they would follow which split them into two groups. Those who followed Chahta became the Chahta or Choctaw people and those who followed Chiksa' became

222-551: A Choctaw Dictionary Grammar of the Choctaw Language. Revised additions include contributions from American historian Henry S. Halbert , who was also a fluent Choctaw speaker, and Anthropologist John R. Swanton. Choctaw or Chahta, as it is called in the native language, is closely related to the Chickasaw language. Some linguists consider Choctaw and Chickasaw to be dialects of a singular original language. This idea

296-604: A common language; they did not develop the political idea of forming a nation or tribe until their relocation to Indian Territory. At the beginning of the Civil War, the Union Army was withdrawn from Indian Territory exposing the Five Civilized Tribes to aggression from the Plains Indians. The Confederacy filled the vacuum. All of the Five Civilized Tribes as well as other surrounding tribes signed treaties with

370-576: A people in the 16th century and had developed at least three distinct political and geographical divisions prior to European contact: the western Okla Falaya ("Long People"), the eastern Okla Tannap ("People on the Other Side"), and the southern Okla Hannali ("Six Towns People"). Eventually these different groups would create distinct, independent alliances with nearby European powers. The Choctaw were first noted by Europeans in French written records of

444-576: A total population of 30,000). Jedidiah Morse estimated the Choctaw at 25,000 people in about year 1820. A census taken in 1830, shortly before the removal , reported a total population of 19,554. A report by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated 25 November 1841 indicates that by then 15,177 Choctaws had already moved to Oklahoma ( Indian Territory ). Few thousand more emigratted to the west in subsequent years. The Indian Office in 1856 reported

518-560: A winter house, which latter was made circular, and was also known as the 'hot house'. 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. Choctaw stickball ,

592-411: Is an anglization of "Chahta." Anthropologist John R. Swanton reports that the Choctaw derived their name from an early leader of the Choctaw people. Swanton's report was taken directly from the Choctaw people as they recounted a story of their early history regarding a journey to seek a new homeland. On this journey, the ancestral group of people divided into two groups over different interpretations of

666-491: Is known of the Choctaw culture comes from oral traditions and the obvious participation of the Choctaw people in the wider Southeastern Ceremonial Complex . From at least the 16th century until the present-day a definable Choctaw culture has been expressed through rich traditions of song, dance, dress, beading, pottery, basketry, and stickball. Choctaw people maintain their ancient traditions in their personal and daily lives as well as participating in community events. One example

740-671: Is now Mississippi and Alabama . The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language . Today, Choctaw people are enrolled in four federally recognized tribes : the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma , Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians , Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana, and the Yowani Choctaws enrolled under the confederacy of the Caddo Nation . The Choctaw autonym is Chahta. The proper noun "Choctaw"

814-527: Is supported by Choctaw and Chickasaw origin stories which both state that the Choctaw and Chickasaw people arose out of a singular ancestral people. The Choctaw language is at the heart of Choctaw tribal culture, tradition, and identity. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma currently offers courses in the Choctaw language. Choctaw is regularly spoken as part of daily life on the Mississippi Choctaw reservation. Although Choctaw had begun to diminish in

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888-474: Is that of Le Page du Pratz who estimated the Choctaw at 25,000 warriors (and therefore around 125,000 people) in year 1718. Other estimates from that time period were usually lower, but it is possible that they represented only a part of the tribe. Similar figures were given by St. Denis who estimated the Choctaw at 18,000 warriors (or 90,000 people) in 1714 and by W. Bull who estimated them at 16,000 warriors (or 80,000 people) in 1738. According to B. R. Carroll

962-693: Is the mid-summer Choctaw Indian Fair hosted by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. This event hosts Choctaw people from all over world and includes hospitality and events such as cooking, entertainment, dancing, and stickball. The Choctaw culture is an ancient culture that continues to thrive within the nations and communities of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in Oklahoma, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in Mississippi,

1036-775: The 20th century it remains a living language and in recent years has shown a resurgence among the people of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Yowani Choctaws. The written Choctaw language is based upon the English version of the Roman alphabet and was developed in conjunction with the "civilization program" of the United States in

1110-846: The Cherokee Outlet . That Osage purchased the land from the Cherokees, receiving Fee simple title, provided the tribe with a legitimately that later allowed them more autonomy when the State of Oklahoma was formed. The land purchased is now the present Osage County, Oklahoma . The tribes of the Quapaw Indian Agency are the Eastern Shawnee , Miami , Modoc , Ottawa , Peoria of the Illinois Confederation , Quapaw Tribe , Seneca and Cayuga of

1184-700: The Cherokee Strip , to be sold to the highest bidder for not less than $ 1.25 an acre. They also agreed sell land to the Osage Nation and to allow the federal government to settle other tribes in the Cherokee Outlet in exchange for payment made by the government to the Cherokee Nation. The Creek ceded the western half of their lands to the Federal Government for $ 975,168, about $ 0.30 per acre The Seminole sold all of their land in

1258-554: The Iroquois Confederacy , and Wyandotte , and some small remnants of other tribes. The tribes were originally removed from California , Illinois , Indiana , Ohio and New York to Kansas , Missouri and Arkansas Territory in the 1820s and 1830s. The post-Civil War Treaties negotiated by the Southern Treaty Commission with the various tribes relocated these tribes to an area northeast of

1332-573: The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana, and the Yowani Choctaws in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, and in Oklahoma as part of the Caddo Confederacy. The traditional Choctaw tribal structure prioritized two distinct moieties : Imoklashas (elders) and Inhulalatas (youth). Each moiety had several iksas or clans and in rare cases a totemic clan. Identity for the Choctaw people was established first by moiety and second as part of

1406-687: The Missouri and Red rivers. The Reconstruction era treaties provided an excuse for the Osage to be moved to an area in Oklahoma Territory. With the 1865 Treaty with the Osage the tribe sells significant territory in Kansas and Missouri to the US for $ 1.25 per acre. The Drum Creek Treaty of 1870 provided that the remainder of Osage land in Kansas be sold and the proceeds used to relocate the tribe to

1480-571: The Mother goddess was also reflected in their religious and spiritual reverence for the sacred mound of Nanih Waiya which is known as the "Mother Mound." Nanih Waiya is a great earthwork platform mound located in central-east Mississippi. This site remains a place of female pilgrimage for prayer, song, and dance to this day. Early American writings record some of the names of the historical Choctaw iksas. Anthropologist John R. Swanton made his contribution through his 1931 book Source material for

1554-570: The Plaquemine culture . Prior to their arrival in the Americas the founding populations of both North and South American indigenous peoples are generally explained to be Beringian populations broken down into several groups which are illuminated within the fields of Archeology , Anthropology , and Genomics . Advances in DNA science and technology are allowing for many breakthroughs in the study of

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1628-623: The genetic history of the Indigenous peoples of North and South America . Until modern times the connection between North and South American indigenous people was unknown in modern scholarship. The Choctaw language is a member of the Muskogean language family. The Choctaw language was well known among the American frontiersmen of the early 19th century . In 1870, a Christian Missionary and fluent Choctaw speaker Cyrus Byington published

1702-535: The 17th century. Early Spanish explorers of the mid-16th century in the Southeast encountered ancestral Mississippian culture villages and chiefs. Eventually the Spanish, French, and English would all, through their various explorers, governments, and peoples, discover the Choctaw as a complex society with firmly established tribal governments, alliances, religious practice, and culture. Early contact between

1776-536: The 20th and 21st centuries Choctaw population has rebounded, in 2020 they numbered 254,154 (including 90,973 in Oklahoma). United States House Committee on Territories The United States House Committee on Territories was a committee of the United States House of Representatives from 1825 to 1946 ( 19th to 79th Congresses). Its jurisdiction was reporting on a variety of topics related to

1850-589: The 62nd through 79th Congresses (1911-46) relate almost exclusively to Alaska and Hawaii. The petitions from Alaska concerned issues of self-governance, transportation, coal, fisheries, forest reserves, interstate commerce, wagon roads and trails, new land districts, disposition of public moneys from sales of public lands for road and school funds, health regulations, aid for destitute whites, medical and sanitary relief for Alaskan Indians and natives, aids to navigation, land surveys, railways and conservation. Requests for statehood and for distribution of public lands dominated

1924-682: The Americans during the 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

1998-607: The Cherokee nation, chiefly in what is today Ottawa and Delaware Counties in Oklahoma. Many of the tribal governments are located in Miami, Oklahoma . Choctaw 212,000 (Nation of Oklahoma 2023) 11,000 (Mississippi Band 2020) The Choctaw ( Choctaw : Chahta Choctaw pronunciation: [tʃahtá(ʔ)] ) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands , in what

2072-529: The Chiksa' or Chickasaw people. Henry Halbert, a historian, suggests that the name is derived from the Choctaw phrase Hacha hatak (river people). This view has little support. One Choctaw origin story relates how in pre-historic times the Choctaw people lived in areas near or around what is now known as the Yucatan Peninsula . This story explains that when the ancient South American homeland of

2146-412: The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, followed by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, respectively. Since the 20th century, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians were federally recognized in 1945, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in 1971, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in 1995. The highest of early estimates - possibly representing the population peak -

2220-676: The Choctaw and Europeans include the French , based on the Gulf Coast and in Louisiana; the English of the Southeast, and Spain in Florida and Louisiana during the colonial era. These interactions introduced Choctaw communities to new and extensive social interactions and trade with Europeans, including more formal interactions with the governments of Spain , France , and England . These relationships with Europeans were influential in shaping

2294-521: The Choctaw and other indigenous peoples in North America have participated in the evolution of their respective North American cultures for hundreds and even thousands of years. However, the Choctaw people as they are known today are believed to have coalesced during the 16th century . The original peoples involved in this coalescence likely formed in Alabama and were made up of populations such as

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2368-542: 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

2442-533: 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. Both, the Chickasaw and the Choctaw Indians traditionally made three kinds of buildings, per family, consisting of 1) a summer house (made into an oblong square), 2) a corn house (also made into an oblong square), and 3)

2516-722: The Choctaw people became overcrowded many of them sailed across the sea to the land of present-day Alabama and Mississippi in North America . (Caitlin, Letters and Notes, 1841) A Choctaw origin in South America is supported by DNA evidence as well as the similarities between the beliefs, art, and customs of the people of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex in North America and the Indigenous peoples of South America . The ancestral people of

2590-466: The Choctaw were reckoned by the French to be the most numerous nation of Indians in America and consisted of many thousand men. John R. Swanton enumerated a total of 102 Choctaw villages and towns in his book. Robert Rogers estimated the Choctaw at 10,000 warriors in 1775 (indicating a total population of 50,000). According to Gilbert Imlay they mustered 6,000 warriors around the year 1800 (implying

2664-706: The Confederacy which signed the Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws . The Cherokee Nation , Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Seminole Nation had troops fighting on both sides. Other tribes such as Osage , Seneca , Seneca and Shawnee of the Neosho Agency, and Quapaw Tribes also signed treaties with the Confederacy. During the Civil War, the Union Congress passed a statute that gave the President

2738-536: The Confederacy. As a part of reconstruction , the Southern Treaty Commission was created by Congress to write new treaties with the Tribes that sided with the Confederacy. An important consequence of the Reconstruction Treaties, signed in 1866, was the emancipation of 7,000 black slaves and the abolition of slavery. The Choctaw Nation and Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory strongly support

2812-1064: The Freedmen into the Chickasaw Nation on the grounds that the Nation was so small that absorbing their Freedmen would dilute the Chickasaw Nation. This refusal resulted in the Chickasaw Freedmen spending a significant number of years being citizens of no country at all. The Intertribal Council evolved into the Territorial Legislature for the Indian Territory described in the Oklahoma organic act which established Oklahoma and Indian Territories. Each tribe would have one representative, with an additional representative for each one thousand tribal members. The superintendent of Indian affairs would serve as

2886-641: The House ruled that the committee had additional jurisdiction of all subjects relating to territorial legislation, the revision of legislation in territories, or the admission of states. Over its lifetime the committee reported legislation that affected the structure, status or power of the territorial governments, statehood, the power of municipalities, and boundary disputes. Additionally on public land in territories they had authority over railroads, public works and buildings, highways, taxes, bond issuing, education, Indian control, prohibition and wildlife. Petitions of

2960-535: 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. Some treaties which

3034-413: The North American Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. 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,

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3108-422: The Northern delegates. Many of the Reconstruction Treaties were titled with the phrase "Treaty of Washington." These treaties replaced the treaties that were voided when the tribes signed treaties with the Confederacy. Some Indian tribes signed treaties at the Ft. Smith conference. The Five Civilized Tribes agreed to draft treaties, but final treaties were signed in Washington, D.C. during the year of 1866. All

3182-412: The Territory. General Benjamin McCulloch and Brigadier General Albert Pike were placed in command of Indian Territory for the Confederacy, and offered protection to the tribes in the eastern part of the territory. Tribes that entered into treaties with the Confederacy were left "without any treaty whatever or treaty obligations for protection by the United States" and include: Brigader General Bussey

3256-416: The US made with other nations, such as the Treaty of San Lorenzo , indirectly affected the Choctaw. 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. The Choctaw coalesced as

3330-411: The Union interacted with the Native Americans: These decisions were implemented over subsequent years through numerous "reconstruction treaties" and subsequent laws, including the Indian Appropriations Act , Homestead Act (which provided a framework for land runs ), Dawes Act , Dawes Commission , Curtis Act of 1898 (which extended the allotment process to the tribes of Indian Territory and limited

3404-440: The United States 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

3478-422: The United States, is hereby revoked, cancelled, and repudiated" The council adjourned, and was called back to order the middle of 1866. The United States House Committee on Territories was initially formed in 1825. Shortly after the Civil War, the Committee began discussing how best to assimilate the Five Civilized Tribes into the Union. Two significant decisions were made by the committee with regards to how

3552-471: The United States, the majority of Choctaw were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1833. The Choctaw government in Indian Territory maintained the tri-union tradition of their homeland by having three governmental districts. Each district had its own chief, who together with the town chiefs sat on the Choctaw National Council. Those Choctaw who chose to stay in the state of Mississippi were considered state and U.S. citizens; they were one of

3626-423: The abolishment of slavery, providing homes for the freedmen, and giving up part of their lands for the settlement of other American Indians . It was stated that it was the policy of the US Government that "all nations and tribes in the Indian Territory be formed into one consolidated government after the plan proposed by the Senate of the United States, in a bill for organizing the Indian territory." One result of

3700-400: The authority to suspend the appropriations of any tribe if the tribe is "in a state of actual hostility to the government of the United States… and, by proclamation, to declare all treaties with such tribe to be abrogated by such tribe"(25 U.S.C. Sec. 72). The term Reconstruction Era typically covers the transformation of the Southern United States in the decade after the Civil War. However,

3774-423: The council's chief executive. The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations had a single Reconstruction Treaty, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty of Washington (1866) . in which they sold land west of the 98 longitude to the United States for $ 300,000. Much of this land was previously "leased" to the Federal Government and was the home of other Indian tribes. Cherokee gave up their "Neutral Lands" in southeastern Kansas and

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3848-482: The de facto creation (initially by treaty) of an unorganized Oklahoma Territory . In September 1865, the Southern Treaty Commission, headed by Dennis N. Cooley, Commissioner of Indian Affairs met with delegates of the Five Civilized Tribes as well as other tribes. At the meeting Cooley informed the Tribes that by joining the Confederacy, their previous treaties were null and void, and that new treaties would need to be negotiated. Key components of new treaties would be

3922-484: The early 19th century. Byington's alphabet and a version modified by John Swanton is seen here. The following table is an example of Choctaw text and its translation: 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. The traditional Choctaw belief system evolved out of

3996-420: The first major non-European ethnic groups to be granted citizenship. 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. During the American Civil War ,

4070-471: The individuals iksa. The Choctaw people existed in a matrilineal kinship system, with children born into the iksa of their mother and the mother's iksa conferring her children's social status. Another tradition of this maternally oriented system was the role of the maternal uncle as an important figure in the lives of his sister's children. Maternal uncles acted as fathers and caretakers to the children of their sisters. The Choctaw people's adoration of woman and

4144-491: The known iksas when Swanton's aforementioned book was published are as follows: After the U.S. government had broken several treaties with the Choctaw people, and eventually when the Choctaw were forcibly removed from their traditional lands in Mississippi during the American tragedy of the Trail of Tears , the Choctaw reestablished themselves in Indian Territory according to the three most powerful districts in their lost homeland. The Choctaw named these three districts after

4218-404: The late southern confederacy. Word was also given to other tribes, many of whom had reservations in Kansas." The Council, the Southern Treaty Commission, held in Ft. Smith, Arkansas , was attended by hundreds of Indians representing dozens of tribes. Over the next several years the commission negotiated treaties with different tribes that resulted in additional relocations to Indian Territory and

4292-408: The leading chiefs from each of those districts. Moshulatubbee was the name given for the district of the Okla Tannap, Apuckshunubbee was given for Okla Falaya, and Pushmataha was given for Okla Hannali. Early Choctaw communities worked communally and shared their harvest. They had trouble understanding why English settlers allowed their poor to suffer from hunger. In Ireland, the generosity of

4366-566: The meeting was an "agreement" (not an officially ratified treaty) that served as a basis for the treaties that were signed the following year. In the agreement, the tribes agreed to "in all things recognize the government of the United States as exercising exclusive jurisdiction over them, and will not enter into any allegiance or conventional arrangement with any state, nation, power or sovereign whatsoever; that any treaty of alliance for cession of land, or any act heretofore done by them, or any of their people, by which they renounce their allegiance to

4440-402: The modern Choctaw people. 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 many of their ways. Many Choctaw transitioned to yeoman farming methods and incorporated European Americans and African Americans (as tribal members, prisoners, and slaves) into their society. Most Choctaw allied with

4514-490: The number of the Choctaws as 22,707. Emmanuel Domenech estimated the Choctaw at up to 25,000 people in about 1860. Enumeration published in 1886 counted 18,000 Choctaws in Oklahoma as of year 1884. The census of 1910 counted 15,917 Choctaws. Around years 1916–1919 there were in Oklahoma 17,488 Choctaws by blood, 1,651 by intermarriage and 6,029 freedmen, and in addition to that there were also at that time 3,099 Mississippi Choctaws and around 200 Choctaws living elsewhere. In

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4588-529: The oldest field sport in North America, was also known as the "little brother of war" because of its roughness and substitution for war. 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

4662-477: 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 ... The word nanpisa (the one who sees) expressed the reverence the Choctaw had for the sun. 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

4736-500: The reconstruction of the Indian Territory lasted significantly longer and fostered policy changes that impacted other tribes in the rest of the country. As a component of Reconstruction , a "grand council was called by the President of the United States, through the department of the Interior, to which a summons was issued to each of the five tribes to send representatives. This call was mandatory as far as it related to all Indian tribes which had been identified by treaty or otherwise with

4810-404: The scope of tribal courts and governments), Oklahoma organic act in 1890, and the Five Civilized Tribe Act of April 26, 1906 which "Provide for the Final Disposition of the Affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma." When the Union troops withdrew from Indian Territory, the Five Civilized Tribes were unprotected from attack by the Plains Indians that had been settled in the western part of

4884-406: The social and ceremonial life of the Choctaw Indians . The main iksas holding significant sway over all others at the time of his writings were the Okla Falaya meaning "Long People", the eastern Okla Tannap meaning "People on the Other Side", and the southern Okla Hannali meaning "Six Towns People." Swanton reported from both personal contact and previous scholarship in his writings. The names of

4958-400: 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. 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

5032-481: 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. Choctaw prophets were known to have addressed

5106-420: 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 ..." Choctaw culture as it's understood today has its historical roots going back to the 16th century. Prior to this period what

5180-457: The territories, including legislation concerning them, and their admission as new states. The United States House Committee on Territories was established on December 13, 1825. It was established with the power to look into the legislative, civil, and criminal proceedings of any of the Territories, and to devise and report to the House decisions that may be necessary to secure the rights and privileges of residents and nonresidents. However, in 1880

5254-422: The treaties contained: Different tribes addressed freedman tribal rights (resulting from the abolition of slavery) in different ways. The Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole treaties gave the freedmen unqualified rights, while the Choctaw and Chickasaw treaty gave them the choice of being adopted into their nations or being removed by the federal government and settled elsewhere. The Chickasaw however refused to accept

5328-493: The western part of the territory for $ 0.15 per acre to the Federal Government. The Seminole then purchased from the Federal Government about two hundred thousand acres of land (the current Seminole County, Oklahoma ) for $ 0.50 per acre (former Creek land). The Osage Nation originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, they become the dominant power in an area between

5402-539: Was in command of the Post at Ft. Smith. Representing the Federal Government were: Tribes represented include Osage, Senecas, Seneca and Shawnee of the Neosho agency, Shawnee, Quapaw and Wyandotts. From Kansas the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Delawares, and Sacs and Foxes. Some tribes sent two delegations, one representing a Southern faction and the other representing a Northern faction. The Government typically negotiated only with

5476-419: Was to strike the disk or prevent your opponents from hitting it. Other games included using corn, cane, and moccasins. 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. Land was the most valuable asset, which

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