Choctaw
The Choctaw people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, historically based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are enrolled primarily in three federally recognized tribes: the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana. The Yowani Choctaw, a historic Choctaw band, are federally recognized as a people within the Caddo Nation and are also enrolled as citizens of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Choctaw descendants are also members of other tribes.
Etymology
The Choctaw autonym is Chahta, while “Choctaw” is an anglicized spelling. Several theories exist regarding the origin of the name Chahta. According to anthropologist John R. Swanton, the Choctaw derived their name from an early leader of the Choctaw people named Chahta. Another theory, proposed by Henry S. Halbert, suggests that Chahta is a blended form of the Choctaw phrase hvcha hattak, meaning “people of the river,” a reference to early Choctaw towns located along the Tombigbee River.Language
The Choctaw language belongs to the Muskogean language family and was widely known among American frontiersmen in the early 19th century. In 1870, the Christian missionary and fluent Choctaw speaker Cyrus Byington published a Choctaw dictionary, Grammar of the Choctaw Language. Subsequent revised editions incorporated contributions from the American historian Henry S. Halbert, who was also fluent in Choctaw, as well as from the anthropologist John R. Swanton.Choctaw, or Chahta as it is known in the native language, is closely related to the Chickasaw language. Some linguists regard Choctaw and Chickasaw as dialects of a single original language. This view is supported by Choctaw and Chickasaw origin traditions, which state that both peoples emerged from a shared ancestral population.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma currently offers courses in the Choctaw language. Choctaw continues to be spoken as part of daily life on the Mississippi Choctaw reservation. Although language use declined during the 20th century, Choctaw remains a living language and has experienced a resurgence in recent years among members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Yowani Choctaws.
Orthography
The written Choctaw language is based on the English form of the Roman alphabet and was developed in the early 19th century in conjunction with the United States government’s so-called “civilization program.” The alphabet devised by Cyrus Byington, along with a version later modified by John R. Swanton, is shown here.Byington (Original)
Byington/Swanton (Linguistic)
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. |
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. |
Culture
Choctaw culture, as it is understood today, has historical roots extending back to the 16th century. Prior to this period, what is known of Choctaw culture derives primarily from oral traditions and from the documented participation of the Choctaw people in the wider Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. From at least the 16th century to the present day, a distinct Choctaw culture has been expressed through rich traditions of song, dance, dress, beading, pottery, basketry, and stickball.Choctaw people continue to maintain these traditions in their personal and daily lives, as well as through participation in community events. One prominent example is the mid-summer Choctaw Indian Fair hosted by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The fair brings together Choctaw people from around the world and features hospitality alongside activities such as traditional cooking, entertainment, dancing, and stickball.
Choctaw culture is an ancient tradition 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, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana, and among the Yowani Choctaws in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, and in Oklahoma as part of the Caddo Confederacy.
Traditional religion
The traditional Choctaw belief system developed within the broader North American Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Choctaw spiritual beliefs included the existence of both a benevolent spirit and a malevolent spirit, and they may also have practiced sun, or Hvshtahli, worship. Anthropologist John Swanton wrote that the Choctaw “anciently regarded the sun as a deity,” to whom they ascribed the power of life and death. He noted that the sun was believed to watch over the earth and that fire, as its most vivid representation, was considered intelligent and to act in concert with the sun, maintaining continual interaction with it.The term nanpisa expressed the reverence the Choctaw held for the sun. Anthropologists have theorized that the Mississippian ancestors of the Choctaw placed the sun at the center of their cosmological system. By the mid-18th century, Choctaws viewed the sun as a living being and believed it ensured honesty in diplomacy. As a result, Choctaw diplomats customarily spoke only on sunny days, postponing meetings during cloudy or rainy weather until the sun returned, often citing the need for further discussion. The sun, as a symbol of power and reverence, was a central element of southeastern Indigenous cultures.
Choctaw prophets are known to have addressed the sun in ritual contexts. Swanton recorded that an elder informed Wright that prior to the arrival of missionaries, the Choctaw had no formal concept of prayer, but that anciently their hopaii, or prophets, were sometimes accustomed to address the sun directly.
Traditional tribal structure
The traditional Choctaw tribal structure was organized around two primary moieties: Imoklashas and Inhulalatas. Each moiety consisted of several iksas, or clans, and in rare instances included a totemic clan. Choctaw identity was established first through moiety affiliation and second through membership in an individual’s iksa. The Choctaw followed a matrilineal kinship system, in which children were born into their mother’s iksa, and the mother’s clan conferred social identity and status.A key feature of this matrilineal system was the prominent role of the maternal uncle, who often served as a father figure and caretaker to his sister’s children. The Choctaw people’s reverence for women and the Mother goddess was also reflected in their religious and spiritual traditions, particularly in their veneration of the sacred mound of Nanih Waiya, known as the “Mother Mound.” Nanih Waiya is a major earthwork platform mound located in central-eastern Mississippi and remains a place of female pilgrimage for prayer, song, and dance to the present day.
Anthropologist John R. Swanton wrote extensively about the iksas in his 1931 work Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians. At the time of his writing, the principal iksas exercising influence over the others 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.”
After the United States government violated multiple treaties with the Choctaw and ultimately forced their removal from their traditional lands in Mississippi during the Trail of Tears, the Choctaw reestablished their political organization in Indian Territory. They reorganized according to the three most powerful districts of their former homeland, naming each district after its principal leader. The district of the Okla Tannap was named for Moshulatubbee, the Okla Falaya district for Apuckshunubbee, and the Okla Hannali district for Pushmataha.
Traditional communal economy
Early Choctaw communities practiced communal labor and shared their harvests. They found it difficult to understand why English settlers allowed members of their own communities to suffer from hunger.In Ireland, the generosity of the Choctaw Nation during the Great Famine of the mid-19th century is remembered to this day and has been commemorated by the sculpture Kindred Spirits, located in a park in Midleton, County Cork.