The Chakchiuma were a Native American tribe of the upper Yazoo River region of what is today the state of Mississippi .
121-585: In the late 17th century, French explorers identified the Chakchiuma as "a Chicacha nation," indicating that they were related to the Chickasaw and similar Western Muskogean speaking–tribes. They likely shared a common origin as the Chickasaw and Choctaw people and merged into the Chickasaw Nation in the mid-18th century. According to Swanton, the name was originally Sa'ktcihuma "red crawfish," referring to
242-657: A Shawnee Indian, under a promise to him of five thousand dollars, to pilot him and his troops out of the Indian country safely without a collision with the Texas Confederates; which Black Beaver accomplished. By this act the United States abandoned the Choctaws and Chickasaws. . . Then, there being- no other alternative by which to save their country and property, they, as the less of the two evils that confronted them, went with
363-517: A matrilineal system, in which children were considered born into the mother's clan ; and they gained their status in the tribe from her family. Property and hereditary leadership passed through the maternal line, and the mother's eldest brother was the main male mentor of the children, especially of boys. Because of the status of their mothers, for nearly a century, the Colbert-Chickasaw sons and their descendants provided critical leadership during
484-512: A State within which their reservation may be established, and the State gives them no protection." White settlers continued to flood into Indian country. As the population increased, the homesteaders could petition Congress for creation of a territory. This would initiate an Organic Act , which established a three-part territorial government. The governor and judiciary were appointed by the President of
605-571: A War Chief and Peace chief oversaw the respective red and white divisions. Over time, the French union would be dictated by the leaders of the white division, while the English relationship was defined by the red. Ultimately, despite French proximity to Chickasaw land, the tribe elected to prioritize their trade routes with the British. The alliance between the British and the Chickasaw was a strategic defense against
726-510: A common history with them. The Chickasaw were divided into two groups ( moieties ): the Imosak Ch a 'a' (chopped hickory) and the Inchokka' Lhipa' (worn out house), though the characteristics of these groups in relation to Chickasaw villages, clans, and house groups is uncertain. They traditionally followed a kinship system of matrilineal descent , in which inheritance and descent are traced through
847-603: A contingent of troops against them while he was staying with the Chickasaw . In 1700, English colonists from the Province of Carolina convinced Quapaw warriors to attack the Chakchiuma to capture members of their tribe to sell into slavery in the Carolinas . The ensuing attack was unsuccessful. Historian Alan Gallay suggests the colonists turned to the Quapaw because their usual partners in
968-483: A federal crime to commit murder, manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to kill, arson, burglary, or larceny within any Territory of the United States. The Supreme Court affirmed the action in 1886 in United States v. Kagama , which affirmed that the U.S. government has plenary power over Native American tribes within its borders using the rationalization that "The power of the general government over these remnants of
1089-654: A land west of the Mississippi River to reach present-day northeast Mississippi, northwest Alabama, and into Lawrence County, Tennessee . They had interaction with French, English, and Spanish colonists during the colonial period . The United States considered the Chickasaw one of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast, as they adopted numerous practices of European Americans. Resisting European-American settlers encroaching on their territory, they were forced by
1210-552: A nation of Indians who inhabit the country on the east side of the Mississippi, on the head branches of the Tombeckbe [ sic ], Mobille, and Yazoo rivers. Their country is an extensive plain, tolerably well watered from springs, and a pretty good soil. They have seven towns, and their number of fighting men is estimated at 575. George Washington (first U.S. President) and Henry Knox (first U.S. Secretary of War) proposed
1331-703: A new peace treaty in 1866. It included the provision that they emancipate the enslaved African Americans and provide full citizenship to those who wanted to stay in the Chickasaw Nation. These people and their descendants became known as the Chickasaw Freedmen . Descendants of the Freedmen continue to live in Oklahoma. Today, the Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Association of Oklahoma represents
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#17328877380781452-586: A race once powerful ... is necessary to their protection as well as to the safety of those among whom they dwell". While the federal government of the United States had previously recognized the Indian Tribes as semi-independent, "it has the right and authority, instead of controlling them by treaties, to govern them by acts of Congress, they being within the geographical limit of the United States ;... The Indians [Native Americans] owe no allegiance to
1573-670: A single state. This resulted in passage of the Oklahoma Enabling Act , which President Roosevelt signed June 16, 1906. empowered the people residing in Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory to elect delegates to a state constitutional convention and subsequently to be admitted to the union as a single state. Citizens then joined to seek admission of a single state to the Union. With Oklahoma statehood in November 1907, Indian Territory
1694-721: A stratified society, with centers throughout the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys and their tributaries. In the 15th century, proto-Chickasaw people left the Tombigbee Valley after the collapse of the Moundville chiefdom. Chickasaw culture believe that the foundation of Chickasaw from proto-Chickasaw peoples was determined by the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River is referred to as Sakti Lhafa’ Okhina in Chikashanompa ', which means “scored bluff waterway", known today as
1815-467: A survey that established the western border of Arkansas Territory 45 miles west of Ft. Smith. But this was part of the negotiated lands of Lovely's Purchase where the Cherokee , Choctaw, Creek and other tribes had been settling, and these indian nations objected strongly. In 1828 a new survey redefined the western Arkansas border just west of Ft. Smith. After these redefinitions, the "Indian zone" would cover
1936-677: Is an alliance of the Ojibwe , Odawa , and Potawatomi tribes. In the Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829, the tribes of the Council of Three Fires ceded to the United States their lands in Illinois , Michigan , and Wisconsin . The 1833 Treaty of Chicago forced the members of the Council of Three Fires to move first to present-day Iowa , then Kansas and Nebraska and ultimately to Oklahoma . The Illinois Potawatomi moved to present-day Nebraska and
2057-531: Is known of the size of their families. By 1704 their numbers had fallen to 80 families due to war. They likely had fewer than 500 people. Bienville recorded there were only 60 families by 1735. Phillippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil , governor-general of New France wrote that they had been wiped out in warfare; however, Jerome Courtance, a white trader, wrote in 1757 survivors had settled in Chickasaw villages. Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( / ˈ tʃ ɪ k ə s ɔː / CHIK -ə-saw ) are an Indigenous people of
2178-581: Is used to signify lands under the control of Native nations, including Indian reservations, trust lands on Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Area , or, more casually, to describe anywhere large numbers of Native Americans live. Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land in the United States reserved for the forced resettlement of Native Americans . As such, it
2299-520: The Chickasaw Bluffs . Settling upon the river provided the people with a symbolic sense of new beginngings, washing away the past of the proto-Chickasaw and entering into a new modern age of the Chickasaw. The migration marked their split from other Native American communities like the Choctaws. They settled into the upper Yazoo and Pearl River valleys in present-day Mississippi. Historian Arrell Gibson and anthropologist John R. Swanton believed
2420-720: The Cross Timbers . The area was subject to continual raiding by the Indians on the Southern Plains. The United States eventually leased the area between the 100th and 98th meridians for the use of the Plains tribes. The area was referred to as the "Leased District". Because the Chickasaw allied with the Confederacy, after the Civil War the United States government required the nation to make
2541-783: The Great Lakes region , organized following the American Revolutionary War to resist the expansion of the United States into the Northwest Territory . Members of the confederacy were ultimately removed to the present-day Oklahoma, including the Shawnee , Delaware , also called Lenape , Miami , and Kickapoo . The area of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma was used to resettle the Iowa tribe , Sac and Fox , Absentee Shawnee , Potawatomi , and Kickapoo tribes. The Council of Three Fires
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#17328877380782662-738: The Great Plains , subjected to extended periods of drought and high winds, and the Ozark Plateau is to the east in a humid subtropical climate zone. Tribes indigenous to the present day state of Oklahoma include both agrarian and hunter-gatherer tribes. The arrival of horses with the Spanish in the 16th century ushered in horse culture -era, when tribes could adopt a nomadic lifestyle and follow abundant bison herds. The Southern Plains villagers , an archaeological culture that flourished from 800 to 1500 AD, lived in semi-sedentary villages throughout
2783-577: The Mississippi River , following routes established by the Choctaw and Creek . During the journey, often referred to as the Trail of Tears , more than 500 Chickasaw died of dysentery and smallpox . When the Chickasaw reached Indian Territory, the United States began to administer to them through the Choctaw Nation, and later merged them for administrative reasons. The Chickasaw wrote their own constitution in
2904-766: The Native American tribes . The proclamation limited the settlement of Europeans to lands east of the Appalachian Mountains . The territory remained active until the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War , and the land was ceded to the United States. The Indian Reserve was slowly reduced in size via treaties with the American colonists, and after the British defeat in the Revolutionary War,
3025-566: The Nonintercourse Act of 1834, and was the successor to the remainder of the Missouri Territory after Missouri received statehood. The borders of Indian Territory were reduced in size as various Organic Acts were passed by Congress to create organized territories of the United States . The 1906 Oklahoma Enabling Act created the single state of Oklahoma by combining Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory, annexing and ending
3146-516: The Province of Carolina after that colony was established in 1670. After acquiring firearms from colonial merchants in Carolina, Chickasaw raiders began to attack settlements belonging to a rival tribe, the Choctaw , in order to acquire captives which they sold to the colonists . These raids largely subsided after the Choctaw acquired firearms of their own from the French. Allied with British colonists in
3267-519: The South were the most prominent tribes displaced by the policy, a relocation that came to be known as the Trail of Tears during the Choctaw removals starting in 1831. The trail ended in what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma, where there were already many Indians living in the territory, as well as whites and escaped slaves. Other tribes, such as the Delaware , Cheyenne , and Apache were also forced to relocate to
3388-695: The Southern Colonies , the Chickasaw were often at war with the French and the Choctaw in the 18th century, such as in the Battle of Ackia on May 26, 1736. Skirmishes continued until France ceded its claims to the region east of the Mississippi River after being defeated by the British in the Seven Years' War (called the French and Indian War in North America). Following the American Revolutionary War , in 1793–94,
3509-562: The Treaty of Tuscaloosa , which ceded all claims to land north of the southern border of Tennessee up to the Ohio River (the southern border of Indiana and the Illinois Territory ). This was known as the " Jackson Purchase ." The Chickasaw were allowed to retain a four-square-mile reservation but were required to lease the land to European immigrants. In the mid-18th century, an American-born trader of Scots and Chickasaw ancestry by
3630-562: The United States government for the relocation of Native Americans who held original Indian title to their land as an independent nation-state. The concept of an Indian territory was an outcome of the U.S. federal government's 18th- and 19th-century policy of Indian removal . After the American Civil War (1861–1865), the policy of the U.S. government was one of assimilation . Indian Territory later came to refer to an unorganized territory whose general borders were initially set by
3751-586: The Washita River and South Canadian River in Oklahoma. Member tribes of the Caddo Confederacy lived in the eastern part of Indian Territory and are ancestors of the Caddo Nation. The Caddo people speak a Caddoan language and is a confederation of several tribes who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas , North Louisiana , and portions of southern Arkansas , and Oklahoma . The tribe
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3872-629: The 1850s, an effort contributed to by Holmes Colbert . After several decades of mistrust between the two peoples, in the twentieth century, the Chickasaw re-established their independent government. They are federally recognized as the Chickasaw Nation. The government is headquartered in Ada, Oklahoma . The Chickasaw Nation was the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to become allies of the Confederate States of America . In addition, they resented
3993-494: The 18th century, prior to Indian Removal by the U.S. federal government, the Kiowa , Apache , and Comanche people entered into Indian Territory from the west, and the Quapaw and Osage entered from the east. During Indian Removal of the 19th century, additional tribes received their land either by treaty via land grant from the federal government of the United States or they purchased
4114-467: The American people, but always stood as their faithful allies." Cushman believed the Chickasaw, along with the Choctaw, may have had origins in present-day Mexico and migrated north. Frenchman Le Clerc Milfort , when writing about the Creek Indians, echoed the same view. That theory, however, does not have consensus; archeological research, as noted above, has revealed the peoples had long histories in
4235-453: The Chakchiuma warriors but also every animal found in their villages. But the Chakchiuma were numerous enough to form their own clan (the Crawfish) within the Choctaw when they were incorporated into the latter group in the 1730s. Based on Bienville 's claim that there were 400 families of the Chakchiuma in 1702, historians estimate they numbered around or above 2000 persons in total, given what
4356-805: The Chaloklowa Chickasaw Indian People's later petition for recognition as a State Recognized tribe in October 2005, the Commission of Minority Affairs review committee, upon rereview, found that the indigenous ancestry originally being claimed by the group was incorrect. The organization remains recognized as a group as of 2023. In 2003, they unsuccessfully petitioned the US Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs to try to gain federal recognition as an Indian tribe. For many tribes in
4477-406: The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muskogee, and Seminole, a history of the Choctaw and Chickasaw was included that was written by R.W. McAdam. McAdam claimed that the word "Chikasha" meant "rebel" in the Choctaw language. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto had recorded the people as Chicaza when his expedition came into contact with them in 1540; the Spanish were the first known Europeans to explore
4598-407: The Chickasaw Council, representing clans and villages, signed a letter in November 1832 by Levi Colbert to President Andrew Jackson , complaining about treaty negotiations with his appointee General John Coffee . After Levi's death in 1834, the Chickasaw people were forced upon the Trail of Tears . His brother, George Colbert, reluctantly succeeded him as chief and principal negotiator, because he
4719-523: The Chickasaw Nation did not provide citizenship to their freedmen after the Civil War (it would have been akin to formal adoption of individuals into the tribe), they were penalized by the U.S. Government. It took more than half of their territory, with no compensation. They lost territory that had been negotiated in treaties in exchange for their use after removal from the Southeast. The Chaloklowa Chickasaw Indian People , an organization that alleges to be composed of descendants of Chickasaw who did not leave
4840-448: The Chickasaw Old Fields were in Madison County, Alabama . The Chicasaws [ sic ], they being (although a small tribe) accounted the mother nation on this part of the continent, and their language, universally adopted by most, if not all the western [American Indian] nations. The Choctaws relayed to Bernard Romans their creation myth, saying that they came "out of a hole in the ground, which they shew between their nation and
4961-402: The Chickasaw and Choctaw split into distinct peoples in the 17th century from the remains of Plaquemine culture and other groups whose ancestors had lived in the lower Mississippi Valley for thousands of years. When Europeans first encountered them, the Chickasaw were living in villages in what is now northeastern Mississippi. The Chickasaw are believed to have migrated into Mississippi from
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5082-407: The Chickasaw tribe immigrated to its now-home in Oklahoma. While their current residence is far from their native territory, the ancestral remains of many Chickasaw members are still located in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. Among these remains, many were excavated and stored within the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). In 2021 the MDAH repatriated 403 Chickasaw ancestors to
5203-400: The Chickasaw under Chief Piomingo fought as allies of the new United States under General Anthony Wayne against the Indians of the old Northwest Territory . The Shawnee and other, allied Northwest Indians were defeated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794. A 19th-century historian, Horatio Cushman , wrote, "Neither the Choctaws nor Chicksaws ever engaged in war against
5324-452: The Chickasaws." Another version of the Chickasaw creation story is that they arose at Nanih Waiya , a great earthwork mound built about 300 CE by Woodland peoples. It is also sacred to the Choctaw, who share a similar story. The mound was built about 1400 years before the coalescence of each of these peoples as ethnic groups. The first European contact with the Chickasaw was in 1540 when Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto encountered
5445-461: The Civil War. The Chickasaw passed a resolution allying with the Confederacy, which was signed by Governor Cyrus Harris on May 25, 1861. Up to this time, our protection was in the United States troops stationed at Fort Washita, under the command of Colonel Emory. But he, as soon as the Confederate troops had entered our country, at once abandoned us and the Fort; and, to make his flight more expeditious and his escape more sure, employed Black Beaver,
5566-472: The Confederacy, reducing the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes and providing land to resettle Plains Native Americans and tribes of the mid-west. General components of replacement treaties signed in 1866 include: One component of assimilation would be the distribution of property held in-common by the tribe to individual members of the tribe. The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name given to three treaties signed in Medicine Lodge, Kansas between
5687-454: The Five Civilized Tribes, and others who had relocated to the Oklahoma section of Indian Territory, fought primarily on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War in Indian territory . Brigadier General Stand Watie , a Confederate commander of the Cherokee Nation , became the last Confederate general to surrender in the American Civil War, near the community of Doaksville on June 23, 1865. The Reconstruction Treaties signed at
5808-428: The French and their native allies. Supported by the slave trade, the Chickasaw sought weapons in exchange for captured members of rival tribes. As they were smaller than the Choctaw and other abutting indigenous groups, the weapons were critical to the defense of their native land. In 1797, a general appraisal of the tribe and its territorial bounds was made by Abraham Bishop of New Haven, who wrote: The Chickasaws are
5929-404: The House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America. Because the Chickasaw sided with the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War , they had to forfeit some of their land afterward. In addition, the US renegotiated their treaty, insisting on their emancipation of slaves and offering citizenship to those who wanted to stay in the Chickasaw Nation. If they returned to
6050-420: The Indian Western Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, and imposed the Treaty of Greenville , which ceded most of what is now Ohio, part of present-day Indiana , and the lands that include present-day Chicago and Detroit , to the United States federal government . The period after the American Revolutionary War was one of rapid western expansion. The areas occupied by Native Americans in
6171-443: The Indian slave trade, the Chickasaw, may have resisted attacking their own people. The Chakchiuma participated on the French side in the Yazoo War . In about 1739 the Chakchiuma were involved in hostilities, primarily with the Chickasaw, that led to their destruction as an independent tribe and their being incorporated into the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes. The Chickasaw and Choctaw had become so incensed that they not only killed all
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#17328877380786292-416: The Indian territory. The Five Civilized Tribes established tribal capitals in the following towns: These tribes founded towns such as Tulsa , Ardmore , Muskogee , which became some of the larger towns in the state. They also brought their African slaves to Oklahoma, which added to the African American population in the state. The Western Lakes Confederacy was a loose confederacy of tribes around
6413-450: The Indiana Potawatomi moved to present-day Osawatomie, Kansas , an event known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death . The group settling in Nebraska adapted to the Plains Indian culture but the group settling in Kansas remained steadfast to their woodlands culture . In 1867, part of the Kansas group negotiated the "Treaty of Washington with the Potawatomi" in which the Kansas Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation split and part of their land in Kansas
6534-511: The Mississippi River. In 1836 after a bitter five-year debate within the tribe, the Chickasaw had reached an agreement to purchase land in Indian Territory from the previously removed Choctaw. They paid the Choctaw $ 530,000 for the westernmost part of their land. The first group of Chickasaw moved in 1837. The Chickasaw gathered at Memphis, Tennessee , on July 4, 1837, with all of their portable assets: belongings, livestock, and enslaved African Americans . Three thousand and one Chickasaw crossed
6655-449: The Mississippi area and independently developed complex cultures. Despite being smaller than many surrounding tribes, the Chickasaw established themselves as a trade power within the region. Aided by their strategic location on the Mississippi, the tribe was able to exchange goods with neighboring parties. The tactical importance of the Chickasaw was not lost on the British; in 1755, the Imperial Indian Superintendent Edmund Atkin recognized
6776-423: The North American Southeast. The suffix -mingo (Chickasaw: minko ) is used to identify a chief. For example, Tishomingo was the name of a famous Chickasaw chief. The towns of Tishomingo in Mississippi and Oklahoma were named for him, as was Tishomingo County in Mississippi. The origin of the Chickasaw is uncertain; 20th-century scholars, such as the archaeologist Patricia Galloway, theorize that
6897-462: The Reserve was ignored by European American settlers who slowly expanded westward . At the time of the American Revolutionary War, many Native American tribes had long-standing relationships with the British, and were loyal to Great Britain , but they had a less-developed relationship with the American colonists. After the defeat of the British in the war, the Americans twice invaded the Ohio Country and were twice defeated. They finally defeated
7018-423: The Southeast section of the US through a series of treaties. The southern part of Indian Country (what eventually became the State of Oklahoma) served as the destination for the policy of Indian removal, a policy pursued intermittently by American presidents early in the 19th century, but aggressively pursued by President Andrew Jackson after the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Five Civilized Tribes in
7139-467: The Southeast, were recognized as a "state-recognized group" in 2005 by South Carolina . They are headquartered in Hemingway, South Carolina . Historian Edward J. Cashin , a professor of colonial era history and Director of the Center for the Study of Georgia History at Augusta State University , was unable to ascertain the organization's connection to the Savannah River Chickasaws or other bands of Chickasaw. After receiving letters of complaint concerning
7260-424: 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 . Chickasaw people have a migration story in which they moved from
7381-457: The Southern Confederacy. At the beginning of the American Civil War , Albert Pike was appointed as Confederate envoy to Native Americans. In this capacity, he negotiated several treaties, including the Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws in July 1861. The treaty covered sixty-four terms, covering many subjects such as Choctaw and Chickasaw nation sovereignty , Confederate States of America citizenship possibilities and an entitled delegate in
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#17328877380787502-407: The Southern Treaty Commission re-wrote treaties with tribes that sided with the Confederacy , reducing the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes and providing land to resettle Plains Indians and tribes of the Midwestern United States . These re-written treaties included provisions for a territorial legislature with proportional representation from various tribes. In time, the Indian Territory
7623-514: The Spanish entering their territory. In the winter of 1540, conflict finally struck between Chickasaw warriors and the Spanish Explorers. The reasonings for the battle vary from Spanish looting Chickasaw food storages, to general heated animosity between the two groups. After various disagreements, the Chickasaw attacked the De Soto expedition in a nighttime raid, nearly destroying the force. The Spanish moved on quickly. The Chickasaw began to establish trading relationships with English colonists in
7744-408: The U.S. and agreeing to find land and relocate west of the Mississippi River. Between 1832 and 1837, the Chickasaw would make further negotiations and arrangements for their removal. Unlike other tribes who received land grants in exchange for ceding territory, the Chickasaw held out for financial compensation: they were to receive $ 3 million U.S. dollars from the United States for their lands east of
7865-475: The U.S. and established framework of a legal system between the Caddo and the U.S. Tribal headquarters are in Binger, Oklahoma . The Wichita and Caddo both spoke Caddoan languages , as did the Kichai people , who were also indigenous to what is now Oklahoma and ultimately became part of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes . The Wichita (and other tribes) signed a treaty of friendship with the U.S. in 1835. The tribe's headquarters are in Anadarko, Oklahoma . In
7986-428: The U.S. government and southern Plains Indian tribes who would ultimately reside in the western part of Indian Territory (ultimately Oklahoma Territory). The first treaty was signed October 21, 1867, with the Kiowa and Comanche tribes. The second, with the Plains Apache , was signed the same day. The third treaty was signed with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho on October 28. Another component of assimilation
8107-412: The U.S. government to sell their traditional lands in the 1832 Treaty of Pontotoc Creek and move to Indian Territory ( Oklahoma ) during the era of Indian removal in the 1830s. Most of their descendants remain as residents of what is now Oklahoma. The Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma is the 13th-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States. Its members are related to the Choctaw and share
8228-409: The United States were called Indian country. They were distinguished from " unorganized territory " because the areas were established by treaty. In 1803, the United States agreed to purchase France 's claim to French Louisiana for a total of $ 15 million (less than 3 cents per acre). President Thomas Jefferson doubted the legality of the purchase. Robert R. Livingston , the chief negotiator of
8349-413: The United States . In general, tribes could not sell land to non-Indians ( Johnson v. McIntosh ). Treaties with the tribes restricted entry of non-Indians into tribal areas; Indian tribes were largely self-governing, were suzerain nations, with established tribal governments and well established cultures. The region never had a formal government until after the American Civil War . After the Civil War,
8470-417: The United States constructed Fort Hampton in 1810 in present-day Limestone County, Alabama . The fort was designed to keep settlers out of Chickasaw territory and was one of the few forts constructed in the United States to protect Native American land claims. The Chickasaw signed the Treaty of Hopewell in 1786. Article 11 of that treaty states: "The hatchet shall be forever buried, and the peace given by
8591-422: The United States government, which had forced them off their lands and failed to protect them against the Plains tribes in the West. In 1861, as tensions rose related to the sectional conflict, the US Army abandoned Fort Washita , leaving the Chickasaw Nation defenseless against the Plains tribes. Confederate officials recruited the American Indian tribes with suggestions of an Indian state if they were victorious in
8712-461: The United States of America, and friendship re-established between the said States on the one part, and the Chickasaw nation on the other part, shall be universal, and the contracting parties shall use their utmost endeavors to maintain the peace given as aforesaid, and friendship re-established." Benjamin Hawkins attended this signing. In 1818, leaders of the Chickasaw signed several treaties, including
8833-576: The United States, they would have US citizenship. This was the first time in history the Chickasaws have ever made war against an English speaking people. The Chickasaws were first combined with the Choctaw Nation and their area was called the Chickasaw District. Although originally the western boundary of the Choctaw Nation extended to the 100th meridian , virtually no Chickasaw lived west of
8954-403: The United States, while the legislature was elected by citizens residing in the territory. One elected representative was allowed a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives . The federal government took responsibility for territorial affairs. Later, the inhabitants of the territory could apply for admission as a full state. No such action was taken for the so-called Indian Territory, so that area
9075-504: The United States, with the intent of combining the Oklahoma and Indian territories into a single State of Oklahoma. The citizens of Indian Territory tried, in 1905, to gain admission to the union as the State of Sequoyah , but were rebuffed by Congress and an Administration which did not want two new Western states, Sequoyah and Oklahoma. Theodore Roosevelt then proposed a compromise that would join Indian Territory with Oklahoma Territory to form
9196-462: The United States. In addition, the two each served as interpreters and negotiators for chiefs of the tribe during the period of removal. Levi Colbert served as principal chief, which may have been a designation by the Americans, who did not understand the decentralized nature of the chiefs' council, based on the tribe reaching broad consensus for major decisions. An example is that more than 40 chiefs from
9317-533: The United States; and in the meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess. This committed the U.S. government to "the ultimate, but not to the immediate, admission" of the territory as multiple states, and "postponed its incorporation into the Union to the pleasure of Congress". After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson and his successors viewed much of
9438-406: The boundaries of the present-day U.S. state of Oklahoma , and the primary residents of the territory were members of the Five Civilized Tribes or Plains tribes that had been relocated to the western part of the territory on land leased from the Five Civilized Tribes. In 1861, the U.S. abandoned Fort Washita , leaving the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations defenseless against the Plains tribes. Later
9559-948: The cultural transformation of Native Americans. Washington believed that Native Americans were equals, but that their society was inferior. He formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process, and Thomas Jefferson continued it. Historian Robert Remini wrote, "They presumed that once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans." Washington's six-point plan included impartial justice toward Indians; regulated buying of Indian lands; promotion of commerce; promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Indian society; presidential authority to give presents; and punishing those who violated Indian rights. The government-appointed Indian agents , such as Benjamin Hawkins , who became Superintendent of Indian Affairs for all
9680-469: The diverse culture of the Chickasaw. The Chikasha Inchokka' Traditional Village features a Council House, two winter and summer houses, a replica mound, a corn crib and a stickball field. There are often stomp dances or stickball demonstrations, and cultural performers often display traditional Chickasaw culture, including art, cooking, language and storytelling. To the Chickasaw, the Mississippi River helped "define their geographic homeland and history", and
9801-462: The end of the Civil War fundamentally changed the relationship between the tribes and the U.S. government. The Reconstruction era played out differently in Indian Territory and for Native Americans than for the rest of the country. In 1862, Congress passed a law that allowed the president, by proclamation, to cancel treaties with Indian Nations siding with the Confederacy (25 USC 72). The United States House Committee on Territories (created in 1825)
9922-496: The existence of an unorganized independent Indian Territory as such, and formally incorporating the tribes and residents into the United States. Before Oklahoma statehood, Indian Territory from 1890 onward comprised the territorial holdings of the Cherokee , Choctaw , Chickasaw , Creek , Seminole , and other displaced Eastern American tribes. Indian reservations remain within the boundaries of U.S. states, but are largely exempt from state jurisdiction. The term " Indian country "
10043-432: The family member of the man would return with the news of approval. The man would put on his finest clothing and apply vermilion , a paint associated with love, power, and purity. The man would go to the house of the woman he wanted to marry, and would have supper alone with his future father-in-law, without the company of the wife or mother-in-law. The bed of the wife would be prepared, and the bride would go to sleep before
10164-412: The groom joined. Once they were both in the same bed, they were officially married. The Chickasaw people held ancient beliefs about four "Beloved Things": the sun, the clouds, the sky and Aba' Binni'li , also known as "He that lives in the clear sky". He was believed to be the sole creator of light, life, and warmth. He was believed to reside both in the clouds and in the holy fire, and due to this, fire
10285-434: The interests of freedmen descendants in both of these tribes. But the Chickasaw Nation never granted citizenship to the Chickasaw freedmen. The only way that African Americans could become citizens at that time was to have one or more Chickasaw parents or to petition for citizenship and go through the process available to other non-Natives, even if they were of known partial Chickasaw descent in an earlier generation. Because
10406-491: The land receiving fee simple recorded title . Many of the tribes forcibly relocated to Indian Territory were from Southeastern United States , including the so-called Five Civilized Tribes or Cherokee , Chickasaw , Choctaw , Muscogee Creeks , and Seminole , but also the Natchez , Yuchi , Alabama , Koasati , and Caddo people . Between 1814 and 1840, the Five Civilized Tribes had gradually ceded most of their lands in
10527-545: The land west of the Mississippi River as a place to resettle the Native Americans, so that white settlers would be free to live in the lands east of the river. Indian removal became the official policy of the United States government with the passage of the 1830 Indian Removal Act , formulated by President Andrew Jackson . When Louisiana became a state in 1812, the remaining territory was renamed Missouri Territory to avoid confusion. Arkansaw Territory , which included
10648-586: The laws of Arkansas to the still unorganized Indian Territory, since for years the federal U.S. District Court on the eastern borderline in Ft. Smith, Arkansas had criminal and civil jurisdiction over the territory. The concept of an Indian territory is the successor to the British Indian Reserve , a British American territory established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that set aside land for use by
10769-503: The maternal line. Children are considered born into the mother's family and clan , and gain their social status from her. Women controlled most property and hereditary leadership in the tribe passed through the maternal line. The name Chickasaw, as noted by anthropologist John Swanton , belonged to a Chickasaw minko', or leader. "Chickasaw" is the English spelling of Chikashsha ( Creek pronunciation: [tʃikaʃːa] ), meaning "comes from Chicsa". In an 1890 extra census bulletin on
10890-573: The name Oklahoma, which derives from the Choctaw phrase okla , 'people', and humma , translated as 'red'. He envisioned an all–American Indian state controlled by the tribes and overseen by the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs . Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory , and it was officially approved in 1890, two years after that area was opened to white settlers. The Oklahoma Organic Act of 1890 created an organized Oklahoma Territory of
11011-603: The name of James Logan Colbert settled in the Muscle Shoals area of Alabama. He lived there for the next 40 years, where he married three high-ranking Chickasaw women in succession. Chickasaw chiefs and high-status women found such marriages of strategic benefit to the tribe, as it gave them advantages with traders over other groups. Colbert and his wives had numerous children, including seven sons: William, Jonathan, George, Levi, Samuel, Joseph, and Pittman (or James). Six survived to adulthood (Jonathan died young.) The Chickasaw had
11132-409: The present State of Arkansas plus much of the state of Oklahoma, was created out of the southern part of Missouri Territory in 1819. During negotiations with the Choctaw in 1820 for the Treaty of Doak's Stand , Andrew Jackson ceded more of Arkansas Territory to the Choctaw than he realized, from what is now Oklahoma into Arkansas, east of Ft. Smith, Arkansas . The General Survey Act of 1824 allowed
11253-599: The present states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and part of Iowa. Before the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act , much of what was called Indian Territory was a large area in the central part of the United States whose boundaries were set by treaties between the US Government and various indigenous tribes. After 1871, the Federal Government dealt with Indian Tribes through statute; the 1871 Indian Appropriations Act also stated that "hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within
11374-553: The purchase, however, believed that the 3rd article of the treaty of the Louisiana Purchase would be acceptable to Congress . The 3rd article stated, in part: the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of
11495-403: The region, corn was one of the most important foods. The Green Corn Ceremony , which occurs annually and starts when the corn crops begin to develop, usually in late June or early July, ties corn into the culture of the Chickasaw. This ceremony celebrated both the crop and the sense of community in the tribe. It was also a time of starting from scratch in a sense. Villages were cleaned, old pottery
11616-577: The rights of Indians to continue their separate tribal governments, and vocally championed opening the area to white settlement while campaigning for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Some historians argued Seward's words steered many tribes, notably the Cherokee and the Choctaw into an alliance with the Confederate States. At the beginning of the Civil War , Indian Territory had been essentially reduced to
11737-529: The same year, the Confederate States of America signed a Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws . Ultimately, the Five Civilized Tribes and other tribes that had been relocated to the area, signed treaties of friendship with the Confederacy. During the Civil War, Congress gave the U.S. president the authority to, if a tribe was "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 USC Sec. 72). Members of
11858-470: The territories were: Kansas became a state in 1861, and Nebraska became a state in 1867. In 1890 the Oklahoma Organic Act created Oklahoma Territory out of the western part of Indian Territory, in anticipation of admitting both Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory as a future single State of Oklahoma. Some in federal leadership, such as Secretary of State William H. Seward did not believe in
11979-411: The territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty: Provided, further, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to invalidate or impair the obligation of any treaty heretofore lawfully made and ratified with any such Indian nation or tribe". The Indian Appropriations Act also made it
12100-586: The territory south of the Ohio River. He and other agents lived among the Indians to teach them, through example and instruction, how to live like whites. Hawkins married a Muscogee Creek woman and lived with her people for decades. In the 19th century, the Chickasaw increasingly adopted European-American practices, as they established schools, adopted yeoman farming practices, converted to Christianity, and built homes in styles like their European-American neighbors. Due to settlers encroaching into Chickasaw territory,
12221-475: The tribal totem . This name is cognate with the Choctaw shakchi humma "red crawfish". It has appeared in European language sources in a variety of ways, including as Sacchuma and Saquechuma in records of de Soto's travels, and as Choquichoumans by d'Iberville. Swanton argued that the name Houma derives from Chakchiuma . The first historical reference to the Chakchiuma is found when Hernando de Soto sent
12342-399: The tribe and stayed in one of their towns, most likely near present-day Starkville, Mississippi . The Chickasaw were alert around the Spanish, placing war banners implying their intentions for when they would meet the Spanish. The Chickasaw additionally gathered intel that the Spanish recently fought a nearly-lost battle in the town of Mabila, led by leader Tascalusa, only a few months prior to
12463-680: The tribe's greatest challenges. They had the advantage of growing up bilingual. Of these six sons, William "Chooshemataha" Colbert (named after James Logan's father, Chief/Major William d'Blainville "Piomingo" Colbert ) served with General Andrew Jackson during the Creek Wars of 1813–14. He also had served during the Revolutionary wars and received a commission from President George Washington in 1786 along with his namesake grandfather. His brothers Levi ("Itawamba Mingo") and George Colbert ("Tootesmastube") also had military service in support of
12584-550: The tribe. The organizations director of archaeology, Meg Cook, addressed the MDAH’s efforts: “We’re doing everything that we can to reconcile the past and move forward, in a very transparent way. It’s our responsibility to tell the Mississippi story. And that means all of the bad parts, too." Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by
12705-482: The tribe’s position: "It is not possible to cast an Eye ever so lightly over a Map, without being struck with the Importance of the [Chickasaws'] situation." The Chickasaw made their first formal contact with the British shortly after the founding of Charles Town in 1670; this occurred when Dr. Woordward of Carolina attempted to establish trade ties while on course to Alabama. Although the British outpost of Charles Town
12826-509: The west, as their oral history attests. They and the Choctaw were once one people and migrated from west of the Mississippi River into present-day Mississippi in prehistoric times; the Chickasaw and Choctaw split along the way. The Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere spanned the Eastern Woodlands . The Mississippian cultures emerged from previous moundbuilding societies by 880 CE. They built complex, dense villages supporting
12947-587: The western part of Indian Territory, where they farmed maize and hunted buffalo. They are likely ancestors of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes . The ancestors of the Wichita have lived in the eastern Great Plains from the Red River north to Nebraska for at least 2,000 years. The early Wichita people were hunters and gatherers who gradually adopted agriculture. By about 900 AD, farming villages began to appear on terraces above
13068-527: Was bilingual and bicultural. George "Tootesmastube" Colbert never reached the Chickasaw's "Oka Homa" (red waters); he died on Choctaw territory, Fort Towson , en route. In 1832 after the state of Mississippi declared its jurisdiction over the Chickasaw Indians, outlawing tribal self-governance, Chickasaw chiefs assembled at the national council house on October 20, 1832 and signed the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek , ceding their remaining Mississippi territory to
13189-627: Was broken, and most old fires were put out. Fasting was done by most tribes to obtain purity, and the Chickasaw specifically would fast from the afternoon of the first day of the ceremony until the second sunrise. In 2010, the tribe opened the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma . It includes the Chikasha Inchokka’ Traditional Village, Honor Garden, Sky and Water pavilion, and several in-depth exhibits about
13310-582: Was effectively extinguished. However, in 2020, the United States Supreme Court prompted a review of tribal lands through its decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma . Subsequently, almost the entire eastern half of Oklahoma was found to have remained Indian country . Indian Territory marks the confluence of the Southern Plains and Southeastern Woodlands cultural regions . Its western region is part of
13431-573: Was examining the effectiveness of the policy of Indian removal, which was after the war considered to be of limited effectiveness. It was decided that a new policy of Assimilation would be implemented. To implement the new policy, the Southern Treaty Commission was created by Congress to write new treaties with the Tribes siding with the Confederacy. After the Civil War the Southern Treaty Commission re-wrote treaties with tribes that sided with
13552-428: Was homesteading. The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln . The Act gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres (65 hectares or one-fourth section ) of undeveloped federal land . Within Indian Territory, as lands were removed from communal tribal ownership, a land patent (or first-title deed) was given to tribal members. The remaining land
13673-400: Was important for trade, transportation, and irrigation. Referred to as "scored bluff waterway", Chickasaw warriors limited the movement of Europeans along the river. Before marriage, a Chickasaw man would send a gift with his mother or sister to be given to the parents of the woman he would like to marry. If the parents consented, they would offer the gift to the woman. If the woman accepted,
13794-505: Was located over 850 km from Chickasaw territory, the two groups managed to engage initially in an exchange of deerskin. Shortly after making contact with the British, the Chickasaw began to trade with the French as the Europeans established themselves within Louisiana. Within Chickasaw society, trade was categorized under either white (peace) or red (war) routes. To maintain this duality,
13915-561: Was not a traditional territory for the tribes settled upon it. The general borders were set by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. The territory was located in the Central United States . While Congress passed several Organic Acts that provided a path for statehood for much of the original Indian Country , Congress never passed an Organic Act for the Indian Territory. Indian Territory was never an organized territory of
14036-522: Was not treated as a legal territory. The reduction of the land area of Indian Territory (or Indian Country, as defined in the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834), the successor of Missouri Territory began almost immediately after its creation with: Indian Country was reduced to the approximate boundaries of the current state of Oklahoma by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, which created Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory . The key boundaries of
14157-576: Was once part of the Caddoan Mississippian culture and thought to be an extension of woodland period peoples who started inhabiting the area around 200 BC. In an 1835 Treaty made at the agency-house in the Caddo Nation and state of Louisiana , the Caddo Nation sold their tribal lands to the U.S. In 1846, the Caddo, along with several other tribes, signed a treaty that made the Caddo a protectorate of
14278-541: Was reduced to what is now Oklahoma . The Organic Act of 1890 reduced Indian Territory to the lands occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes and the Tribes of the Quapaw Indian Agency (at the borders of Kansas and Missouri). The remaining western portion of the former Indian Territory became the Oklahoma Territory . The Oklahoma Organic Act applied the laws of Nebraska to the organized Oklahoma Territory, and
14399-490: Was respected. It became unlawful to extinguish any fire, even a small cooking fire, with water, as this was considered to be the work of evil spirits. Bad weather such as rain, thunder and heavy wind was thought to be holy people at war above the clouds. Warriors would fire their guns at the sky to show that they were willing to die if they could aid the holy spirits above. After they signed the treaty of Pontotoc Creek in 1832 and were forced from their native land in Mississippi,
14520-537: Was sold on a first-come basis, typically by land run , with settlers also receiving a land patent type deed. For these now former Indian lands, the United States General Land Office distributed the sales funds to the various tribal entities, according to previously negotiated terms. It was in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government on the use of the land, that Choctaw Nation Chief Kiliahote suggested that Indian Territory be given
14641-720: Was sold, purchasing land near present-day Shawnee, Oklahoma , they became the Citizen Potawatomi Nation . The Odawa tribe first purchased lands near Ottawa, Kansas , residing there until 1867 when they sold their lands in Kansas and purchased land in an area administered by the Quapaw Indian Agency in Ottawa County, Oklahoma , becoming the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma . The Peoria tribe , native to Southern Illinois , moved south to Missouri then and Kansas , where they joined
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