The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United
States (Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana). They are of the Muskogean linguistic
group. The word Choctaw (also known as Chahta, Chactas ,Chato, Tchakta, and
Chocktaw) may derive from the Castilian word "chato," meaning flat; however, noted
anthropologist John Swanton suggests that the name belonged to a Choctaw leader.[2]
They were a part of the Mississippian culture which was located throughout
the Mississippi River valley. The early Spanish explorers, according to historian
Walter Williams,encountered their antecedents.[3] In the 19th century,
Choctaws were known as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" because they had integrated
numerous cultural and technological practices of their European American
colonial neighbors. Although smaller Choctaw groups are located in the southern
region, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
are the two primary Choctaw associations.
During the American
Revolution most Choctaws supported the thirteen colonies' bid for independence
from the British Crown. The Choctaws and the United States had agreed to nine
treaties. The last three treaties (Treaty of Doak's Stand, Washington City, and
Dancing Rabbit) were designed to deracinate most Choctaws west of the Mississippi
River. U.S. President Andrew Jackson made the Choctaw exiles a model of Indian
removal as the first to march the Trail of Tears. The Choctaws were exiled
(to the area now called Oklahoma) because the U.S. desired to expand, desired to
"save" them from extinction, and wanted to acquire their natural resources.
In
1831 when the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was ratified, Choctaws
who chose to stay in the newly formed state of Mississippi were the first major
non-European ethnic group to become U.S. citizens. The Choctaw also sought to
be represented in the Congress of the United States.[4] They are also remembered
for their generosity in providing humanitarian relief during the Great Irish
Famine (1845–1849), twenty years prior to the founding of the Red Cross. During
the American Civil War the Choctaw in both Oklahoma and Mississippi mostly sided
with the Confederate States of America. In World War I, they served in the
U.S. Army as codetalkers using the Choctaw language as a natural code.
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