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Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

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"Choctaw Nation" redirects here. For other uses, see Choctaw Nation (disambiguation).

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw: Chahta Okla) is a Native American reservation[5] occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States.[6] At roughly 6,952,960 acres (28,138 km2; 10,864 sq mi), it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding that of the seven smallest U.S. states.[which?] The seat of government is located in Durant, Oklahoma.

Choctaw Nation
Chahta Okla (Choctaw)
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Indian reservation
Flag of the Choctaw Nation
Flag
Official seal of Choctaw Nation
Seal
Motto(s): 
Na Yimmi, Chukkachvffa, Micha Aiimvlhpesa
(English: Faith, Family, Culture)[1]
Anthem:
("Nahata Fichik Tohwikeli"[2] and "Antʋt bilia"
used for some occasions)
Location (red) in the U.S. state of Oklahoma
Location (red) in the U.S. state of Oklahoma
RecognizedJanuary 3, 1786; 239 years ago (1786-01-03) (Treaty)
EstablishedSeptember 27, 1830; 194 years ago (1830-09-27) (Treaty)
Expansions1843–1855
Reductions1855–1867
ConstitutionJanuary 11, 1860; 165 years ago (1860-01-11)
Annexed by the U.S.June 16, 1906; 118 years ago (1906-06-16)
Self-determination1971
Reservation ReconstitutedJuly 9, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-07-09)
CapitalDurant (de facto)
Tuskahoma (de jure)
Subdivisions12 Districts
Government
 • TypeRepublic
 • BodyChoctaw Nation Council
 • ChiefGary Batton (R)
 • Assistant ChiefJack Austin, Jr. (R)
 • Speaker of the Choctaw CouncilThomas Williston
 • Chief JusticeDavid Burrage
 • U.S. House Delegate-designeeVacant
Area
 • Total
28,140 km2 (10,864 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)[3]
 • Total
226,984
 • Density8.1/km2 (21/sq mi)
 48,000
Choctaw/Nat. Am.
185,126 White and other
DemonymChoctaw
Time zoneUTC−06:00 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−05:00 (CDT)
Websitechoctawnation.com
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Total population
223,279 total enrollment,
84,670 enrolled in Oklahoma[4]
Regions with significant populations
United States (Oklahoma)
Languages
English, Choctaw
Religion
Evangelical Protestantism
Related ethnic groups
other Choctaw bands, Chickasaw

As of 2011, the tribe has 223,279 enrolled members, of whom 84,670 live within the state of Oklahoma[7] and 41,616 live within the Choctaw Nation's jurisdiction.[8] A total of 233,126 people live within these boundaries, with its tribal jurisdictional area comprising 10.5 counties in the state.

The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States, and shares borders with the reservations of the Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Cherokee, as well as the U.S. states of Texas and Arkansas. The original territory has expanded and shrunk several times since the 19th century, reaching its current boundaries in 1867.

Terminology

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Map of the Choctaw Nation, c. 1900.

In English, the official name for the area was “Choctaw Nation”, as outlined in Article III of the 1866 Reconstruction Treaty following the Civil War. During its time of sovereignty within the United States Indian Territory, it also utilized the title “Choctaw Republic”.[9] Since 1971, it is officially referred to as the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation maintains a special relationship with both the federal and Oklahoma governments.

Officially a domestic dependent nation since 1971, in July 2020 the Supreme Court ruled in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the eastern area of Oklahoma—about half of the modern state—never lost its status as a Native reservation. This includes the city of Tulsa (located between Muscogee and Cherokee territory). The area includes lands of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Muscogee and Seminole. Among other effects, the decision potentially overturns convictions of over a thousand cases in the area involving tribe members convicted under state laws.[10] The ruling is based on an 1832 treaty, which the court ruled was still in force, adding that, “Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word.”[11] As such, the Choctaw Nation returned from a domestic dependent nation status to that of an Indian reservation.[12]

Geography

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Hills and forests of the Choctaw Nation
 
Boundaries of the Choctaw Nation and the remaining "Five Civilized Tribes" in Oklahoma

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's reservation covers 10,864 square miles (28,140 km2), encompassing eight whole counties and parts of five counties in Southeastern Oklahoma:

Government

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Choctaw Nation Headquarters
 
The historic Choctaw Capitol in Tuskahoma, now a tribal museum

The Tribal Headquarters are located in Durant, and house the office of the Chief. Opened in June 2018, the new headquarters is a 5-story, 500,000 square foot building located on an 80-acre campus in south Durant. It is near other tribal buildings, such as the Regional Health Clinic, Wellness Center, Community Center, Child Development Center, and Food Distribution.[13] Previously, headquarters was located in the former Oklahoma Presbyterian College, with more offices scattered around Durant. The chief of the Choctaw Nation is Gary Batton, who took office on April 29, 2014, after the retirement of Gregory E. Pyle.[14] and the assistant chief is Jack Austin, Jr. The Tribal Council meets monthly at Tvshka Homma, across the street from the historic Choctaw Capitol Building, built in 1884 and since been adapted for use as the Choctaw Nation Museum.

The tribe is governed by the Choctaw Nation Constitution, which was ratified by the people on June 9, 1984. The constitution provides for an executive, a legislative and a judicial branch of government. The chief of the Choctaw Tribe, elected every four years, is not a voting member of the Tribal Council. These members are elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The legislative authority of the tribe is vested in the Tribal Council, which consists of twelve members.

Citizenship in the Choctaw Nation is outlined in Article II Section I of the constitution which states that membership is for "Choctaw Indians by blood whose names appear on the final rolls of the Choctaw Nation approved pursuant to Section 2 of the Act of April 26, 1906, and their lineal descendant." The constitution cannot be amended without a vote of tribal members and currently excludes Choctaw Freedmen.[15] A constitutional amendment can be passed through "two methods: (1) a proposal of Tribal Council requiring 8 affirmative votes and/or (2) by a petition containing the entire text of the amendment and signed by no less than 30 percent of the total number of qualified voters voting in the last Chief's election." While the current Chief, Gary Batton, disagrees that denying citizenship to the Freedmen is a race issue,[16] this ignores the historical racist legacy of the Dawes Rolls.[17][18] Also, because the Nation, along with the other Five Civilized Tribes, supported the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, they severed ties with the federal government,[19] making the U.S. require these tribes to make new peace treaties, emancipate their slaves, and offer full citizenship. Numerous families had intermarried by that time or had other personal ties to the tribe as well,[20] but the Choctaw Nation did not uphold the Treaty of 1866.[16] Some like Chief Batton and Dr. Blue Clarke, a Muscogee Nation citizen and a professor of Indigenous Law at Oklahoma City University, claim it is an issue about tribal sovereignty, though it's only within the last 50 years that they have not been recognized as citizens. The "Freedmen were adopted in as part of the tribe in 1885" but in "1983, the Choctaw Nation added a 'by-blood' requirement into the constitution that excluded many." While tribal sovereignty at times seeks for the tribe to be treated like a country with similar rights, tribes have "treaty relationships with the United States, which makes that relationship part of the foundational fabric of the U.S. government" and the Five Tribes also made agreements with the government after losing in the Civil War when they sided with the Confederacy. For many Choctaw Freedmen, it is about getting the tribe to acknowledge its participation in chattel slavery through Native American slave ownership.[21] The citizenship definition of many tribal nations runs counter to how other countries or nations define their citizenship (based on borders, birth location, naturalization, instead of descendance, race, or ethnicity), and most federally recognized tribes are subject to the U.S. Government's final acceptance.[22]

The General Fund Operating Budget, the Health Systems Operating Budget, and the Capital Projects Budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2017, and ending September 30, 2018, was $516,318,568.[23]

On September 9, 2023, the tribal council approved a comprehensive budget for fiscal year 2024 of $2.529 billion. The budgeted operating expense is $1.585 billion, budgeted maintenance capital is $36.5 million, and cost of goods sold being $495 million that totals a budgeted request of $2.116 billion, resulting in an anticipated net income of $412.7 million.[24]

Politically, the Choctaw Nation is completely encompassed by Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district, represented by Republican and Choctaw citizen Josh Brecheen. With a majority of both Native American and white voters in the region leaning conservative, Republican Donald Trump carried every county in the Choctaw Nation in the 2024 election, as well as every county in the state of Oklahoma, continuing a trend seen in the 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 elections. The Choctaw Nation is located in one of the most conservative areas of Oklahoma, and while registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, the region has consistently gone to Republican candidates. The current head of the government, Chief Gary Batton, is a Republican.

The Choctaw Nation also has the right to appoint a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, per the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek; as of 2024 however, no delegate has been named or sent to the Congress by the Choctaw Nation.

Executive Department

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The supreme executive power of the Choctaw Nation is assigned to a chief magistrate, styled as the "Chief of the Choctaw Nation". The Assistant Chief is appointed by the Chief with the advice and consent of the Tribal Council, and can be removed at the discretion of the Chief.[25] The current Chief of the Choctaw Nation is Gary Batton, and the current Assistant Chief is Jack Austin, Jr.

The Chief's birthday (Batton's is December 15) is a tribal holiday.

In 2021, the tribal council instituted October 16 as Choctaw Flag Day, a holiday to celebrate the adoption of the Choctaw Nation Seal on October 16, 1860.

History

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Before Oklahoma was admitted to the union as a state in 1907, the Choctaw Nation was divided into three districts: Apukshunnubbee, Moshulatubbee, and Pushmataha. Each district had its own chief from 1834 to 1857; afterward, the three districts were put under the jurisdiction of one chief. The three districts were re-established in 1860, again each with their own chief, with a fourth chief to be Principal Chief of the tribe.[26] These districts were abolished at the time of statehood, as tribal government and land claims were dissolved in order for the territory to be admitted as a state.[citation needed] The tribe reorganized to re-establish its government and passed a constitution re-establishing the council in 1979.[27][28] In the elections held that year, Harriet Wright O'Leary James became the first woman elected to serve on the nation's council.[28][29]

List of Chiefs

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Former districts and capitals of Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, that existed from 1834 to 1857, shown with present-day Oklahoma counties.
Choctaw Nation,
Indian Territory
(1834–1906) 		Districts
Moshulatubbee Apukshunnubbee Pushmataha
District Chief Term District Chief Term District Chief Term
Moshulatubbee 1834–1836 Thomas LeFlore 1834–1838 Nitakechi 1834–1838
Joseph Kincaid 1836–1838
John McKinney 1838–1842 James Fletcher 1838–1842 Pierre Juzan 1838–1841
Nathaniel Folsom 1842–1846 Thomas LeFlore 1842–1850 Isaac Folsom 1841–1846
Peter Folsom 1846–1850 Salas Fisher 1846–1850
Cornelius McCurtain 1850–1854 George W. Harkins 1850–1857 George Folsom 1850–1854
David McCoy 1854–1857 Nicholas Cochnauer 1854–1857
Districts abolished in 1857
Unified Nation
Governor Term Party
Alfred Wade 1857–1858
Tandy Walker 1858–1859
Basil LeFlore 1859–1860
Principal Chief Term Party
George Hudson 1860–1862 National
Samuel Garland 1862–1864 National
Peter Pitchlynn 1864–1866 Independent
Allen Wright 1866–1870 Progressive
William Bryant 1870–1874 National
Coleman Cole 1874–1878 National
Isaac Levi Garvin 1878–1880 National
Jackson McCurtain 1880–1884 Progressive
Edmund McCurtain 1884–1886 Progressive
Thompson McKinney 1886–1888 Progressive
Benjamin Smallwood 1888–1890 National
Wilson N. Jones 1890–1894 Progressive
Jefferson Gardner 1894–1896 Progressive
Green McCurtain 1896–1900 Tuskahoma
Gilbert Wesley Dukes 1900–1902 Tuskahoma
Green McCurtain 1902–1906 Tuskahoma
Choctaw Nation
of Oklahoma
(1906–Present)
Chief Term Party
Green McCurtain 1906–1910
(Appointed by Roosevelt in 1906) 		Republican
Victor Locke, Jr. 1910–1918
(Appointed by Taft) 		Republican
William F. Semple 1918–1922
(Appointed by Wilson) 		Democratic
William H. Harrison 1922–1929
(Appointed by Harding) 		Republican
Ben Dwight 1929–1937
(Appointed by Hoover) 		Republican
William A. Durant 1937–1948
(Appointed by Roosevelt) 		Democratic
Harry J. W. Belvin

1948–1959
1959–1970
(First appointed by Eisenhower)
1971–1975

Democratic
C. David Gardner 1975–1978 Republican
Hollis E. Roberts 1978–1997 Democratic
Gregory E. Pyle 1997–2014 Democratic
Gary Batton 2014–Present Republican

Legislative department

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The legislative authority is vested in the Tribal Council. Members of the Tribal Council are elected by the Choctaw people, one for each of the twelve districts in the Choctaw Nation.[30]

 
Current district map of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Current Tribal Council
District Portrait Councilman First elected Term ends
District 1 Thomas Williston November 29, 2010 September 4, 2023
District 2 Johnathan Ward September 7, 2015 September 4, 2023
District 3 Eddie Bohanan September 2, 2019 September 4, 2023
District 4 Delton Cox September 3, 2001 September 5, 2021
District 5 Ronald Perry September 5, 2011 September 4, 2023
District 6 Jennifer Woods September 4, 2017 September 5, 2021
District 7 Jack Austin September 3, 2001 September 5, 2021
District 8 Perry Thompson September 1, 1987 September 4, 2023
District 9 James Dry September 4, 2017 September 5, 2021
District 10 Anthony Dillard September 5, 2005 September 5, 2021
District 11 Robert Karr September 2, 2019 September 4, 2023
District 12 James Frazier September 3, 1990 September 5, 2021
 
Award-winning painter Norma Howard, whose works depicted traditional Choctaw life.

The Tribal council members are the voice and representation of the Choctaw people in the tribal government. In order to be elected as council members, candidates must have resided in their respective districts for at least one year immediately preceding the election and must be at least one-fourth Choctaw Indian by blood and at least twenty-one years of age.[31] Once elected, council members must remain a resident of their district during the term in office.

Once in office, the Tribal council members have regularly scheduled county council meetings. The presence of these tribal leaders in the Indian community creates a sense of understanding of their community and its needs. The Tribal Council is responsible for adopting rules and regulations which govern the Choctaw Nation, for approving all budgets, decisions concerning the management of tribal property, and all other legislative matters. The Tribal Council assists the community to implement an economic development strategy and to plan, organize, and direct Tribal resources to achieve self-sufficiency.

Judicial department

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Durant is also the seat of the tribe's judicial department, housed in the Choctaw Nation Judicial Center, near the Headquarters. The judicial authority of the Choctaw Nation is assigned to the Court of General Jurisdiction (which includes the District Court and the Appellate Division) and the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court consists of a three-member court, who are appointed by the Chief. At least one member, the presiding judge (Chief Justice), must be a lawyer licensed to practice before the Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

Members

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  • Constitutional Court[32]
    • Chief Justice David Burrage
    • Judge Mitch Mullin
    • Judge Frederick Bobb
  • Appellate Division[33]
    • Presiding Judge Pat Phelps
    • Judge Bob Rabon
    • Judge Warren Gotcher
  • District Court[34]
    • Presiding District Judge Richard Branam
    • District Judge Mark Morrison
    • District Judge Rebecca Cryer

Government Treaties

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The Choctaw underwent many changes to their government since its first interactions with the United States. The Choctaw Nation acknowledges these treaties and categorizes them by “Pre-Removal Treaties” and “Post-Removal Treaties”.[35]

Foreign Relations

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The Choctaw supported Ireland by donating money during the Great Irish Famine of 1847. The two nations have maintained relations ever since. In 2018 Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar announced the Choctaw-Ireland Scholarship Programme – an opportunity for Choctaw students to study in Ireland. The program was launched "in recognition of the act of generosity and humanitarianism shown by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma towards the people of Ireland during the Great Famine of the mid-Nineteenth Century, and to foster and deepen the ties between the two nations today". The programme is available for postgraduate students, and those studying at University College Cork; within the disciplines of Art, Social Sciences or Celtic Studies.[36]

In 2015 a sculpture known as Kindred Spirits was erected in the town of Midleton, County Cork, Ireland to commemorate the Choctaw Nation's donation. A delegation of 20 members of the Choctaw Nation attended the opening ceremony along with the County Mayor of Cork. In 2024 a companion sculpture Sacred Hearts was unveiled in Tuskahoma to commemorate Choctaw-Irish relations.[37]

Economy

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Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma

The Choctaw Nation's economic impact in 2022 was over $2.51 billion. The nation employs around 12,000 people, of which 4,200 of those work in Durant, the city's largest single employer. Wages and benefits expenditures were over $838 million,[38] with total revenues from tribal businesses and governmental entities was expected to be $2.45 billion in fiscal year 2023.[39]

The nation has contributed to raising Bryan County's per capita income to about $24,000. The Choctaw Nation has helped build water systems and towers, roads and other infrastructure, and has contributed to additional fire stations, EMS units and law enforcement needs that have accompanied economic growth.

The Choctaw Nation operates several types of businesses. It has seven casinos, 14 tribal smoke shops, 13 truck stops, and two Chili's franchises in Atoka and Poteau.[4] It also owns a printing operation, a corporate drug testing service, hospice care, a metal fabrication and manufacturing business, a document backup and archiving business, and a management services company that provides staffing at military bases, embassies and other sites, among other enterprises. McAlester had long been the largest city in the nation, as well its primary business center and economic anchor. However, it was surpassed in population by Durant at the 2020 United States census.[40]

Health system

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Choctaw Nation Tribal Services Center in Hugo, Oklahoma

The Choctaw Nation is the first indigenous tribe in the United States to build its own hospital with its own funding.[41] The Choctaw Nation Health Care Center, located in Talihina, is a 145,000-square-foot (13,500 m2) health facility with 37 hospital beds for inpatient care and 52 exam rooms. The $22 million hospital is complete with $6 million worth of state-of-the-art[clarification needed] equipment and furnishing. It serves 150,000–210,000 outpatient visits annually. The hospital also houses the Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority, the hub of the tribal health care services of Southeastern Oklahoma.

The tribe also operates eight Indian clinics, one each in Atoka, Broken Bow, Durant, Hugo, Idabel, McAlester, Poteau, and Stigler.

2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award

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The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has participated in a great deal of help for those outside of their nation. In fact, they took part in helping United States troops overseas. They did this by putting together care packages. Their total of packages sent out were close to 3,500. These packages were sent to troops throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.[42]

The United States Department of Defense has an award called the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. This award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. Government to employers for their outstanding support of employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.[43] The executive Director of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, Dr. L. Gordon Sumner Jr., said, "We are pleased and excited to announce Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma as a recipient of the 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The tremendous support Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma provides for Guard and Reserve employees and their families is exemplary and helps our citizen warriors protect our nation without concern for their jobs."

The Choctaw Nation was one of 15 recipients of that year's Freedom Award, selected from 2,199 nominations. Its representatives received the award September 18, 2008, in Washington, D.C. They received the award based on their large employer status with the National Guard and Reserves. The Choctaw Nation is the first Native American tribe to receive this award.

“Oklahomans who serve our country do so at tremendous personal expense and risk. The Choctaw Nation has gone above and beyond to support those men and women,” said Sen. Jay Paul Gumm. “They are a shining example of how employers and communities can go that extra mile for our military personnel.”[44]

History

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Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830)

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Chickasaw and Choctaw territory in Mississippi; the remaining lands ceded in the 1830s in the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek and the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.

The Choctaw were recognized as a sovereign nation under the protection of the United States with the Treaty of Hopewell in 1786. They were militarily aligned with the United States during the American Revolutionary War, Northwest Indian War, Creek Civil War, and the War of 1812. However, relations soured following the election of Andrew Jackson. At Jackson's personal request, the United States Congress opened a fierce debate on an Indian Removal Bill.[45] In the end, the bill passed, but the vote was very close: The Senate passed the measure, 28 to 19, while in the House it passed, 102 to 97. Jackson signed the legislation into law June 30, 1830,[45] and turned his focus onto the Choctaw in Mississippi Territory.

On August 25, 1830, the Choctaws were supposed to meet with Jackson in Franklin, Tennessee, but Greenwood Leflore, a district Choctaw chief, informed Secretary of War John H. Eaton that the warriors were fiercely opposed to attending.[46] Jackson was angered. Journalist Len Green writes "although angered by the Choctaw refusal to meet him in Tennessee, Jackson felt from LeFlore's words that he might have a foot in the door and dispatched Secretary of War Eaton and John Coffee to meet with the Choctaws in their nation."[47] Jackson appointed Eaton and General John Coffee as commissioners to represent him to meet the Choctaws at the Dancing Rabbit Creek near present-day Noxubee County, Mississippi.[citation needed]

Say to them as friends and brothers to listen [to] the voice of their father, & friend. Where [they] now are, they and my white children are too near each other to live in harmony & peace.... It is their white brothers and my wishes for them to remove beyond the Mississippi, it [contains] the [best] advice to both the Choctaws and Chickasaws, whose happiness... will certainly be promoted by removing.... There... their children can live upon [it as] long as grass grows or water runs.... It shall be theirs forever... and all who wish to remain as citizens [shall have] reservations laid out to cover [their improv]ements; and the justice due [from a] father to his red children will [be awarded to] them. [Again I] beg you, tell them to listen. [The plan proposed] is the only one by which [they can be] perpetuated as a nation.... I am very respectfully your friend, & the friend of my Choctaw and Chickasaw brethren. Andrew Jackson. -Andrew Jackson to the Choctaw & Chickasaw Nations, 1829.[48]

The commissioners met with the chiefs and headmen on September 15, 1830, at Dancing Rabbit Creek.[49] In carnival-like atmosphere, the policy of removal was explained to an audience of 6,000 men, women, and children.[49] The Choctaws would now face migration or submit to US law as citizens.[49] The treaty would sign away the remaining traditional homeland to the US; however, a provision in the treaty made removal more acceptable:[citation needed]

 
In 1830 Mosholatubbee sought to be elected to the Congress of the United States before moving to Indian Territory. 1834, Smithsonian American Art Museum

ART. XIV. Each Choctaw head of a family being desirous to remain and become a citizen of the States, shall be permitted to do so, by signifying his intention to the Agent within six months from the ratification of this Treaty, and he or she shall thereupon be entitled to a reservation of one section of six hundred and forty acres of land.... —Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, 1830

On September 27, 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed. It represented one of the largest transfers of land that was signed between the US government and Native Americans without being instigated by warfare. By the treaty, the Choctaws signed away their remaining traditional homelands, opening them up for European-American settlement. The Choctaw were the first to walk the Trail of Tears. Article XIV allowed for nearly 1,300 Choctaws to remain in the state of Mississippi and to become the first major non-European ethnic group to become US citizens.[50][51][52][53] Article 22 sought to put a Choctaw representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.[50] The Choctaw at this crucial time split into two distinct groups: the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The nation retained its autonomy, but the tribe in Mississippi submitted to state and federal laws.[54]

To the voters of Mississippi. Fellow Citizens:-I have fought for you, I have been by your own act, made a citizen of your state; ... According to your laws I am an American citizen, ... I have always battled on the side of this republic ... I have been told by my white brethren, that the pen of history is impartial, and that in after years, our forlorn kindred will have justice and "mercy too" ... I wish you would elect me a member to the next Congress of the [United] States.-Mushulatubba, Christian Mirror and N.H. Observer, July 1830.[55]

Reservation establishment in Oklahoma (1830–1860)

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The Indian Removal Act, a law implementing Removal Policy, was signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The act delineated Indian Territory, where the U.S. federal government forcibly relocated tribes from across the United States, including Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands (such as the Natchez, Yuchi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole). The forced relocation of the Choctaw Nation in 1831 is called the Trail of Tears. In 1834, U.S. Congress defined the first Indian Territory,[56] with the Five Civilized Tribes occupying the land that eventually became the State of Oklahoma, excluding its panhandle.

Influence of Cyrus Kingsbury's Choctaw Mission (1840)

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The Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury, who had ministered among the Choctaw since 1818, accompanied the Choctaws from the Mayhew Mission in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, to their new location in Indian Territory.[citation needed][a] He established the church in Boggy Depot in 1840. The church building was the temporary capitol of the Choctaw Nation in 1859. Allen Wright (principal chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870) lived much of his early life with Kingsbury at Doaksville and the mission school at Pine Ridge. Armstrong Academy was founded in Chahta Tamaha, Indian Territory as a school for Choctaw boys in 1844.[58] It was named after William Armstrong, a popular agent of the Choctaws.[citation needed]

Great Irish Famine aid (1847)

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Choctaw Stickball Player, Painted by George Catlin, 1834

Midway through the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), a group of Choctaw collected $170 ($6,000 in current dollar terms) and sent it to help starving Irish men, women and children. "It had been just 16 years since the Choctaw people had experienced the Trail of Tears, and they had faced starvation... It was an amazing gesture. By today's standards, it might be a million dollars," wrote Judy Allen in 1992, editor of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's newspaper, Bishinik. To mark the 150th anniversary, eight Irish people came to the US to retrace the Trail of Tears to raise money for Somalian relief.[59] (Following publication of Angie Debo's The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic, various articles corrected the cited amount of this donation, saying it was $170 ($6,000).)

Controversy over Slaveholding and separation from Chickasaw Nation (1855)

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See also: Choctaw Freedmen § Government involvement

In Spring 1855, the ABCFM sent Dr. George Warren Wood to visit the Choctaw Mission in Oklahoma to resolve a crisis over the abolition issue.[60] After arriving in Stockbridge Mission, Wood spent over two weeks days visiting missions including the Goodwater Mission, Wheelock Academy, Spencer Academy, and other mission schools. He met with missionaries to discuss Selah B Treat's June 22, 1848, letter permitting them to maintain fellowship with slaveholders.[61] Ultimately, the crisis was not resolved, and by 1859, the Board cut ties to the Choctaw mission altogether.

In 1855, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations formally separated. Doaksville served as the capital of the Choctaw Nation between 1860 and 1863. An 1860 convention in Doaksville ratified the Doaksville Constitution that guided the Choctaw Nation until 1906.[citation needed] The capital moved to Mayhew Mission in 1859, then to Chahta Tamaha in 1863.[citation needed][62] The Oklahoma Historical Society claims that Doaksville began to decline in importance in 1854, when the U.S. Army abandoned Fort Towson.[63]

American Civil War in Indian Territory (1861–65)

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See also: Choctaw in the American Civil War
 
Former flag of the Choctaw Nation, adopted in 1860 and carried by troops during the American Civil War.

The Choctaws sided with the South during the Civil War. Tribal members had become successful cotton planters—owning many slaves. The most famous Choctaw planter was Robert M. Jones. He was part Choctaw and had become influential in politics. Jones eventually supported the Confederacy and became a non-voting member in the Confederacy's House of Representatives. Jones was key for steering the Choctaw Nation in an alliance with the Confederacy. By 1860, the Choctaw Nation lived in a relatively calm and remote society. Many Indian citizen members had become successful farmers, planters, and business men. Angie Debo, author of The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic, wrote: "Taken as a whole the generation from 1833 to 1861 presents a record of orderly development almost unprecedented in the history of any people."[64]

"The Choctaws alone, of all the Indian nations, have remained perfectly united in their loyalty to this Government. It was said to me by more than one influential and reliable Choctaw during my sojourn in their country that not only had no member of that nation ever gone over to the enemy, but that no Indian had ever done so in whose veins coursed Choctaw blood."

— S.S. Scott to James A. Seddon, January 12, 1863[65]

Territory transition to statehood (1900)

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See also: Atoka Agreement
 
Green McCurtain, the last independent Choctaw Chief before the tribe's annexation by the United States.
 
The State of Sequoyah, a U.S. state for Indian Territory proposed in 1905. The Choctaw supported the proposition and were included in the new map. However, the statehood proposal was rejected by Congress and president Theodore Roosevelt.

By the early twentieth century, the United States government had passed laws that reduced the Choctaw's sovereignty and tribal rights in preparation for the extinguishing of land claims and for Indian Territory to be admitted, along with Oklahoma Territory, as part of the State of Oklahoma.

Under the Dawes Act, in violation of earlier treaties, the Dawes Commission registered tribal citizens in official rolls. It forced individual land allotments upon the Tribe's heads of household, and the government classified land beyond these allotments as "surplus", and available to be sold to both native and non-natives. It was primarily intended for European-American (white) settlement and development.

The government created "guardianship" by third parties who controlled allotments while the owners were underage. During the oil boom of the early 20th century, the guardianships became very lucrative; there was widespread abuse and financial exploitation of Choctaw individuals. Charles Haskell, the future governor of Oklahoma, was among the white elite who took advantage of the situation.[66]

The Oklahoma Enabling Act of 1906 led to the full incorporation of Indian Territory into Oklahoma for the purposes of statehood, while the March 4, 1906 implementation of the Curtis Act of 1898 spelled out the final dissolution agreements for all of the Five Civilized Tribes, and thus dissolved the Choctaw government. The Act also set aside a timber reserve, which might be sold at a later time; it specifically excluded coal and asphalt lands from allotment. After Oklahoma was admitted as a state in 1907, tribal chiefs of the Choctaw and other nations were appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.[67]

Pioneering the use of code talking (1918)

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Choctaws in training in World War I for coded radio and telephone transmissions.

During World War I the American army fighting in France became stymied by the Germans' ability to intercept its communications. The Germans successfully decrypted the codes, and were able to read the Americans' secrets and know their every move in advance.[68]

Several Choctaw serving in the 142nd Infantry suggested using their native tongue, the Choctaw language, to transmit army secrets. The Germans were unable to penetrate their language. This change enabled the Americans to protect their actions and almost immediately contributed to a turn-around on the Meuse-Argonne front. Captured German officers said they were baffled by the Choctaw words, which they were completely unable to translate. According to historian Joseph Greenspan, the Choctaw language did not have words for many military ideas, so the code-talkers had to invent other terms from their language. Examples are "'big gun' for artillery, 'little gun shoot fast' for machine gun, 'stone' for grenade and 'scalps' for casualties."[68] Historians credit these soldiers with helping bring World War I to a faster conclusion.

There were fourteen Choctaw Code Talkers. The Army repeated the use of Native Americans as code talkers during World War II, working with soldiers from a variety of American Indian tribes, including the Navajo. Collectively the Native Americans who performed such functions are known as code talkers.

Citizenship (1920s)

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The Burke Act of 1906 provided that tribal members would become full United States citizens within 25 years, if not before. In 1928 tribal leaders organized a convention of Choctaw and Chickasaw tribe members from throughout Oklahoma. They met in Ardmore to discuss the burdens being placed upon the tribes due to passage and implementation of the Indian Citizenship Act and the Burke Act. Since their tribal governments had been abolished, the tribes were concerned about the inability to secure funds that were due them for leasing their coal and asphalt lands, in order to provide for their tribe members. Czarina Conlan was selected as chair of the convention. They appointed a committee composed of Henry J. Bond, Conlan, Peter J. Hudson, T.W. Hunter and Dr. E. N Wright, for the Choctaw; and Ruford Bond, Franklin Bourland, George W. Burris, Walter Colbert and Estelle Ward, for the Chickasaw to determine how to address their concerns.[69]

After meeting to prepare the recommendation, the committee broke with precedent when it sent Czarina Conlan (Choctaw) and Estelle Chisholm Ward (Chickasaw) to Washington to argue in favor of passage of a bill proposed by U.S. House Representative Wilburn Cartwright. It proposed sale of the coal and asphalt holdings, but continuing restrictions against sales of Indian lands. This was the first time that women had been sent to Washington as representatives of their tribes.[70]

Termination efforts (1950s)

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From the late 1940s through the 1960s, the federal government pursued an Indian termination policy, to end the special relationship of tribes. Retreating from the emphasis of self-government of Indian tribes, Congress passed a series of laws to enable the government to end its trust relationships with native tribes. On 13 August 1946, it passed the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946, Pub. L. No. 79-726, ch. 959. Its purpose was to settle for all time any outstanding grievances or claims the tribes might have against the U.S. for treaty breaches (which were numerous), unauthorized taking of land, dishonorable or unfair dealings, or inadequate compensation on land purchases or annuity payments. Claims had to be filed within a five-year period.

Most of the 370 complaints submitted were filed at the approach of the 5-year deadline in August 1951.[71]

In 1946, the government had appropriated funds for the sale of Choctaw tribal coal and asphalt resources. Though the Choctaw won their case, they were charged by the courts with almost 10% of the $8.5 million award in administrative fees. In 1951, the tribe took advantage of the new law and filed a claim for over $750,000 to recover those fees.[72]

When Harry J. W. Belvin was appointed chief of the Choctaw in 1948 by the Secretary of the Interior, he realized that only federally recognized tribes were allowed to file a claim with the Commission. If he wanted to get that money back, his tribe needed to reorganize and re-establish its government. He created a democratically elected tribal council and a constitution to re-establish a government, but his efforts were opposed by the Area Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Ultimately, the Choctaw filed a claim with the Claims Commission on a technicality in 1951. The suit was classified as a renewal of the 1944 case against the US Court of Claims, but that did not stop the antagonism between Belvin and the area BIA officials.[67] The BIA had had management issues for decades. Poorly trained personnel, inefficiency, corruption, and lack of consistent policy plagued the organization almost from its founding.[73] For Belvin, relief from BIA oversight of policies and funds seemed as if it might enable the Choctaw to maintain their own traditional ways of operating and to reform their own governing council.[67]

After eleven years as Choctaw chief, Belvin persuaded Representative Carl Albert of Oklahoma to introduce federal legislation to begin terminating the Choctaw tribe.[67] On 23 April 1959, the BIA confirmed that H.R. 2722 had been submitted to Congress at the request of the tribe. It would provide for the government to sell all remaining tribal assets, but would not affect any individual Choctaw earnings. It also provided for the tribe to retain half of all mineral rights, to be managed by a tribal corporation.[74]

On 25 August 1959, Congress passed a bill[75] to terminate the tribe; it was called "Belvin's law" because he was the main advocate behind it. Belvin created overwhelming support for termination among tribespeople through his promotion of the bill, describing the process and expected outcomes. Tribal members later interviewed said that Belvin never used the word "termination" for what he was describing, and many people were unaware he was proposing termination.[76] The provisions of the bill were intended to be a final disposition of all trust obligations and a final "dissolution of the tribal governments."[74]

The original act was to have expired in 1962, but was amended twice to allow more time to sell the tribal assets. As time wore on, Belvin realized that the bill severed the tribe members' access to government loans and other services, including the tribal tax exemption. By 1967, he had asked Oklahoma Congressman Ed Edmondson to try to repeal the termination act.[67] Public sentiment was changing as well. The Choctaw people had seen what termination could do to tribes, since they witnessed the process with four other tribes in Oklahoma: the Wyandotte Nation, Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma, and Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma. In 1969, ten years after passage of the Choctaw termination bill and one year before the Choctaws were to be terminated, word spread throughout the tribe that Belvin's law was a termination bill. Outrage over the bill generated a feeling of betrayal, and tribal activists formed resistance groups opposing termination. Groups such as the Choctaw Youth Movement (from the nationalist perspective) and some Red Power chapters (from the pan-Indianist perspective) in the late 1960s fought politically against the termination law. They helped create a new sense of tribal pride, especially among younger generations. Their protest delayed termination; Congress repealed the law on 24 August 1970.[76]

Self-determination 1970s-present

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The 1970s were a crucial and defining decade for the Choctaw. To a large degree, the Choctaw repudiated the more extreme Indian activism. They sought a local grassroots solution to reclaim their cultural identity and sovereignty as a nation.

Republican President Richard Nixon, long sympathetic to American Indian rights, ended the government's push for termination. On August 24, 1970, he signed a bill repealing the Termination Act of 1959, before the Choctaw would have been terminated.[clarification needed] Some Oklahoma Choctaw organized a grassroots movement to change the direction of the tribal government. In 1971, the Choctaw held their first popular election of a chief since Oklahoma entered the Union in 1907. Nixon stated the tribes had a right to determine their own destiny.

A group calling themselves the Oklahoma City Council of Choctaws endorsed thirty-one-year-old David Gardner for chief, in opposition to the current chief, seventy-year-old Harry Belvin. Gardner campaigned on a platform of greater financial accountability, increased educational benefits, the creation of a tribal newspaper, and increased economic opportunities for the Choctaw people. Amid charges of fraud and rule changes concerning age, Gardner was declared ineligible to run. He did not meet the new minimum age requirement of thirty-five. Belvin was re-elected to a four-year term as chief.

In 1975, thirty-five-year-old David Gardner defeated Belvin to become the Choctaw Nation's second popularly elected chief. 1975 also marked the year that the United States Congress passed the landmark Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, which had been supported by Nixon before he resigned his office due to the Watergate scandal. This law revolutionized the relationship between Indian Nations and the federal government by providing for nations to make contracts with the BIA, in order to gain control over general administration of funds destined for them.[citation needed]

Native American tribes such as the Choctaw were granted the power to negotiate and contract directly for services, as well as to determine what services were in the best interest of their people. During Gardner's term as chief, a tribal newspaper, Hello Choctaw, was established. In addition, the Choctaw directed their activism at regaining rights to land and other resources. With the Muscogee and Cherokee nations, the Choctaw successfully sued the federal and state government over riverbed rights to the Arkansas River.

Discussions began on the issue of drafting and adopting a new constitution for the Choctaw people. A movement began to increase official enrollment of members, increase voter participation, and preserve the Choctaw language. In early 1978, David Gardner died of cancer at the age of thirty-seven. Hollis Roberts was elected chief in a special election, serving from 1978 to 1997.

In June 1978 the Bishinik replaced Hello Choctaw as the tribal newspaper. Spirited debates over a proposed constitution divided the people. In May 1979, they adopted a new constitution for the Choctaw nation.[citation needed]

Faced with termination as a sovereign nation in 1970, the Choctaws emerged a decade later as a tribal government with a constitution, a popularly elected chief, a newspaper, and the prospects of an emerging economy and infrastructure that would serve as the basis for further empowerment and growth.

The Choctaw Nation is one of three federally recognized Choctaw tribes; the others are the sizable Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, with 10,000 members and territory in several communities, and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana, with a few hundred members. The latter two bands are descendants of Choctaw who resisted the forced relocation to Indian Territory. The Mississippi Choctaw preserved much of their culture in small communities and reorganized as a tribal government in 1945 under new laws after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.[77]

Notable tribal citizens

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Mayhew mission was abandoned when the Choctaws left, and remained vacant. The remaining townspeople moved when the Mobile and Ohio Railroad bypassed the community in 1857. Almost nothing except the cemetery and the church remains of the original community.[57]

References

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  1. ^ Tribal Council approves Official Choctaw Flag Salute
  2. ^ The Star Spangled Banner – Nahata Fichik Tohwikeli – Choctaw
  3. ^ "2020 Census Results: NCAI Eastern Oklahoma and Southern Plains Region Tribal Land Data" (PDF). Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory" (PDF). Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 27, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  5. ^ "History". www.choctawnation.com/. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  6. ^ "Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year". 1916.
  7. ^ "2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
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  9. ^ Debo, Angie (1934). The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic. University of Oklahoma Press.
  10. ^ "US Supreme Court rules half of Oklahoma is Native American land". BBC News. 10 July 2020.
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  14. ^ "Executive Branch – Choctaw Nation". ChoctawNation.com. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  15. ^ Murphy, Sean (May 2, 2021). "Black Freedmen struggle for recognition as tribal citizens". Associated Press. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  16. ^ a b Herrera, Allison (September 21, 2021). "Interview: Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton Talks About Freedmen Citizenship". KOSU. NPR. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
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  26. ^ "CONTENTdm".
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  28. ^ a b "Representative Roberts Choctaw Chief". Sapulpa Daily Herald. Sapulpa, Oklahoma. July 30, 1979. p. 11. Retrieved August 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Designers Responsible for Their Creations". The Dispatch. Moline, Illinois. May 8, 1983. p. 6. Retrieved 30 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  45. ^ a b Sharyn Kane & Richard Keeton. "As Long as Grass Grows". Fort Benning – The Land and the People. SEAC. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
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  50. ^ a b Kappler, Charles (1904). "INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES Vol. II, Treaties". Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  51. ^ Baird, David (1973). "The Choctaws Meet the Americans, 1783 to 1843". The Choctaw People. United States: Indian Tribal Series. p. 36. LCCN 73-80708.
  52. ^ Council of Indian Nations (2005). "History & Culture, Citizenship Act – 1924". Council of Indian Nations. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  53. ^ Carleton, Ken (2002). "A Brief History of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians" (PDF). Mississippi Archaeological Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  54. ^ Kidwell (2007); Kidwell (1995)
  55. ^ "An Indian Candidate for Congress". Christian Mirror and N.H. Observer, Shirley, Hyde & Co. July 15, 1830.
  56. ^ H.R. Rep. No. 496, pt. 1, at 7 (Jan. 23, 1906)
  57. ^ Herrick, C. L. "Mayhew, Lowndes County, Mississippi." Lowndes, Mississippi Genealogy & History Network. 2017. Accessed March 24, 2018.
  58. ^ Morris, John (1977). Ghost Towns of Oklahoma. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-8061-1420-0.
  59. ^ Ward, Mike (1992). "Irish Repay Choctaw Famine Gift: March Traces Trail of Tears in Trek for Somalian Relief". American-Stateman Capitol. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  60. ^ Spring, Joel (1996). The Cultural Transformation of A Native American Family and Its Tribe 1763–1995: A Basket of Apples. New York, London: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). ISBN 0-8058-2303-4. in 1855, the American Board decided to send George Wood to investigate the situation in Indian Missions... While visiting the Choctaw Nation, Wood spent 3 days each at the Wheelock and Spencer Academies, and 9 days at other schools
  61. ^ Cassity, Michael; Goble, Danney (2009). Divided Hearts: The Presbyterian Journey Through Oklahoma History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 77–80. ISBN 978-0-8061-3848-0. Retrieved August 24, 2016. members of the mission met Wood at Goodwater Mission, a school that had been suspended since 1853 ... Part of the key [to cordial discussion] was Wood's decision at the outset to 'drop for the present' the contentious letter from the American Board of June 22, 1848
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  66. ^ Angie Debo, And Still the Waters Run, Princeton University Press, 1972, pg 159–180
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  69. ^ "Chickasaws and Choctaws to Send Delegation to Capital". The Daily Ardmoreite. Ardmore, Oklahoma. March 25, 1928. p. 3. Retrieved 8 August 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
  70. ^ "Indians Break Precedents to Send Women Representatives". The Daily Ardmoreite. Ardmore, Oklahoma. April 3, 1928. p. 2. Retrieved 8 August 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
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  72. ^ Kidwell 2002, pp. 10–12
  73. ^ "Indian Lands, Indian Subsidies". Downsizing the Federal Government. February 2012.
  74. ^ a b "Department Supports Choctaw Termination Bill Introduced in Congress at the Request of Tribal Representatives" (PDF). Department of the Interior. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  75. ^ "Public Law 86-192". US Code. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  76. ^ a b Lambert, Valerie (2007). "Political Protest, Conflict, and Tribal Nationalism: The Oklahoma Choctaws and the Termination Crisis of 1959–1970". American Indian Quarterly. 31, No. 2 (Spring 2007). University of Nebraska Press: 283–309. doi:10.1353/aiq.2007.0024. JSTOR 4138948. S2CID 154309883.
  77. ^ Ferguson, Bob; Leigh Marshall (1997). "Chronology". Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
  78. ^ Hoxie, Frederick E. (2012). This Indian Country: American Indian Activists and the Place They Made. New York: The Penguin Press. ISBN 9780143124023.
  79. ^ Tabak, Lawrence A. (2023-03-13). "Dr. Karina Walters selected to lead NIH Tribal Health Research Office". National Institutes of Health (NIH). Retrieved 2023-04-01.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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