Chickasaw

 

(chĭk'əsô) , Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They occupied N Mississippi and were closely related in language and culture to the Choctaw. The Chickasaw warred constantly with the Choctaw, the Creek, the Cherokee, and the Shawnee. The decline of the Chickasaw can be traced to the conflict for control of interior North America between France and Great Britain. Probably because British traders were established in their country before the settlement of Louisiana, the Chickasaw fought on the side of Great Britain, and French attempts to make peace with them were unsuccessful. After 1834 they moved, according to treaty arrangements, to Oklahoma, where they constituted one of the Five Civilized Tribes. In 1990 there were 21,500 Chickasaw in the United States.

Bibliography

See A. M. Gibson, The Chickasaws (1971).

Chickasaw
Total population
38,000 [1]
Regions with significant populations
United States (Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana)
Language(s)
English, Chickasaw
Religion(s)
Protestantism, other
Related ethnic groups
Native American, Five Civilized Tribes, Choctaw

The Chickasaw are a Native American people of the United States, who originally came from the bank of the Tennessee River just west of Huntsville, Alabama. Sometime prior to the first European contact, the Chickasaw moved east, and settled east of the Mississippi. All historical records indicate the Chickasaw lived in northeast Mississippi from the first European contact until they were forced to remove to Oklahoma, where most now live. They are related to the Choctaws, who speak a language very similar to the Chickasaw language, both forming the Western Group of the Muskogean languages. "Chickasaw" is the English spelling of Chikasha (IPA: [tʃikaʃːa]), that means "rebel" or "comes from Chicsa". The Chickasaw are divided in two groups: the "Impsaktea" and the "Intcutwalipa". The Chickasaws were one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" forcibly removed to the Indian Territory during the era of Indian Removal. The Chickasaw Nation is the thirteenth largest federally-recognized tribe in the United States.

History

The origin of the Chickasaws is uncertain. When Europeans first encountered them, the Chickasaws were living in villages in what is now Mississippi, with a smaller number in South Carolina. The Chickasaws may have been immigrants to the area, and perhaps were not descendants of Indians of the pre-historic Mississippian culture. Their oral history supports this, indicating they moved, along with the Choctaws from west of the Mississippi in pre-history.

The first European contact with the Chickasaws was in 1540, when Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto encountered them and stayed in one of their towns, most likely near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi. After various disagreements, the Chickasaws attacked the De Soto expedition in a nightime raid, nearly destroying the expedition, soon after which the Spanish moved on.

The Chickasaws began to trade with the British after the colony of Carolina was founded in 1670. With British-supplied guns, the Chickasaws raided their enemies the Choctaws, capturing Choctaws and selling them into slavery, a practice that stopped once the Choctaws acquired guns from the French. The Chickasaws were often at war with the French and the Choctaws in the eighteenth century, such as in the Battle of Ackia on May 26, 1736, until France gave up her claims to the region after the Seven Years' War.

The majority of the tribe was deported to Indian Territory (now headquartered in Ada, Oklahoma) in the 1830s. Remnants of the South Carolina Chickasaws, known as the Chaloklowa Chickasaws have reorganized tribal government, and gained official recognition from the state in the summer of 2005, having their tribal headquarters at Indiantown, South Carolina.

During the American Civil War, the Chickasaw Nation allied with the South(Joseph McClure) and it was the last Confederate community to surrender in the U.S.

The Chickasaw Nation Capital (1855-1907) was Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The third capital building was used as the Johnston County Courthouse until recently, when it was reclaimed by the Chickasaw Nation. The present structure is built of red granite in the Victorian Gothic style, and is located in Tishomingo. Most government services are administrated from Ada.

Culture

Pashofa, cracked white hominy boiled with pork, is a main dish which is still eaten. Hogs are not native to the Americas, but escaped and became feral from De Soto's expedition.

Obion is a Chickasaw Indian name meaning "river of many forks".

The suffix "-mingo" (Chickasaw: minko' ) is used to identify a chieftain. For example, "Tishomingo" was the name of a famous Chickasaw chief. The town of Tishomingo, Mississippi and Tishomingo County, Mississippi were named after him, as was the town of Tishomingo, Oklahoma. South Carolina's Black Mingo Creek was named after the colonial Chickasaw chief, who controlled the lands around it as a sort of hunting preserve. Sometimes it is spelled "minko", but this most generally occurs in older literary references.

The Chickasaw Nation recently hosted a pre-screening of Mel Gibson's new movie, Apocalypto. Gibson held two pre-screening for two Native American audiences, at the Riverwind Casino in Goldsby, owned by the Chickasaw Nation, and at Cameron University in Lawton.^[1]

Notable Chickasaws

• Bill Anoatubby, Governor of the Chickasaw Nation since 1987
• Amanda Cobb, author and professor of American studies^[2]
• Levi Colbert, Chickasaw language translator
• Tom Cole, Republican U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma
• Molly Culver, actress
• Bee Ho Gray, actor
• John Herrington, NASA Astronaut, first Native American in space
• Hulk Hogan, Wrestler
• Miko Hughes, child actor
• Rodd Redwing, actor
• Fred Waite, cowboy

See also

• Chickasaw language

References

1. ^ "Gibson takes 'Apocalypto' to Oklahoma", Associated Press, 2006-09-23. Retrieved on 2006-09-24. (English) 
2. ^ Public Affairs Department, University of New Mexico. "UNM ASSISTANT PROFESSOR WINS AMERICAN BOOK AWARD", September 7 2001. Accessed June 27 2007.

• Calloway, Colin G. The American Revolution in Indian Country. Cambridge University Press, 1995.see google.com

External links

• The Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma (official site)
• Chickasaw Nation Industires (government contracting arm of the Chickasaw Nation)
• "Chickasaws: The Unconquerable People", a brief history by Greg O’Brien, Ph.D.
• Encyclopedia of North American Indians
• "Chickasaw History" by Lee Sultzman
• John Bennett Herrington is First Native American Astronaut (on chickasaw.net)
• Tishomingo
• Pashofa recipe
• Some Chickasaw information in discussion of DeSoto Trail

Five Civilized Tribes
Chickasaw · Cherokee · Choctaw · Creek · Seminole

Donate to Wikimedia