I have had several people ask me to explain how there came to be both the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The explanation goes back to the Choctaw Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830. That was the treaty by which the Choctaw people (under lightly veiled threat of force) agreed to give up their homeland in Mississippi and move west of the Mississippi River to the “Indian Territory”.
While the majority of Choctaws chose to move west on what would become the Trail of Tears, some took advantage of a special treaty provision that allowed them to stay in their homeland. Those who traveled to what is now Oklahoma were the ones recognized by the U.S. government as the Choctaw Nation. Those who remained in the homeland of Mississippi were not officially recognized by the government until after 115 years had passed.
To fully appreciate what happened, a look at the Choctaw Indian Nation in Mississippi in 1830 is in order. In 1830 the Choctaw were a civilized people and those living in what is now the Columbus — Starkville area (north of Tibbee Creek was the Chickasaw Nation) were living lifestyles little different from that of the early Euro-American settlers. At that time the Choctaws lived in log or frame houses, raised horses, cattle and hogs, farmed with extensive corn fields, and many of their children attended the school at the Mayhew Mission (on Tibbee Creek southwest of present day West Point).
In addition Choctaws (and Chickasaws) sold agricultural products and deer skins to merchants in Columbus and shopped in Columbus. Artifacts found on several 1820s Choctaw house sites in our area include fragments of English dinnerware and wine bottles. It is interesting to note that artifacts found on those Choctaw house sites are much the same as found on an 1820s house site in downtown Columbus. Many of the English china patterns are even the identical patterns.
The Choctaw had always been friends and allies of the United States. In the War of 1812/Creek Indian War almost 700 Choctaw warriors joined General Andrew Jackson’s army to fight the Creek Indians who were allied with the British. The Choctaws were led by their great chief, Pushmataha, who General Jackson commissioned a Colonel in the army. However, the relationship between the Choctaws and the Euro-Americans became strained over the new settlers’ desire for the rich land upon which the Choctaws lived and farmed.
Finally in 1830 the Choctaw Nation relented to the increasing pressure and agreed to give up their homeland and remove to the west and present day Oklahoma. It was the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek which was signed southwest of present day Macon in 1830 that mandated that removal of the Choctaws from present day Mississippi. There resulted a series of migrations west. The people were little prepared, poorly supplied and that combined with horrible weather turned the treks into the Trail of Tears.
There was, though, a special provision in the treaty that allowed Choctaws to remain on their land in Mississippi but subject to Mississippi law. After remaining on the land for five years they would receive legal title to the land and become U.S. citizens. While influential Choctaws were awarded large tracts of land there was a provision that if a family had a dwelling house and at least two acres of land under cultivation they could retain that land. The more acres that they had under cultivation the greater the acreage that would be reserved to them under the treaty. In the present day Columbus – Starkville area there were many scattered Choctaw Reserves and several concentrations or communities. Clusters of farmsteads were located along the south side of Tibbee Creek, which was the Choctaw-Chickasaw boundary. Another cluster of about 18 families centered around the Oktoc area of southeastern Oktibbeha County.
Deeper within the Choctaw Nation were many other reserves but there were also Choctaw who just stayed. They all became subject to the laws of the United States and Mississippi and not tribal law. About 4,000 Choctaw wished to remain in their homeland but because many records were quickly “lost” only about 1,300 received their reserves of land promised under the treaty. The Choctaw agent many hold responsible for the “lost” land records was named Ward and happily is no relation to me.
The federal government recognized the Choctaws who immigrated west as the Choctaw Nation and did not give any recognition to those who remained in Mississippi. The first Federal acknowledgment of the remaining Mississippi Choctaws did not come until after the flu epidemic of 1918 killed about a quarter of those still here. As a result the Bureau of Indian Affairs began to increasingly provide assistance within the communities in the Philadelphia and Carthage area. Finally in 1945 the Federal government officially recognized the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. So today there is the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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