The Culture of the Choctaw has greatly evolved over the centuries combining mostly European-American influences; however, interaction with Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 greatly shaped it as well. The Choctaws, or Chahtas, are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States. They were known for their rapid incorporation of modernity, developing a written language, transitioning to yeoman

Yeoman

Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...

 farming methods, and accepting European-American and African-Americans into their society. The Choctaw culture has it roots in the Mississippian culture

Mississippian culture

The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....

 era of the mound builders.

Clans

Within the Choctaws were two distinct Moieties: Imoklashas (elders) and Inhulalatas (youth). Each moiety had several clans or Iskas, it is estimated there were about 12 Iskas altogether. Identity was established first by Moiety and Iska, so a Choctaw identified himself first as Imoklasha or Inhulata and second as Choctaw. Children belonged to the Iska of their mother meaning they are matrilineal. The following were some major districts:

• Okla Hannalli (people of six towns)
• Okla Tannap (people from the other side)
• Okla Fayala (people who are widely dispersed)

John Swanton writes "there are only the faintest traces of groups with truly totemic designations, the animal and plant names which occur seeming not to have had a totemic connotation."
Swanton also adds 'Adam Hodgson ... who "spoke English very well," told ... "that there were tribes or families among the Indians, somewhat similar to the Scottish clans; such as, the Panther family, the Bird family, Raccoon Family, the Wolf family."' The following are possible totemic clan designations:

• Wind
• Bear
• Deer
• Wolf
• Panther
• Holly Leaf
• Bird
• Raccoon
• Crawfish

Criminal justice

Murder was usually dealt with by revenge. Swanton writes, "Murder, i.e., intratribal man-killing, could be atoned for ordinarily only by the death of the murderer himself or some substitute acceptable to the injured family… they cherish a desire for revenge for a generation…"

Stolen property was usually punishable by returning the stolen goods or other compensation. Swanton says, "thieves apprehended with the stolen property in their possession were forced to return it. If they could not produce the property, either they or their families were compelled to return goods of equal value." Theft was later punishable by a whip. Swanton states of Cushman, "for minor offenses, whipping was the punishment; fifty lashes for the first offense, one hundred for the second, and death by the rifle for the third offense ... (1899)."

Incest was considered a crime. Swanton states, "incest ... was anciently a major crime, but we have no record of the punishments inflicted on account of it."

Early religion

The Choctaws believed in a good spirit and an evil spirit, and they may have been sun, or Hushtahli, worshipers. Swanton writes, "the Choctaws anciently regarded the sun as a deity ... the sun was ascribed the power of life and death. He was represented as looking down upon the earth, and as long as he kept his flaming eye fixed on any one, the person was safe ... fire, as the most striking representation of the sun, was considered as possessing intelligence, and as acting in concert with the sun ... [having] constant intercourse with the sun ..." The word nanpisa (the one who sees) expresses the reverence the Choctaw had for the sun.
The evil spirit, or Na-lusa-chi-to ("black being") or Impashilup ("soul eater"), sought to harm people. It may appear, as told in stories, in the form of a shadow person

Shadow people

Shadow people are supernatural shadow-like humanoid figures that, according to believers, are seen mostly in peripheral vision and move quickly...

.

Prayers may have been introduced by missionaries; however, Choctaw prophets were know to address the sun. Swanton writes, "an old Choctaw informed Wright that, before the arrival of the missionaries, they had no conception of prayer. However, he adds, 'I have indeed heard it asserted by some, that anciently their hopaii, or prophets, on some occasions were accustomed to address the sun ...'"

Mythology

The Choctaw have many stories about little people. Swanton states of Halbert, "the Choctaws in Mississippi say that there is a little man, about two feet high, that dwells in the thick woods and is solitary in his habits ... he often playfully throws sticks and stones at the people ... the Indian's doctors say that Bohpoli [thrower] assists them in the manufacture of their medicines ..." The little people are said to take young children to the forest to teach them how to be medicine men.

The will-o'-the-wisp

Will-o'-the-wisp

A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...

 was called "night-name" by the Indians and was believed to plait up the tails of horses during the night and to ride them about until they could hardly be used next day and many died from the effects.

Stories

Storytelling is a popular part of entertainment in many Native American societies. This stood also true for the Choctaws. Stories would recount their origins and would retell the deeds of heroes long gone. There are also stories about possums, raccoons, turtles, birds, chipmunks, and wolves. Randy Jimmie and Leonard Jimmie state,
One such story of forest animals is about a possum and raccoon. Randy Jimmie and Leonard Jimmie tells,

Warfare

Choctaw warfare had many customs associated with it. Before war was declared a council was held to discuss the matter which would last about eight days. Swanton writes on Bossu's account, "The Chactas love war and have some good methods of making it. They never fight standing fixedly in one place; they flit about; they heap contempt upon their enemies without at the same time being braggarts, for when they come to grips they fight with much coolness ..." Superstition was a part of Choctaw warfare. Swanton says, "The Chactas are extremely superstitious. When they are about to go to war they consult their Manitou, which is carried by the chief. They always exhibit it on that side where they are going to march toward the enemy, the warriors standing guard about ..."

When the Choctaw capture an enemy, he or she was displayed as a war trophy. Swanton writes of what Roman wrote, "they never exercised so much cruelty upon their captive enemies as the other savages; they almost always brought them home to shew them, and then dispatched them with a bullet or hatchet; after which, the body being cut into many parts, and all the hairy pieces of skin converted into scalps, the remainder is buried and the above trophies carried home, where the women dance with them till tired; then they are exposed on the tops of the hot houses till they are annihilated ..."

For some societies, the practice of decapitation

Decapitation

Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...

 was considered an honor. This practice seems to be true for the Choctaw of Oskelagna. A fallen Choctaw warrior's head was brought back after a battle. Swanton says of De Lusser (1730), "there was one who brought the head of one of their people who had been killed. He threw it at my feet telling me that he was a warrior who had lost his life for the French and that it was well to weep for his death ..."

Language

The Choctaw language is a member of the Muskogean family. The language was well known among the frontiersmen, such as future U.S. President Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

 and William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...

, of the early 19th century. The language is closely related to Chickasaw and some linguists consider the two dialects a single language.

The alphabet

The written Choctaw language is based upon English characters and was developed in conujunction with the civilization program of the United States in the early 19th century. Although there are other variation of the Choctaw alphabet, the three commonly must seen are the Byington (Original), Byington/Swanton (Linguistic), and Modern.

Byington (Original)

Byington/Swanton (Linguistic)

Modern

Stickball

Native American stickball, one of the oldest field sports in the Americas, was also known as the "little brother of war" because of its roughness and substitution for war. When disputes arouse between Choctaw communities, stickball provided a "civilized" way to settle the issue. The earliest reference to stickball was in 1729 by a Jesuit priest. The stickball games would involve as few as twenty or as many as 300 players. John R. Swanton states of George Catlin's remarks on the game,

"It is no uncommon occurrence for six or eight hundred or a thousand [!] of these young men to engage in a game of ball, with five or six times that number of spectators, of men, women, and children, surrounding the ground, and looking on..."

The goal posts could be from a few hundred feet apart to a few miles. Goal posts were sometimes located within each opposing team's village.

"The nature of the playing field was never strictly defined. The only boundaries were the two goalposts at either end of the playing area and these could be anywhere from 100 feet (30.5 m) to five miles (8 km) apart, as was the case in one game in the 19th century." (Kendall Blanchard, The Mississippi Choctaws at Play: The Serious Side of Leisure)

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians play stickball today in the 21st century. Every year at the Choctaw Indian Fair

Choctaw Indian Fair

For centuries the Mississippi Choctaws have gathered at the ripening of the first corn. This gathering was called "The New Corn Ceremony" or "Green Corn Festival." The present day Choctaw Indian Fair has roots in this ancient celebration....

near Philadelphia, Mississippi stickball can be seen played on a modern day football field.

Traditional arts

The Choctaws are basket weavers and bead workers, dancers and musicians, and cuisine specialists, all of which are part of the collective Choctaw culture that defines them as a distinct cultural group.

External links

• Allen Wright
• Choctaw Culture