Choctaw People: Indian Policy 1801-1830

Choctaw People:Indian Policy 1801-1830 Ryan L. Spring, GIS/GPS Specialist Historic Preservation Department Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Topics • Choctaw People: Society & Government • 1801: Early Indian Policy • 1812: Allies of the United States • 1817: Removal Policy & Choctaw Education • 1820: Doaks’ Stand and Washington City • 1830: Chukfiahihlabok: Chahtaohoyomicha in bvshpo

Choctaw Society Matriarchal Society Moieties (iksa) KashapaOkla (Divided People) Kush iksa (Reed Clan) Law Okla (?) LulakOkla (probably Fire People) Limoklasha/Itimoklasha (There People are There) OklaInholahta (Beloved People) Chufaniksa (Beloved People) Isketani (Small people) Chitto (Big people) ShakchiOkla (Crawfish People) • Society centered around the Women. • Kinship based on the mother’s Moiety & Clan • Boys raised by the mother’s uncle • Revenge Law • Punishment

Givers of Life • Foundation of the Community • Property Owners • Agricultural producers • Domestic • Pottery • Basketry • Cooking • Clothing Bushnell 1909 Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia 24450

Takers of Life • Hunters • Protected the Community • Played Stickball • Interacted with Other Groups • Did the Heaviest Work • Served as Orators & Historians Bushnell 1909

Choctaw Government • Choctaw Government • Three Districts • OklaFalayaChief Apukshunnubbee • AhepvtOklaChief Mushulatubbe • OklaHannaliChief Pushmataha • Village • Chief • Council • Squirrel Chief • War Chief

Creation of Indian Policy • 1801: Thomas Jefferson Elected President • Cultural Imperialism • American Culture • Assimilation New York Historic Society 1805

Trade, Debts, and Treaties • 1801 Treaty of Fort Adams • Natchez Trace • Protect Mississippi • 1802 Treaty of Fort Confederation • Protect the Mississippi • 1803 Treaty of Hoe Buckintoopa • Defense of Mobile • 1805 Treat of Mount Dexter

YakniAwehli(The Taking of Land) After DeRosier 1970:29

Changes in Choctaw Society • Pressure from Settlers • Changes in Choctaw Society • Mixed Bloods • Men: Property & Trade • Allies of the United States

War of 1812: The First Choctaw War • United States is at war with Great Britain. Tensions peak between Muscogee people and whites. • Summer 1813: Muscogee Chiefs (Red Sticks) hold council with Choctaw Chiefs to decide on the issue of war against the United States. Choctaw Chiefs decline and settle for neutrality. • Fall 1813: War erupts, Red Sticks begin to attack American settlements. Fort Mims is attacked. Choctaw villages attacked. • Choctaw Chiefs meet with the United States. Pushmataha is granted a field commission as Lt. Colonel in the US Army under Andrew Jackson. • Winter 1813: Pushmataha and his warriors join Jackson’s Army.They defeat the Red Sticks at Battle of Holy Ground. 1814 Pushmataha enlist more warriors for Jackson’s Pensacola Campaign. Choctaw Troops go unpaid. • January 1815: Pushmataha’s warriors under Jugeat help defeat the British at the Battle of New Orleans.

1816: Treaty of Choctaw Trading House • Allies of the United States • 1816: Choctaw eagerly ceded a small amount of lands east of the Tombigbee with their new Ally.

Calhoun-Monroe Indian Policy • Cultural Imperialism • Indian Territory • Removal

Choctaw Adaptation: Education • Educate the Youth • Missionaries • Schools • Choctaws “Sharp Businessmen”

Treaty of Doak’s Stand • Rumors of Removal • Indian Commissioner • Bribery, exaggeration, threat of the settlers, and loss of friendship. • Treaty Signed • Goods & Supplies • Education • No more lands to be ceeded • Lighthorsemen

1825 Treaty of Washington City • Arkansans Protest • Pushmataha & Apukshunnubbee • Treaty Signed • Warriors paid • Continued Friendship

1830: Chukfiahihlabok: Chahtaohoyomicha in bvshpo • Lands Ceded • 34,000 sq mi • Sept 22nd • Killihota • Choctaws 59, Killihota 1 • Sept 23rd • Rejected • Threats: State would seize lands, US Military would destroy resistance, Choctaws taken by force to the West. • Sept 24th • Greenwood Leflore • Article 14 • Sept 25th • Voted down • OklaFalaya: 2/3 voted down • Sept 27th • Rejected • Threats: cease relations, lands given away to other Tribes, forced into labor and military conscription, state taxes, children destitute, Choctaws would be utterly destroyed Treaty Signed • 17,000 sq mi • Friendship • Removals Scheduled 1831, 1832, 1833 • Transportation , Supplies, & Reimbursements • Choctaw Nation would remain Autonomous • Protection by the United States • Choctaw who fought in Revolution and Northwest Indian War receive annuity.

Recommended Books The Removal of the Choctaw Indians DeRosier Indian Removal Grant Foreman Choctaws and Missionaries in Mississippi, 1818-1918 Clara Sue Kidwell

Choctaw People: Indian Policy 1801-1830