Choctaw (possibly a corruption of the Spanish
chato,
'flat' or 'flattened,' alluding to the custom of these Indians of flattening the head). An important tribe of the
Muskhogean stock, formerly occupying middle and south Mississippi,
their territory extending, in their most flourishing days, for some
distance east of Tombigbee River, probably as far as Dallas County,
Ga. Ethnically they belong to the Choctaw branch of the Muskhogean
family, which included the Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Hunt and their
allies, and some small tribes which formerly lived along Yazoo River.
The dialects of the members of this branch are so closely related that
they nay be considered as practically identical
(Gatschet, Creek Migr. Leg.,1,53,1884).
The earliest notice of these Indians is found in the De
Soto narratives for 1540. The giant Tascalusa, whom he met in his
march down Coosa valley and carried to Mauvila, was a Choctaw
chieftain; and he natives who fought the Spaniards so fiercely at this
town belonged to a closely elated tribe. When the French, about he
beginning of the 18th century, began to settle colonies at Mobile,
Biloxi, and New Orleans, the Choctaw came early into friendly
relations with them and were their allies in their wars against other
Indian tribes. In the French war on the Natchez, in 1730, a large body
of Choctaw warriors served under a French officer. They continued this
friendship until the English traders succeeded in drawing over to the
English interest some of the east Choctaw towns. This brought on a war
between them and the main body, who still adhered to the French, which
continued until 1763. The tribe was constantly at war with the Creeks
and Chickasaw. After the French had surrendered their American
possessions to Great Britain, in 1703, and to some extent previously
thereto, members of the tribe began to move across the Mississippi,
where, in 1780, Milfort (Méoire,
95, 1802) met some of their bands who were then at war with the
Caddo. About 1809 a Choctaw village existed on Wichita River, and
another on Bayou Chicot, Opelousas Parish, La. Morse (1820) says there
were 1,200 of them on the Sabine and Neches Rivers., and about 140 on
Red River, near Pecan point (Rep. to Sec. War, 373,
1822). It is stated by some historians that this tribe, or
parties of it, participated in the Creek war; this, however, is
emphatically denied by Halbert (Creek War of 1813 and
1814, 124, 1895), who was informed in 1877 by some of the
oldest members of the tribe that the Choctaw manifested no hostility
toward the Americans during this conflict. A small band of perhaps 30
were probably the only Choctaw with the Creeks. The larger part of
those in Mississippi began to migrate to Indian Territory in 1832,
having ceded most of their lands to the United States in various
treaties (Royce, Indian Land Cessions, 18th Rep. B. A.
E., 1899).
The Choctaw were preeminently the agriculturists of the
southern Indians. Though brave, their wars in most instances were
defensive. No mention is made of the "great house," or "the square,"
in Choctaw towns, as they existed in the Creek communities, nor of the
busk (q. v.). The game of chunkey (q. v. ), as well as the ball play
(q. v.), was extensively practiced by them. It was their custom to
clean the bones of the dead before depositing them in boxes or baskets
in the bone-houses, the work being performed by "certain old gentlemen
with very long nails," who allowed their nails to grow long for this
purpose. The people of this tribe also followed the custom of setting
up poles around the new graves, on which they hung hoops, wreaths,
etc., to aid the spirit in its ascent. As their name seems to imply,
they practiced artificial head flattening. The population of the tribe
when it first came into relations with the French, about the year
1700, has been estimated at front 15,000 to 20,000. Their number in
1904 was 17,805, exclusive of 4,722 Choctaw freedmen (Negroes). These
are all under the Union agency, Ind. Territory. To these must be added
a small number in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Napochi. A
tribe living near Coosa river, Alabama at war with the Coças
(Creek) in 1560. They were probably a Muskhogean people, more nearly
affiliated to the modern Choctaw.
Source: Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge,
1906, Bureau of Ethnology, Government Printing Office.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and
then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect
some errors in the textual output.
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