Нация Чикасо: История и современность коренного народа Оклахомы.

Native American tribe based in Oklahoma

The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. They are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, originally from northern Mississippi, northwestern Alabama, southwestern Kentucky, and western Tennessee. Today, the Chickasaw Nation is the 13th largest tribe in the United States. The nation's jurisdictional territory and reservation includes about 7,648 square miles of south central Oklahoma, including Bryan, Carter, Coal, Garvin, Grady, Jefferson, Johnston, Love, McClain, Marshall, Murray, Pontotoc, and Stephens counties. These counties are separated into four districts, the Pontotoc, Pickens, Tishomingo, and Panola, with relatively equal populations. Their population today is estimated to be over 70,000, with the majority residing in the state of Oklahoma. In the 17th and 18th centuries, European Americans considered the Chickasaw one of the historic Five Civilized Tribes, along with the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee, and Seminole nations, due to their agrarian culture and later adoption of centralized governments with written constitutions, intermarriages with white settlers, literacy, Christianity, market participation, and slave holding. The Chickasaw language, Chikashshanompa’, belongs to the Muskogean language family. This is primarily an oral language, with no historic written component. A significant part of their culture is passed on to each generation through their oral history, consisting of intergenerational stories that speak to the tribe’s legacy and close relationship with the Choctaw. The similarities in the language of the Chickasaw and the Choctaw have prompted anthropologists to propose a number of theories regarding the origins of the Chickasaw Nation, as it continues to remain uncertain. Clans within the Chickasaw Nation are separated into two moieties: the Imosak chá'a' and the Inchokka' Lhipa', with each clan having their own leaders. Their tradition of matrilineal descent provides the basic societal structure of the nation, with children becoming members of and under the care of their mother’s clan.

Mississippian cultures developed around 800 CE along the Mississippi River and across the Eastern Woodlands with some regional variations. This was a period of increasing sociopolitical complexity, with the intensification of agriculture, settlements in larger towns or chiefdoms, and the formation of strategic alliances to facilitate communication. Organization of labor is evidenced by mounds, and the skill and craftmanship of artisans is reflected in the elaborate and intricate remains of burials. Furthermore, as chiefdoms arose within the Chickasaw Nation—and across the Southeast in general—the increased social complexity and population growth were sustained by effective and widespread farming practices. While the origins of the Chickasaw continue to remain uncertain, anthropologists and historians have proposed several theories. One theory is that the Chickasaw were at one time a part of the Choctaw and later branched off, given their close connections linguistically and geographically. Another is that they were descendants of the pre historic Mississippian tribes, having migrated from the West given their oral histories. According to some of their oral stories, the Chickasaw first settled in the Chickasaw Old Fields, what is currently northern Alabama today, and later re established themselves near the Tombigbee River.

Hernando de Soto is credited as being the first European to contact the Chickasaw during his travels of 1540, and along with his army, were some of the first, and last, European explorers to come into contact with the Mississippian cultures and nations of the Southeast. He learned they were an agrarian nation with the political organization of a chiefdom governmental system, with the head chief residing in the largest and main temple mound in the chiefdom, with the remaining family lineage and commoners spreading out across the villages. Months after an uneasy truce permitting the Spanish stay in their camps for the winter and survive on the tribe's food supply, the Chickasaws planned a surprise night attack on Desoto and his men as they prepared to leave. By this, they successfully sent a defiant message to their European enemies not to return to their land. As a result, 150 years passed before the Chickasaw received another European expedition. The next encounter the Chickasaw Nation had with European settlers was with French explorers René Robert de La Salle and Henri de Tonti. Not long after, by the end of the 17th century, the Chickasaw Nation had established successful trade relationships with European settlers in the American Southwest. In exchange for hides and slaves, the Chickasaw obtained metal tools, guns, and other supplies from the settlers. With a population of around 3,500–4,000, the Chickasaw were smaller than their surrounding neighbors such as the Choctaw, with a population of about 20,000. During the colonial period, some Chickasaw towns traded with French colonists from La Louisiane, including their settlements at Biloxi and Mobile.

In 1907, when Oklahoma entered the Union as the 46th state, the role of tribal governments in Indian Territories ceased, and as a result, the Chickasaw people were then granted United States citizenship. For decades until 1971, the United States appointed representatives for the Chickasaw Nation. Douglas H. Johnston was the first man to serve in this capacity. Governor Johnston served the Chickasaw Nation from 1906 until his death in 1939 at age 83. Though it may have seemed like the federal government finally achieved their goal of completely assimilating the Chickasaw Nation into mainstream American life, the Chickasaw people continued to practice traditional activities and gather together socially, believing that the community involvement would sustain their culture, language, core beliefs, and values. This gave rise to the movement towards which the Chickasaw would govern themselves. During the 1960s and the civil rights movement, Native American Indian activism was on the rise. A group of Chickasaw met at Seeley Chapel, a small country church near Connerville, Oklahoma, to work toward the re establishment of its government. With the passage of Public Law 91 495, their tribal government was recognized by the United States. In 1971, the people held their first tribal election since 1904. They elected Overton James by a landslide as governor of the Chickasaw Nation, further tightening communal support and identity. Since the 1980s, the tribal government has focused on building an economically diverse base to generate funds that will support programs and services to Indian people.

Chikashshanompa’, a traditionally oral language, is the primary and official language of the Chickasaw Nation. Over 3,000 years old, Chikashshanompa’ is part of the Muskogean language family and is very similar to the Choctaw language. There has been a great decline over the years in the number of speakers, as the language is spoken by less than two hundred people today, with the majority being Chickasaw elders. The Chickasaw language was often discouraged in students attending school (often even including tribally run schools). In 2007, the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma enacted and began promoting the Chickasaw Language Revitalization Program. A focus of this program is the Master Apprentice Program, which pairs a language learning student with an individual already fluent in Chikashshanompa’ in attempts to gain conversational fluency. Other attempts at language revitalization have included establishing university language courses, creating a language learning app, and running youth language clubs.

At the core of Chickasaw religious beliefs and traditions is the supreme deity [[Ababinili , the spirit of fire and giver of life, light, and warmth. Aba' Binni'li' is believed to live above the clouds along with a number of other lesser deities, such as the spirits of the sky and clouds, and evil spirits. with the groom obtaining the blessings of the wife’s parents and following with a simple ceremony soon after. Marriage ceremonies were all arranged by women. Adultery is a misdemeanor seriously looked down upon with severe private as well as public consequences since this was thought to bring shame and dishonor to the families. Major events held during the celebration include a two day fast, a purification ceremony, the forgiveness of minor sins, the Stomp Dance (the most well known traditional dances of the Chickasaw), and major ball games.