Choctaw History
Perhaps our earliest childhood memory of holidays is the traditional picture of early American settlers and Indians gathered around a bountiful table to feast in celebration of a year of survival in an alien wilderness. A vast amount of time has passed since the story of these white settlers of America unfolded. But there is another story, perhaps not so well known, of a group of settlers who faced many of the same problems the pilgrims did and whose story is not as well known, nor can it be. because it was never completely documented by the historian. These settlers do not have a moving portrait of their first step on the rock-strewn coast of New England and the famous Plymouth Rock. These settlers had no rock on which to stand. What they had was a river they must bridge and a wilderness they must tame before they could call again the place they lived their home. And these people faced many of the adversities of the early American pioneers - the hunger, the loneliness, the crippling illnesses of their loved ones and their ultimate death - and their story is truly a story of American history. I am speaking about the 60,000 Indians who were removed from the southern states of Mississippi and Alabama to their new homes in a vast wilderness west of the Mississippi River on land now known as the state.
If the Choctaws were to be compared with other Indian tribes of the time, they would be described as of peaceful character and friendly disposition. They were dependent on agriculture in these early days and held a tremendous enjoyment for games, particularly stick-ball, and social gatherings. They were by nature a mild, quiet, and kindly people, practical minded and adaptable rather than strong and independent and fierce.
Prior to their removal to Oklahoma territory, the Choctaws had lived for almost three centuries among the white people. They found themselves under the rule of the Spanish, Great Britain, the French, and lastly, the U.S. Colonies. Oftentimes during the rule of these governments they were obliged to take warlike roles and stand beside whoever their parent country might be at the time. During all these periods the Choctaws were not only the victims, but the pupils of the white man's diplomacy.
But the Indians were astute. They realized that if they were to survive in the white man's world, which inevitably it appeared they must, education must be secured for them and for their children. They knew that missionaries would be allowed to come among them if they petitioned the government, so early in the 1800s these letters of request were answered by the emigration of numerous missionaries from the New England states. Missionaries established an effective system of schools for the Indians, and in this interest they received encouragement from the government.
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