Choctaw

• CATEGORY: Tribe
• CULTURE AREA: Southeast
• LANGUAGE GROUP: Muskogean
• PRIMARY LOCATION: Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama
• POPULATION SIZE: 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates: 229,100 (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma); 6,950 (Mississippi Choctaw Reservation); 11 (Jena Band of Choctaw Reservation, Louisiana); 166 (MOWA Band of Choctaw, Alabama)

The Choctaw, a subgroup of the Muskogean language family, first occupied portions of present-day Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. By 1820, the Choctaw were considered part of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes because of their rapid adaptation to European culture. By 1830, the Choctaw were forced to cede all lands east of the Mississippi; their removal to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) took place between 1831 and 1833. In the twenty-first century, the Choctaw's tribal lands and businesses are textbook examples of progressive farming, ranching, and industrial development. The Choctaw have grown from a few thousand to more than 227,000 registered tribal members and over 12,000 associates in Oklahoma, according to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma 2025 and over 11,000 tribal members in Mississippi and Tennessee, making them one of the largest tribes in the United States.

Prehistory and Traditional Life

The prehistory of the Choctaws centered on farming communities in the modern state of Mississippi. Their culture was an integral part of a large ethnolinguistic area stretching from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi Valley. A portion of this region was also occupied by other tribes of the Muskogean branch of the Gulf language stock, the Seminole, Chickasaw, and Chitimacha. Sixteenth-century Spanish arrivals found the Choctaw in the final stages of mound building. They were preeminent agriculturalists and hunters, with an abundance of food, including sunflowers, corn, beans, and melons, as well as tobacco. Favored dietary items included bear ribs, turkey, venison, root jelly, hominy, corn cakes, and soup. In 1729, the Choctaw aided the French in a war against the Natchez people. Later, they signed a treaty with the British, although they continued to support the French until defeat by Britain in 1763. During the American Revolution, Choctaw warriors served under the command of four American generals. The Naniaba ("fish eaters") were a riverine Choctaw tribe; in the early 1700s, they were located in close proximity to the Mobile and Tohome nations in southern Alabama. Their earlier home was on a bluff (Nanna Hubba) near the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers.

Removal

The Naniaba had provided fierce opposition to Hernando de Soto’s advance in 1540, but by 1761, both the Naniaba and Mobile were lost to history as tribes. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, urged on Congress by President Andrew Jackson, provided for forcing southeastern Native Americans to give up their ancestral homelands. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, signed later that same year, officially legalized the deportation of the Choctaws. A small amount of land was reserved for Choctaw chiefs and other individuals; this land formed the basis of the present-day Mississippi Band of Choctaws. Although the Choctaw had never fought against the United States, they were forced to cede their lands in a series of treaties starting in 1801 and culminating in 1830. The forced deportation of the Choctaw, under army escort, to Indian Territory was cruel and involved bitter hardship and death from exposure and starvation. The road they and other tribes followed to Indian Territory has forever since been known as the Trail of Tears.

Contemporary Life

The Choctaw are divided into three areas: southeastern Oklahoma, with tribal headquarters located at Durant; Mississippi, with the band administrative center at Philadelphia; and the Apache, Jena, and Clifton bands of Louisiana and the MOWA band of Alabama. The Choctaw also reflects the geographic mobility of Americans in general. Most Choctaw live outside tribal enumerated census areas.

Rich in cultural heritage and spirit, modern Choctaw are successful developers and managers of an array of cultural and business activities in Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Choctaw leaders particularly focused their development efforts on the valuable commodities of the Choctaw people's intellect and drive. In 2006, the Choctaw regained possession of the sacred mound known as Nanih Waiya (in Mississippi). By the 2020s, the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation had become a significant economic contributor, contributing over $3 billion to the state's economy in 2023 through its resorts and casinos.

Bibliography

"About the Choctaw Nation." Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, 2024, www.choctawnation.com/about. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

"Choctaw OTSA ." Census Reporter, US Census Bureau, censusreporter.org/profiles/25000US5590-choctaw-otsa. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

"Cyrus Byington's Dictionary of the Choctaw Language." Webonary, 4 Mar. 2025, Council of Choctaws, www.webonary.org/byington-choctaw. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

Debo, Angie. The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic. 2nd ed., U of Oklahoma P, 2004.

De Rosier, Arthur H., Jr. The Removal of the Choctaw Indians. UP of Tennessee, 1970.

Dyson, John P. The Early Chickasaw Homeland: Origins, Boundaries, and Society. Chickasaw Press, 2014.

Kappler, Charles. Indian Affairs, Laws, and Treaties. Government Printing Office, 1929. 4 vols.

Morrison, James D. The Social History of the Choctaw Nation, 1865-1907. Creative Informatics, 1987.

Osburn, Katherine M. B. Choctaw Resurgence in Mississippi: Race, Class, and Nation Building in the Jim Crow South, 1830–1977. U of Nebraska P, 2014.

"2024 State of the Tribe." Mississippi Choctaw, 2024, www.choctaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2024-SOT_web.pdf. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.