A people of rich background and cultural heritage, the Chickasaw tribe is one of the most popular American Indian tribes that thrive in the Southeastern United States.
Like most of their Indigenous peoples’ counterparts, the tribe’s history tells a tale of resilience and grit, persistence, and dauntless courage.
We review the story of how the tribe fared from their first time in North America to interactions with the Europeans and the Americans.
We’ll also look at how they have transitioned into the modern and more settled nation we know them as in present-day America.
Chickasaw Tribe History
Early Days
The tale of the early happenings of the Chickasaw tribe is one in which archeologists struggle to come to a definite conclusion.
However, numerous theories abound. One of the such, which 20th-century archeologists heavily regard, believes the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes were of one descent but split into two separate Native American tribes we know today.
Before separation, the Choctaws and the Chickasaw are said to have emanated from the Plaquemine culture and similar ancestral groups that have resided in the Mississippi Valley for millenniums.
In line with the oral takes of the tribe, the Chickasaw are believed to have migrated from the Mississippi valley.
The migration of the proto-Chickasaw is said to have occurred in the 15th Century.
This happened when they moved from the Tombigbee Valley, which was initiated by the end of the Moundville chiefdom.
They then moved on to the Pearl River Valley and Yazoo Valley, located in present-day Mississippi.
This migration was along with the Choctaw, who split on the way from migrating from the Mississippi River.
Another theory pointing to the origin of the tribe has to do with the creation story, which tells the tale of how the first Chickasaw people emerged from Nanih Waiya, a Woodland people great earth mound that was erected in the 300 C.E.
The Choctaw tribe also shares a similar creation story. The mound mentioned in the creation story of both tribes predated the merging of the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes for as many as 1400 years.
European Contact
The first recorded contact between the Chickasaw tribe and the Europeans occurred in 1540.
Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, met the tribe and lived in one of the Chickasaw villages, likely in Tupelo, present-day Mississippi.
The contact between both parties was not all rosy. Disagreements emanated, resulting in the Chickasaw people attacking the expedition part of Hernando de Soto in a nighttime raid.
This event caused the crumbling of the large military force of the Spanish expedition, from which it never recovered.
Thus this ended the interaction between the Chickasaws and the Spanish.
With dealings between the Spanish and the Chickasaw concluded, the tribe began relations with the English.
It is believed that the Chickasaws and the English first established a trading relationship in 1670 in the Province of Carolina.
Dealings with the English soon armed the Chickasaw with firearms, with which they raided the Choctaw tribe, capturing enslaved people, which were then sold to the Europeans.
However, with the Choctaw acquisition of firearms from the French, the Chickasaw no longer had the upper hand in such raids, Abd thus, the raids were reduced.
18th Century
In the 18th Century, the Chickasaw allied with the British colonists; the tribe fought against the Choctaw, who were allied with the French.
One such notable fight was the May 26, 1736, Battle of Ackia. These fights were part of the Seven Years’ war, which ended after the French ceded their territories in the eastern part of the Mississippi River to the English after they lost the war.
The American Revolutionary War saw the Chickasaw allied with the Americans against the old Northwest territory Indians.
The August 20, 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers saw the Northwest Indians and the Shawnee, and other Native American tribes in the Northwest.
Although the Chickasaw and Choctaw allied with the U.S., they never fought against the Americans.
With the English defeated, the Chickasaw began dealing with the Americans.
The plans set in motion for the transformation of all Native American tribes by George Washington saw him implement a six-point plan to ensure the inferior society of the Indians was elevated to modern standards.
The appointment of Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins, who married a Muscogee Creek Indian and resided among the Indigenous peoples’ tribe for years, greatly affected the tribe’s acceptance of Euo-American values.
19th Century
The work of Indian agents such as Benjamin Hawkins led the American Indian tribes, including the Chickasaw, to adopt multiple European- American practices.
The adopted practices included attending schools, following yeoman farming practices, converting to Christianity, Abd building homes similar to the American style.
Interaction between Chickasaws and Americans soon led to the Americans’ encroachment of Chickasaw territories.
The government responded to this by the 1810 establishment of Fort Hampton in Limestone County, Alabama. The fort was one of the few first established to protect the territories of Native Americans from encroachment.
In 1818, the tribe ceded territories located in the northern part of the southern border of Tennessee down to the Ohio River after signing the Treaty of Tuscaloosa.
Settlement in the Indian Territory soon made the tribe write their constitution in the 1850s.
The tribe also suffered unjust treatment from Americans, and notable of these treatments is the Trail of Tears, where the tribe was forcefully removed from their territories.
During the long walk, about 590 Chickasaw tribe members died due to Smallpox and Dysentery.
Following their arrival in the Indian territory, the U.S. government began directing affairs relating to the Chickasaw through the Choctaw Nation and merged the tribes for administrative purposes.
As soon as the American Civil War began, the Chickasaw were the first tribe among the Five Civilized Tribes to join the Confederate States of America.
This was mainly because they harbored resentment against the U.S. over territories they ceded,
The Confederate States of America also sent an envoy to the Native Americans at the start of the Civil War and negotiated with the Chickasaws and the Choctaws with the treaty, which included terms allowing the sovereignty of the Choctaws and the Chickasaw Nations, as well as citizenship to the Confederates States of America.
The civil war marked the first time Chickasaw had fought against English-speaking people.
However, the Union won the war and renegotiated the treaty signed by the Chickasaw and the Choctaw.
The tribe had to cede lands due to support for the Confederates, and also, the Union insisted all enslaved people owned by the tribe had to be emancipated.
The option of citizenship was offered to the tribe if they accepted to return to be part of the United States.
The formerly enslaved people owned by the Chickasaw became known as the Chickasaw Freedmen.
Still, they were never granted citizenship by the tribe, as this would have been similar to adopting people into the tribe.
The only route for gaining citizenship into the tribe was to apply through the process of citizenship into the tribe available for no -Natives or have one or more Chickasaw parents.
The U.S. penalized the Chickasaw for not offering citizenship to the Chickasaw Freedmen but taking half of their territories with compensation.
20th Century–Present
The 20th Century saw the rapid adoption of American practices by the tribe, and as citizens, they experienced the same level of abuse and racial mistreatment experienced by all Native Americans.
But with the rise of the Civil Rights movement and the formation of sovereign nations of the Chickasaw tribes.
Culture
Kinship
The Chickasaw tribe operated a matrilineal kinship system in which children in a marital union were considered to be born into the mother’s family.
Status in the tribe is also gotten by the mother’s clan of an individual. Inheritances such as properties and hereditary lines were considered through maternal lineage.
The elder brother of a woman is considered the mentor to the woman’s children, specifically the male children.
James Logan Colbert, an American trader with Scottish and Chickasaw heritage, married three high-ranking Chickasaw women in succession.
His children and descendants played a leadership role in the tribe during challenging times, including the Trail of Tears.
This was a significant reason for their influence and prominence within the tribe.
Chieftaincy
Chiefs are identified with the -mingo suffix. The suffix can also be spelled as minco, seen in older literary texts.
An instance indicating this is the famous Chickasaw chief Tishomingo, after whom the eponymous towns of Tishomingo in Oklahoma and Mississippi were named.
Other places named after Chickasaw chiefs include the Black Mingo Creek, named after a Chickasaw chief during colonial eras who controlled the hunting grounds.
Religion
The Chickasaw tribe believes in the supreme entity, Aba’ Binni’li’ (the One sitting), regarded as the provider of warmth, life, and light and also called the spirit of fire.
Aba’ Binni’li’ is said to reside above the clouds, with other less powerful deities such as evil spirits, Abd spirits of clouds, and sky.
Marriage
The tribe, particularly the Chickasaw Nation, believes in a monogamous marital system.
The groom is to accept blessings from the wife’s family, after which women organize a simple ceremony.
Adultery is greatly disapproved of, as it is believed to bring dishonor and shame to the families. As a result, such acts come with grievous public and private consequences.
Chickasaw Tribe Facts
1. The Chickasaw is the 13th largest Native American tribe in the U.S.
According to data from the 2010 Census from the U.S. Census Bureau, Chickasaw has a population of 52,000 and ranks as the 13th largest American Indian tribe in the U.S.
2. The seal of the Chickasaw Nation features the image of Tishominko, a highly revered traditional leader of the tribe.
The interpretation of the various elements of the Chickasaw was made possible by Muriel Wright, who had an in-depth understanding of the tribe.
The gold outer rim of the seal denotes the tribe’s purity. The light purple inner rim represents the tribe’s pride and honor.
The hand feather stands for the four directions of the earth. The deer hide shield denotes the tribe’s protection.
The Mississippi River and landscape stand as a reminder of the tribe’s ancestral homeland.
The only time the Chickasaw people fought against an English-speaking people was during the American Civil War.
Aside from wars against fellow Native American tribes, the Chickasaw people never fought against other people except for the Spanish in the 16th Century.
The only time the tribe fought against an English-speaking people was when they allied with the Confederates States of America at the height of the American Civil War.
Conclusion
The Chickasaw tribe is one of many Native American tribes that still maintain their culture despite their brutal history.
This shows the resilience and strength of the Chickasaw people, who continue to thrive today.
