CHICKSAW INDIANS

CHICKSAW LIVED IN THE SOUTHEAST, MAINLY IN OKLAHOMA, ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, TENNESSEE, KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI. THEY MAY HAVE BEEN THE SAME TRIBE AS CHOCTAW. THEY ABSORBED REMNANTS OF THE TRIBES THAT THEY CONQUERED AND THEY BECAME MIXED BLOOD TRIBES.

IN THE 18TH CENTURY THE CHICKASAW GOT IN A WAR BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND FRENCH. THEY TOOK SIDES WITH THE BRITISH IN THE 1830'S AND WERE REMOVED TO OKLAHOMA. THEY JOINED THE TRIBES OF CREEK, CHEROKEES, AND CHOCKTAW.

PRIOR TO THE CHICKA SAW THERE WERE CHICKASAW THERE WERE PALEOINDIAN HUNTERS AND GATHERERS WHO PURSUED THE MEGAFAUNA THAT BECAME EXTINCT IN PLEISTOCENE AGE. AFTER 1000 YEARS THE PALEO INDIANS DEVELOPED A RICH AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. ARCHAEOLOGISTS CALLED THEM THE PEOPLE OF THE MISSISSIPPI CULTURE. THEIR DESCENDANTS WERE THE CHICKASAWS AND CHOCTAWS,

THE FIRST MAJOR EUROPEAN EXPEDITION INTO MISSISSIPPI WAS IN 1540 BY HERNANDO DE SOTO. THE FRENCH NAMED IT NEW FRANCES. IN 1716 THEY FOUNDED NATCHEZ AT FORT ROSALIE. THIS WAS THE MAIN TOWN AND TRADING POST. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CREATED PIONEER PARISHES AT OLD BILOXI AND OCEAN SPRINGS.

THE FRENCH AND SPANISH COLONIAL RULE INFLUENCED SOCIAL REGULATIONS OF THE SETTLERS AND ENSLAVED THE AFRICANS. IN 1797 A LAWYER AND FORMER DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN FROM TENNESSEE WAS SYMPATHETIC TO THE INDIANS. HE WORKED PATIENTLY TO IRON OUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE VARIOUS TRIBES. HE WAS SUCCESSFUL IN ESTABLISHING THE LAW AND ORDER. HE OFFERED $2000 TO DESTROY A GANG OF OUTLAWS. A SMALL EPIDEMIC BROKE OUT IN 1802 AND CLAIBOURN DEMANDED MASS VACCINATION IN HIS TERRITORY THAT SAVED THE NATCHEZ FROM THE DISEASE.

FROM 1801 TO 1830 THE INDIANS CEDED MUCH OF THEIR LAND TO ANGLOS IN ORDER FOR THEM TO DEVELOP COTTON ECONOMY. ANGLOS BROUGHT SLAVES TO PLANT, PRODUCE, AND INCREASE COTTON AND TOBACCO INDUSTRIES. IN 1832 THEY OUTLAWED HAVING SLAVES, BUT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE. BY 1860, OF THE 354,000 ANGLOS, ONLY 31,000 OWNED SLAVES. THE POPULATION OF MISSISSIPPI INCREASED IN 1860 TO 790,000 ANGLOS. HOWEVER, 90% OF MISSISSIPPI DELTA LANDS WERE STILL SWAMPS.

NATIVE LANGUAGE
MNSU.ED