CHICKASAW INDIANS IN ALABAMA

CHICKASAW IS A CITY IN MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA. THE CHICKASAW WERE ORIGINALLY FROM THE REGION THAT WOULD BECOME TEXAS, ALABAMA, AND TENNESSEE. THEY SPOKE MUSKOGEAN AND ARE FEDERALLY ENROLLED IN THE CHICKASAW NATION,

PRIOR TO THE EUROPEAN CONTACT THEY MOVED EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI WHERE THEY SETTLED IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI. THEY WERE ONE OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES WHO WERE FORCED TO SELL THEIR COUNTRY IN 1832 AND MOVE TO INDIAN TERRITORY. MOST CHICKASAW NOW LIVE IN OKLAHOMA.

IT IS THE 13TH LARGEST FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBE IN THE U.S. THEY ARE RELATED TO THE CHOCTAW AND SHARE A COMMON HISTORY. THE CHICKASAW ARE DIVIDED INTO : 1) IMPSAKTEA AND 2) INTCULWALIPA. THEY ARE RELATED TO THE CHOCTAW. THE CHICKASAW MEANS REBEL.

THEIR ORIGIN IS UNCERTAIN. BY CONTACT TIME (1540) A SMALL GROUP IN SOUTH CAROLINA. THEIR ORAL HISTORY NOTES THEY EMERGED FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND. THEIR NEIGHBORS WERE SURPRISED AT SEEING PEOPLE RISE OUT OF THE EARTH. THE CHICKASAW ATTACKED SPANISH EXPLORER DE SOTO'S GROUP, NEARLY DESTROYING THEM.

IN 1670 THEY TRADED WITH THE BRITISH AFTER THE COLONY OF CAROLINA WAS SETTLED. WITH GUNS THEY RAIDED THEIR ENEMY THE CHOCTAW, CAPTURING SOME OF AND SELLING THEM AS SLAVES. AFTER CHOCTAWS GOT GUNS FROM THE FRENCH THEY FOUGHT THE CHICKASAW. THE CHICKASAW WERE OFTEN AT WAR WITH THE FRENCH IN 1736. FRANCE CEDED IT'S CLAIMS TO THE REGION AFTER THEY WERE DEFEATED BY THE BRITISH. BY 1794 THE CHICKASAW WERE ALLIES OF THE NEW U.S. UNDER ANTHONY WAYNE AGAINST INDIANS OF THE OLD NORTHWEST TERRITORY. THEY WERE DEFEATED.

GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HENRY KNOX PROPOSED THE TRANSFORMATION OF NATIVE AMERICANS. HE WANTED TO CIVILIZE THEM ONCE THEY FARMED, BUILT HOMES, AND EDUCATE CHILDREN, AND CHRISTIANIZE THEM. HIS SIX POINT PLAN WAS IMPARTIAL JUSTICE TOWARD INDIANS, BUYING THEIR LANDS, PROMOTING COMMERCE, AND EXPERIMENTS TO CIVILIZE OR IMPROVE THEIR SOCIETY, AUTHORITY TO GIVE PRESENTS, AND PUNISH THOSE WHO VIOLATED RIGHTS. HE THOUGHT THEY SHOULD LIVE LIKE THE WHITE FOLKS. THE CHICKASAW ACCEPTED HIS POLICY, BY SIGNING THE TREATY OF THE HOPEWELL IN 1786. PEACE WAS REESTABLISHED BY THIS TREATY.

IN 1700'S A SCOTCH TRADER SETTLED WITH THE CHICKASAW. JAMES COLBERT SLAYED FOR 40 YEARS, MARRYING THREE DIFFERENT CHICKASAW WOMEN AND HE HAD SEVEN SONS. HIS DESCENDANTS PROVIDED LEADERSHIP DURING THE TRIBES GREATEST CHALLENGES. ONE OF HIS SONS SERVED WITH ANDREW JACKSON DURING CREEK'S WAR OF 1813.

DURING THE REMOVAL ERA OF 1830'S THEY RECEIVED $3 MILLION FOR THEIR LANDS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. THEY HAD PURCHASED CHOCTAW LAND BEFORE THIS $3 MILLION WENT UNPAID FOR 30 YEARS!

IN 1837 THEY GATHERED IN MEMPHIS WITH THEIR BELONGINGS, LIVESTOCK AND ENSLAVED AFRICANS. 3000 CHICKASAW CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ON A TRAIL OF TEARS. ABOUT 500 DIED OF SMALLPOX AND OTHER DISEASES. ONCE IN INDIAN TERRITORY THE CHICKASAWS MERGED WITH THE CHOCTAW NATION IN IDA, OKLAHOMA. BY 2005 THEY GAINED RECOGNITION FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA AS SOME REMNANTS MOVED THERE.

AFTER 1866 THE U S GOVERNMENT REQUIRED THE CHICKASAW TO FREE THE BLACKS SO THEY COULD GAIN CITIZENSHIP. TISHOMONGO WAS A FAMOUS CHIEF. THERE WAS A CHIEF IN SOUTH CAROLINA WHO CONTROLLED HUNTING GROUNDS ALONG SOUTH CAROLINA BLACK MINGO CREEK.

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