Origins Mississippian cultures developed around 800 CE along the
Mississippi River and across the Eastern Woodlands with some regional variations. This was a period of increasing sociopolitical complexity, with the intensification of agriculture, settlements in larger towns or
chiefdoms, and the formation of strategic alliances to facilitate communication. Organization of labor is evidenced by
mounds, and the skill and craftmanship of artisans is reflected in the elaborate and intricate remains of burials. Furthermore, as chiefdoms arose within the Chickasaw Nation—and across the Southeast in general—the increased social complexity and population growth were sustained by effective and widespread farming practices. While the origins of the Chickasaw continue to remain uncertain, anthropologists and historians have proposed several theories. One theory is that the Chickasaw were at one time a part of the Choctaw and later branched off, given their close connections linguistically and geographically. Another is that they were descendants of the pre-historic Mississippian tribes, having migrated from the West given their oral histories. According to some of their oral stories, the Chickasaw first settled in the Chickasaw Old Fields, what is currently northern Alabama today, and later re-established themselves near the Tombigbee River.
European contact, 16th–17th century Hernando de Soto is credited as being the first European to contact the Chickasaw during his travels of 1540, and along with his army, were some of the first, and last, European explorers to come into contact with the Mississippian cultures and nations of the Southeast. He learned they were an agrarian nation with the political organization of a chiefdom governmental system, with the head chief residing in the largest and main temple mound in the chiefdom, with the remaining family lineage and commoners spreading out across the villages. Months after an uneasy truce permitting the Spanish stay in their camps for the winter and survive on the tribe's food supply, the Chickasaws planned a surprise night attack on Desoto and his men as they prepared to leave. By this, they successfully sent a defiant message to their European enemies not to return to their land. As a result, 150 years passed before the Chickasaw received another European expedition. The next encounter the Chickasaw Nation had with European settlers was with French explorers
René-Robert de La Salle and
Henri de Tonti. Not long after, by the end of the 17th century, the Chickasaw Nation had established successful trade relationships with European settlers in the
American Southwest. In exchange for hides and slaves, the Chickasaw obtained metal tools, guns, and other supplies from the settlers. With a population of around 3,500–4,000, the Chickasaw were smaller than their surrounding neighbors such as the Choctaw, with a population of about 20,000. There were increased efforts by the English and French to establish and maintain strong alliances with the Chickasaw Nation and surrounding sovereign tribes due to power struggles in the region. Effective trade routes later became the focal point of the wars fought between Great Britain and France. During the colonial period, some Chickasaw towns traded with French colonists from La Louisiane, including their settlements at
Biloxi and
Mobile.
18th–19th century After the
American Revolutionary War, the new state of Georgia was trying to strengthen its claim to western lands, which it said went to the Mississippi River under its colonial charter. It also wanted to satisfy a great demand by planters for land to develop, and the state government, including the governor, made deals to favor political insiders. Various development companies formed to speculate in land sales. After a scandal in the late 1780s, another developed in the 1790s. In what was referred to as the
Yazoo land scandal of January 1795, the state of Georgia sold 22 million acres of its western lands to four land companies, although this territory was occupied by the Chickasaw and other tribes, and there were other European nations with some sovereignty in the area. This was the second Yazoo land sale, which generated outrage when the details were publicized. Reformers passed a state law forcing the annulment of this sale in February 1796. But the Georgia-Mississippi Company had already sold part of its holdings to the New England Mississippi Company, and it had sold portions to settlers. Conflicts arose as settlers tried to claim and develop these lands. Georgia finally ceded its claim to the U.S. in 1810, but the issues took nearly another decade to resolve.
Abraham Bishop of
New Haven, Connecticut, wrote a 1797 pamphlet to address the land speculation initiated by the Georgia-Mississippi Company. Within this discussion, he wrote about the Chickasaw and their territory in what became Mississippi:
James Adair, who in 1744 resided among the Chickasaw, named their principal towns as being Shatara, Chookheereso, Hykehah, Tuskawillao, and Phalacheho. The Chickasaw sold a section of their lands with the
Treaty of Tuscaloosa, resulting in the loss of what became known as the
Jackson Purchase, in 1818. This area included western Kentucky and
western Tennessee, both areas not heavily populated by members of the tribe. They remained in their primary homeland of northern Mississippi and northwest Alabama until the 1830s. After decades of increasing pressure by federal and state governments to cede their land, as European Americans were eager to move into their territory and had already begun to do so as squatters or under fraudulent land sales, the Chickasaw finally agreed to cede their remaining Mississippi homeland to the U.S. under the
Treaty of Pontotoc Creek and relocate west of the Mississippi River to
Indian Territory. The Chickasaw removal is one of the most traumatic episodes in the history of the nation. As a result of the
Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Chickasaw Nation was forced to move to Indian territory, suffering a significant decline in population. However, due to the negotiating skills of the Chickasaw leaders, they were led to favorable sales of their land in Mississippi. Of the Five Civilized Tribes, the Chickasaw were one of the last ones to move. In 1837, the Chickasaw and Choctaw signed the Treaty of Doaksville, by which the Chickasaw purchased the western lands of the
Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory. This western area was called the Chickasaw District, and consisted of what are now Panola, Wichita, Caddo, and Perry counties. Although originally the western boundary of the Choctaw Nation extended to the
100th meridian, virtually no Chickasaw lived west of the
Cross Timbers, due to continual raiding by the
Plains Indians of the southern region. The United States eventually leased the area between the 100th and
98th meridians for the use of the Plains tribes. The area was referred to as the "Leased District". The division of the Choctaw Nation was ratified by the Choctaw–Chickasaw Treaty of 1854. The Chickasaw constitution, establishing the nation as separate from the Choctaw, was signed August 30, 1856, in their new capital of Tishomingo (now
Tishomingo, Oklahoma). The first Chickasaw governor was
Cyrus Harris. The nation consisted of four divisions: Tishomingo County, Pontotoc County, Pickens County, and Panola County. Law enforcement in the nation was provided by the Chickasaw
Lighthorsemen. Non-Indians fell under the jurisdiction of the federal court at
Fort Smith. Following the
Civil War, the United States forced the Chickasaw Nation into a new peace treaty due to their support for the Confederacy. Under the new treaty, the Chickasaw (and Choctaw) ceded the "Leased District" to the United States.
20th century to present In 1907, when Oklahoma entered the Union as the 46th state, the role of tribal governments in Indian Territories ceased, and as a result, the Chickasaw people were then granted United States citizenship.
Sippia Paul Hull, born 1852, wrote about her experiences growing up in the Chickasaw Nation. These accounts were later stored in the archives of the Pauls Valley Memorial Library. For decades until 1971, the United States appointed representatives for the Chickasaw Nation.
Douglas H. Johnston was the first man to serve in this capacity. Governor Johnston served the Chickasaw Nation from 1906 until his death in 1939 at age 83. Though it may have seemed like the federal government finally achieved their goal of completely assimilating the Chickasaw Nation into mainstream American life, the Chickasaw people continued to practice traditional activities and gather together socially, believing that the community involvement would sustain their culture, language, core beliefs, and values. This gave rise to the movement towards which the Chickasaw would govern themselves. During the 1960s and the
civil rights movement, Native American Indian activism was on the rise. A group of Chickasaw met at Seeley Chapel, a small country church near
Connerville, Oklahoma, to work toward the re-establishment of its government. With the passage of Public Law 91-495, their tribal government was recognized by the United States. In 1971, the people held their first tribal election since 1904. They elected
Overton James by a landslide as governor of the Chickasaw Nation, further tightening communal support and identity. Since the 1980s, the tribal government has focused on building an economically diverse base to generate funds that will support programs and services to Indian people. ==Culture==