Chickasaw Nation



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Various spellings: Chickasaw, Chickesaw

Original homeland on the northern Mississippi, western Tennessee, western Kentucky and eastern Arkansas.

The Chickasaw Nation is primarily associated with the state of Oklahoma.

One of the Five Civilized Tribes: Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek and Seminole 

Linguistic group: Muskhogean

Tribal Headquarters
Chickasaw Nation Headquarters P.O. Box 1548 Ada, OK 74821 Phone: 1-580-436-2603


 * The Chickasaw Nation Official Web Site

History
Their first recorded encounter with non Indian was with the Spanish explorer De Soto in 1540.

The tribe had inter-tribal conflicts with the Choctaw, Creeks, Cherokee, Illinois, Kickapoo, Shawnee, Mobilians, Osage and Quapaw.

The Chickasaw are the smallest group of the Five Civilized Tribes. Before removing to Indian Territory the tribe sent (1830) a group to inspect the land of the proposed relocation. The group rejected the proposed land, which voided the treaty and removal. This same process reoccured in 1832, 1835 and 1836. Finally in 1837 the Chickasaw leaders met with the Choctaw leaders near Fort Towson in Indian Territory and agreed to pay the Choctaw for the part of the Choctaws' region in southern Indian Territory.

The tribe was divided into several groups for the removal leaders included: Colonel A.M.M.Upshaw, John M. Millard, Captain Joe A. Phillips, Dr. C.G. Keenan, W.R. Guy, Chief Ishtehopa, Kin-hi-cha, and Chief Sealy with Leiutenant Governor Morris and Daniel McCurtain an interpreter. Some groups took the overland route and other a water route. The Groups arrived at Memphis November of 1837, from Memphis many took steamships under the direction of Captain Simeon Buckner to Fort Coffee.Some traveled by land directed by Langtree, Welbourne, and John M.Millard.

Brief Timeline

 * 1729: Natchez Revolt, the Natchez joined the Chickasaw
 * 1754-1763: During the French and Indian War were allies of the British
 * 1786: Hopewell Treaty; northern boundary of the Ohio River.
 * 1809-11: Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, tried to unite Indians against the United States
 * 1822: some moved west of the Mississippi
 * 1832:
 * 1833: Treaty of Pontotoc Creek
 * 1837: Treaty of Doaksville, a group of 450-500 removed to Indian Territory
 * 1839: 300 Chicksaw arrive in Indian Territory
 * 1841: 145 Chickasaw emigrated
 * 1842: 198 Migrated
 * 1844: 138 Chickasaw and 56 slaves moved west
 * 1847: Census in Oklahoma Territory
 * 1855: Treaty separating land of Chickasaw and Choctaw.
 * 1856: Chickasaw Nation is created

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Chickasaw tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Census
1818 Chickasaw Census - an annuity roll www.chickasawhistory.com

Chickasaw Emigration Roll 1839 (Upshaw Roll). Prepared by A.M.M. Upshaw abstracted from National Archives Filming of 1980 Record Group 75 Records of Bureau of Indian Affairs Edited and Indexed by Larry S. Watson C. Histree 1994

1847 Chickasaw Indian Census Roll Indian Territory, 1839 Chickasaw Indian Census Roll Indian Territory, 1837 Chickasaw Indian Census (Muster) Roll Mississippi. Abstracted and edited by Bennie Coffey Loftin and Johnny Cudd Published by Pittsburg County Genealogical and Historical Society, 113 E. Carl Albert Parkway, McAlester, Oklahoma 74501-5039.

Indian Pioneer Papers
In 1936, the Oklahoma Historical Society and University of Oklahoma requested a writer's project grant from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in which interviews would be conducted with early settlers in Oklahoma who had lived on Indian land. More than 100 writers conducted over 11,000 interviews and were asked to "call upon early settlers and (record) the story of the migration to Oklahoma and their early life here." The University of Oklahoma Western History Collection has digitized the Indian Pioneer Papers which consists of approximately 80,000 indexed entries arranged alphabetically by personal name, place name, or subject. An index to the Indian Pioneer Papers may also be found at OkGenWeb Oklahoma Genealogy. A separate index of Indians interviewed, including the Chickasaw, may be viewed at: “Indians in the Indian Pioneer Papers” Some of the surnames from the Chickasaw tribe found in the collection are: Airington, Colbert (Mead), Laber, Kemp, Minto-ho-yo (Mead).

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution of the Chickasaw Nation
 * The Chickasaw Nation Official Web Site
 * Chickasaw Nation Wikipedia
 * Chickasaw Native Americans http://chickasawnativeamericans.blogspot.com
 * Indian Research http://researchindians.blogspot.com
 * Native American Research http://nativeamericanresearch.blogspot.com