List of Choctaw chiefs

Phillip Martin (1926–2010), Principal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

List of Choctaw chiefs is a record of the political leaders who served the Choctaws in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

Original three divisions

The eastern Choctaw Nation, in what is now Mississippi and Alabama, was divided into three regions: Okla Hannali, Okla Falaya, and Okla Tannip.

Okla Hannali (Six Towns)

Okla Falaya

Okla Tannip

District Chiefs in the New Indian Territory

After removal, the Choctaws set up their government also divided up in three regions: Apukshunnubbee, Mushulatubbee, and Pushmataha. The regions were named after the three influential Choctaw leaders of the "old country."

Moshulatubbee District

Moshulatubbee (1770–ca. 1836)

Apukshunnubbee District

Pushmataha District

Unified leadership as governor

Provisional Chiefs

Green McCurtain (1848–1910)

The Choctaw Nation was temporarily discontinued in 1906 with the advent of Oklahoma statehood.

Choctaw Nation "token" government

Chiefs were appointed by the U.S. President after dissolution of the Choctaw nation.

Current tribes

Indian termination policy was a policy that the United States Congress legislated in 1953 to assimilate the Native American communities with mainstream America. In 1959, the Choctaw Termination Act was passed.[1] Unless repealed by the federal government, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma would effectively be terminated as a sovereign nation as of August 25, 1970.[1]

After a long struggle for recognition, the Mississippi Choctaw received recognition in 1918. The Mississippi Choctaw soon received lands, educational benefits, and a long overdue health care system.

In 1945, lands in Neshoba County, Mississippi and the surrounding counties were set aside as a federal Indian reservation. There are eight communities of reservation land: Bogue Chitto, Bogue Homa, Conehatta, Crystal Ridge, Pearl River, Red Water, Tucker, and Standing Pine. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 allowed the Mississippi Choctaws to become re-organized on April 20, 1945 as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

Jena Band of Choctaw Indians

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 "U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 108, 83rd Congress, 1953. (U.S. Statutes at Large, 67: B132.)". Digital History. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  2. Meyers, Debbie Burt. "Anderson unseats Denson." The Neshoba Democrat. 7 Sept 2011 (retrieved 24 Sept 2011)
  3. "Tribal Governments by Area: Southeast." National Congress of American Indians. (retrieved 7 Sept 2010)

External links