The Choctaws: Cultural Evolution of a Native American Tribe

The Choctaws: Cultural Evolution of a Native American Tribe By Jesse O. McKee and Jon A. Schlenker The Choctaws of Mississippi had developed a sedentary lifestyle based primarily on agriculture supplemented by hunting and fishing. This way of life was, however, gradually changed as the Choctaws came into contact with the French, English and American settlers, missionaries, and most important, the United States government. This book seeks to identify the type and amount of cultural change that occurred because of the Choctaws contact with these various influences. The authors divide the development of the Choctaws into five distinct periods: Indigenous Period, ?-1698; European-American Period, 1699-1800; Choctaw Land Cessions and Acquisitions, 1801-1830; Tribal Separation and Divergence, 1831-1917; and Twentieth Century Developments in Mississippi and Oklahoma. For each of these periods the authors describe the major historical events and developments that effected changes in the social, economic, and political structure of Choctaw society. In tracing the history of the Choctaws from early times to the present, this book makes an important contribution to the knowledge of a Native American tribe with a viable and dynamic culture whose numbers are increasing, and among whom there is a new sense of self-pride and self-determination.