Wampum

via the Native American Times

As my car left the red clay hills which make up the Mississippi Choctaw reservation this past Saturday, a collective sigh of aiali (justice) and relief overtook me. It was the same feeling that was plainly visible in the expressions of many of the Mississippi Choctaw people who I had spent the last two days with. The reign of Phillip Martin and his administration composed of numerous non-Indians had ended. In its place was change and renewal. A break from the lobbyists in Washington D.C. was talked about. More jobs for Choctaw community members were expected.

To understand the effect one individual could play on the larger Choctaw Nation, most people have only to think about where the Choctaw Nation extends. The majority one talks with may remark about the Choctaw Nation being located solely in Oklahoma, while some others offer up Oklahoma and Mississippi. Very few talk of the communities outside of these areas. Of course, the communities outside of these areas don't currently own and operate gaming facilities, the seeming prerequisite for publicity these days in Indian Country.

So the question becomes who is the Choctaw Nation? The Choctaw Nation is comprised of those descendants of the Choctaw people who were dispersed following the signing of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 and some previous migrations. These current communities cover 6 states and are comprised of eleven bands with varying degrees of interconnectedness.

The MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians are located in southwestern Alabama near the Mississippi state line. This reservation based community of approximately 3,600 tribal citizens has remained on lands held by their ancestors since the Choctaw treaties extending from 1803 to 1830. The main reservation lands are surrounded by ten smaller communities which compromise the homes of 93% of the tribal population. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are located in 8 communities and one additional uninhabited community (Ocean Springs) spread out across the state of Mississippi. These communities including Bok Chito, Standing Pine, Conehetta, Crystal Ridge, Bok Homa, Red Water, Pearl River and Tucker are home to over 9,000 Mississippi Choctaw Citizens. The West Tennessee Choctaw live on 172 acres of reservation land in Eastern Tennessee and are enrolled citizens of the Mississippi Choctaw. This community formed in the middle part of last century as Choctaw families moved to the area in search of employment. The Bayou Lacombe Choctaw are located not far from the Mississippi State line near Lacombe, Louisiana. This particular group was heavily studied by anthropologist David Bushnell in 1910 and again by other academics in 1953. A group of approximately 100-300 tightly knit descendants of these Choctaws studied still remains in the marginal and previously isolated lands of this Southeastern Louisiana community. South of this community lies a Choctaw related community which was devastated by the recent Hurricanes. The United Houma Nation with a population of 17,000, has continued their lives in the southern bayous of Louisiana for many generations. To the northwest, the town of Clifton, Louisiana is home to approximately 500 Choctaw Indians who are known for their basket making skills. A little further north, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indiansmake their home near Trout, Louisiana. Their population stands at around 250. On the far western side of Louisiana, near the town of Zwolle, is the Choctaw-Apache of Ebarb community. These people of mixed Choctaw, Apache and Spanish descent number nearly 2,000. Occupying 10 counties in the Southeastern Oklahoma, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma with a population approaching 200,000 is by far the largest contingent of Choctaw in the United States. Within their midst are also communities of Choctaw Freedmen who stood side by side with one another throughout the tribe's history. In California, due to relocation programs aimed at Choctaws in Oklahoma, the Okla Chahta Clan of California was formed to bring together these families which number over 20,000 individuals. Other related communities to the Choctaw include the Coushatta of Louisiana, Alabama-Coushatta of Texas and Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.

As one can see, the Choctaw Nation, is much more diverse than what many imagine. And this diversity has caused decades of cultural sharing as well as infighting. Battles over issues of blood quantum, federal recognition, cultural & language retention, historical alliances and of course gaming, have caused lines of division not unlike those faced by communities across Indian Country. The architect of many of these divisions, Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin watched his meteoric rise and pronouncement as an economic powerhouse crumble in recent days due to his close association with non-Indian lobbyists, politicians and anthropologists who reeked havoc on neighboring Choctaw communities by overturning federal recognition petitions and postponing land in to trust applications.

So last Friday, on the day he conceded victory to his challenger Beasley Denson, we watched the opening rounds of the annual stickball tournament across the street from the tribal complex and office where he led his tribe for 7 terms. While standing there, numerous community members approached me with outstretched hands and words of greetings and thanks in our Choctaw language. Many people in the Mississippi Choctaw & MOWA Choctaw communities, as well as numerous Indian people from various tribes across the nation, had spent a great deal of time over the past few years, advocating for the rights of the Mississippi Choctaw people and exposing the fraud committed against the MOWA Choctaw community 120 miles to the southeast who were thought to be possible competition in the gaming industry. For years, the same tactics were played against the now federally recognized Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana. Twelve years after their federal recognition, they are just now being able to take land into trust for the purposes of economically and socially growing their community.

While Jack Abramoff, J. Steven Griles and a host of others associated with Chief Phillip Martin's administration are now serving jail terms or awaiting trial, Mr. Martin has been able to use the tribe's federal immunities to ward off investigations into his role in the matter. Of course, little of this matters now as power has been rested from his hands.

And so the stickball games ended and we headed back to our hotel room for the night in preparation for day two of the Choctaw Spirit Language & Culture Seminar, which we had been invited to speak at. The theme of the conference discussed the unification of Choctaw people. As I sat down with one of the Mississippi Choctaw's current council members and we discussed a new future for our two communities, the theme seemed only too fitting.

You see, sometimes the unification power of one man's leadership is only found ... through his absence. Chata hapia hoke.

Cedric Sunray serves as Advisor to the Chief of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians

We've no regrets at having worked hard to replace Chad Smith and his allies in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma election last month.