Editing Chickasaw (section)

==Tribal lands==

In 1797, a general appraisal of the tribe and its territorial bounds was made by Abraham Bishop of New Haven, who wrote:
[[File:Map of Chickasaw Nation.jpg|thumb|Map of modern Chickasaw territory.]]
{{blockquote|The Chickasaws are a nation of Indians who inhabit the country on the east side of the Mississippi, on the head branches of the [[Tombigbee River|Tombeckbe]] {{sic}}, Mobille, and Yazoo rivers. Their country is an extensive plain, tolerably well watered from springs, and a pretty good soil. They have seven towns, and their number of fighting men is estimated at 575.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bishop|first=Abraham|title=Georgia Speculation Unveiled; in two numbers|year=1797|publisher=Elisha Babcock|location=Hartford, CT|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=evans;idno=N24066.0001.001|access-date=13 December 2022|via=Evans Early American Imprint Collection Text Creation Partnership}}</ref>}}

===United States relations===
[[File:Chickasaw cultural center 1.jpg|thumb|right|Sculpture of a stylized 18th-century Chickasaw warrior by [[Enoch Kelly Haney]], at the [[Chickasaw Cultural Center]] in Oklahoma]] 
[[George Washington]] (first U.S. President) and [[Henry Knox]] (first U.S. Secretary of War) proposed the cultural transformation of Native Americans.<ref name=perdue>
{{cite book
 | last = Perdue
 | first = Theda
 | title = Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South
 | year = 2003
 | publisher = University of Georgia Press
 | chapter = Chapter 2 "Both White and Red"
 | page = 51
 | isbn = 0-8203-2731-X
}}
</ref> Washington believed that [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were equals, but that their society was inferior. He formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process, and [[Thomas Jefferson]] continued it.<ref name=remini_reform_begins>
{{cite book
 | last = Remini
 | first = Robert
 | title = Andrew Jackson
 | publisher = History Book Club
 | chapter = "The Reform Begins"
 | page = 201
 | id = {{Listed Invalid ISBN|0-9650631-0-7}}
}}</ref> Historian Robert Remini wrote, "They presumed that once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans."<ref name=remini_submit_adoption>
{{cite book
 | last = Remini
 | first = Robert
 | title = Andrew Jackson
 | publisher = History Book Club
 | chapter = "Brothers, Listen ... You Must Submit"
 | page = 258
 | id = {{Listed Invalid ISBN|0-9650631-0-7}}
}}</ref> Washington's six-point plan included impartial justice toward Indians; regulated buying of Indian lands; promotion of commerce; promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Indian society; presidential authority to give presents; and punishing those who violated Indian rights.<ref name=eric_miller>
{{cite book
 | url = http://www.dreric.org/library/northwest.shtml
 | title = George Washington And Indians
 | access-date = 2008-05-02
 | last = Miller
 | first = Eric
 | year = 1994
 | chapter = Washington and the Northwest War, Part One
 | publisher = Eric Miller
}}
</ref>
The government-appointed [[Indian agent]]s, such as [[Benjamin Hawkins]], who became Superintendent of Indian Affairs for all the territory south of the Ohio River. He and other agents lived among the Indians to teach them, through example and instruction, how to live like whites.<ref name=perdue /> Hawkins married a [[Muscogee Creek]] woman and lived with her people for decades. In the 19th century, the Chickasaw increasingly adopted European-American practices, as they established schools, adopted yeoman farming practices, converted to Christianity, and built homes in styles like their European-American neighbors.

Due to settlers encroaching into Chickasaw territory, the United States constructed [[Fort Hampton (Alabama)|Fort Hampton]] in 1810 in present-day [[Limestone County, Alabama]]. The fort was designed to keep settlers out of Chickasaw territory and was one of the few forts constructed in the United States to protect Native American land claims.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Chandler |first=Tonya Johnson |date=2014 |title=An Archaeological and Historical Study of Fort Hampton, Limestone County, Alabama (1809-1816) |type=MA |chapter= |publisher=University of West Florida |docket= |oclc= |url=http://etd.fcla.edu/WF/WFE0000476/Chandler_Tonya_Danielle_Johnson_201506_MA.pdf |page=25 |access-date=19 June 2021 |archive-date=10 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610025720/http://etd.fcla.edu/WF/WFE0000476/Chandler_Tonya_Danielle_Johnson_201506_MA.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Treaty of Hopewell (1786)====
[[File:Characteristic Chicasaw Head.jpg|thumb|A sketch of a Chickasaw by Bernard Romans, 1775]]

The Chickasaw signed the [[Treaty of Hopewell]] in 1786. Article 11 of that treaty states: "The hatchet shall be forever buried, and the peace given by the United States of America, and friendship re-established between the said States on the one part, and the Chickasaw nation on the other part, shall be universal, and the contracting parties shall use their utmost endeavors to maintain the peace given as aforesaid, and friendship re-established."  Benjamin Hawkins attended this signing.

====Treaty of 1818====
In 1818, leaders of the Chickasaw signed several treaties, including the [[Treaty of Tuscaloosa]], which ceded all claims to land north of the southern border of Tennessee up to the [[Ohio River]] (the southern border of [[Indiana]] and the [[Illinois Territory]]).<ref name="EOHC-Chickasaw">Pate, James C. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Chickasaw." Retrieved December 27, 2012.[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH033.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001210055/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH033.html|date=2009-10-01}}</ref> This was known as the "[[Jackson Purchase]]."  The Chickasaw were allowed to retain a four-square-mile reservation but were required to lease the land to European immigrants.

====Colbert legacy (19th century)====
In the mid-18th century, an American-born trader of [[Scottish people|Scots]] and Chickasaw ancestry by the name of James Logan Colbert settled in the Muscle Shoals area of Alabama.  He lived there for the next 40 years, where he married three high-ranking Chickasaw women in succession.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chickasawhistory.com/colbert/i0001014.htm#i1014 |title="James Logan Colbert" |access-date=2010-11-17 |archive-date=2010-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112144731/http://www.chickasawhistory.com/colbert/i0001014.htm#i1014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Chickasaw chiefs and high-status women found such marriages of strategic benefit to the tribe, as it gave them advantages with traders over other groups. Colbert and his wives had numerous children, including seven sons: William, Jonathan, George, Levi, Samuel, Joseph, and Pittman (or James). Six survived to adulthood (Jonathan died young.)

The Chickasaw had a [[matrilineal]] system, in which children were considered born into the mother's [[clan]]; and they gained their status in the tribe from her family. Property and hereditary leadership passed through the maternal line, and the mother's eldest brother was the main male mentor of the children, especially of boys. Because of the status of their mothers, for nearly a century, the Colbert-Chickasaw sons and their descendants provided critical leadership during the tribe's greatest challenges. They had the advantage of growing up bilingual.

Of these six sons, [[William "Chooshemataha" Colbert]] (named after James Logan's father, [[Chief/Major William d'Blainville "Piomingo" Colbert]]) served with General [[Andrew Jackson]] during the [[Creek Wars]] of 1813–14. He also had served during the Revolutionary wars and received a commission from [[President George Washington]] in 1786 along with his namesake grandfather.  His brothers [[Levi Colbert|Levi]] ("Itawamba Mingo") and [[George Colbert]] ("Tootesmastube") also had military service in support of the United States. In addition, the two each served as interpreters and negotiators for chiefs of the tribe during the period of removal. Levi Colbert served as principal chief, which may have been a designation by the Americans, who did not understand the decentralized nature of the chiefs' council, based on the tribe reaching broad consensus for major decisions. An example is that more than 40 chiefs from the Chickasaw Council, representing [[clans]] and villages, signed a letter in November 1832 by Levi Colbert to President [[Andrew Jackson]], complaining about treaty negotiations with his appointee General [[John Coffee]].<ref name="LC">[http://www.chickasawhistory.com/CHICL_32.htm "Levi Colbert to President Andrew Jackson, 22 NOV 1832"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025065425/http://www.chickasawhistory.com/CHICL_32.htm |date=2011-10-25 }}, Chickasaw Letters -- 1832, Chickasaw Historical Research Website (Kerry M. Armstrong), accessed 12 December 2011</ref> After Levi's death in 1834, the Chickasaw people were forced upon the [[Trail of Tears]]. His brother, George Colbert, reluctantly succeeded him as chief and principal negotiator, because he was bilingual and bicultural. George "Tootesmastube" Colbert never reached the Chickasaw's "Oka Homa" (red waters); he died on Choctaw territory, [[Fort Towson]], en route.

===Treaty of Pontotoc Creek and Removal (1832-1837)===
{{Main|Treaty of Pontotoc Creek}}In 1832 after the state of Mississippi declared its jurisdiction over the Chickasaw Indians, outlawing tribal self-governance, Chickasaw chiefs assembled at the national council house on October 20, 1832 and signed the [[Treaty of Pontotoc Creek]], ceding their remaining Mississippi territory to the U.S. and agreeing to find land and relocate west of the Mississippi River. Between 1832 and 1837, the Chickasaw would make further negotiations and arrangements for their removal.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Chickasaws|last=Gibson|first=Arrell M.|publisher=University of Oklahoma|year=1972|isbn=978-0-8061-1042-4|location=Norman, OK|pages=174–179}}</ref> [[File:Military Road Marker US 64 Marion AR.jpg|thumb|Historic Marker in [[Marion, Arkansas]] for the Trail of Tears]]

Unlike other tribes who received land grants in exchange for ceding territory, the Chickasaw held out for financial compensation: they were to receive $3 million U.S. dollars from the United States for their lands east of the Mississippi River.<ref name=burt_and_ferguson>
{{cite book | author = Jesse Burt & Bob Ferguson | title = Indians of the Southeast: Then and Now | year = 1973 | publisher = Abingdon Press, Nashville and New York | chapter = The Removal | pages = [https://archive.org/details/indiansofsouthea00burt/page/170 170–173] | isbn = 0-687-18793-1 | chapter-url-access = registration | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/indiansofsouthea00burt/page/170 }}</ref>
In 1836 after a bitter five-year debate within the tribe, the Chickasaw had reached an agreement to purchase land in [[Indian Territory]] from the previously removed Choctaw. They paid the Choctaw $530,000 for the westernmost part of their land. The first group of Chickasaw moved in 1837.

The Chickasaw gathered at [[Memphis, Tennessee]], on July 4, 1837, with all of their portable assets: belongings, livestock, and [[slaves|enslaved African Americans]]. Three thousand and one Chickasaw crossed the [[Mississippi River]], following routes established by the Choctaw and [[Muscogee (Creek)|Creek]].<ref name=burt_and_ferguson />  During the journey, often referred to as the [[Trail of Tears]], more than 500 Chickasaw died of [[dysentery]] and [[smallpox]].
[[File:Holmes Colbert.jpg|thumb|In the 1850s [[Holmes Colbert]] (Chickasaw) helped write the constitution of the nation in [[Indian Territory]].]]
When the Chickasaw reached Indian Territory, the United States began to administer to them through the Choctaw Nation, and later merged them for administrative reasons. The Chickasaw wrote their own constitution in the 1850s, an effort contributed to by [[Holmes Colbert]].

After several decades of mistrust between the two peoples, in the twentieth century, the Chickasaw re-established their independent government. They are federally recognized as the Chickasaw Nation. The government is headquartered in [[Ada, Oklahoma]].

===American Civil War (1861)===
The Chickasaw Nation was the first of the Five Civilized Tribes to become allies of the [[Confederate States of America]].<ref name=cyrus>
{{cite web
 |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v015/v015p373.html
 |title=Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 15, No. 4
 |access-date=2008-07-18
 |last=Meserve
 |first=John Bartlett
 |date=December 1937
 |publisher=Oklahoma State/Kansas State
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518093850/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v015/v015p373.html
 |archive-date=2008-05-18
}}</ref> In addition, they resented the United States government, which had forced them off their lands and failed to protect them against the Plains tribes in the West. In 1861, as tensions rose related to the sectional conflict, the US Army abandoned [[Fort Washita]], leaving the Chickasaw Nation defenseless against the Plains tribes. Confederate officials recruited the American Indian tribes with suggestions of an Indian state if they were victorious in the Civil War.

The Chickasaw passed a resolution allying with the Confederacy, which was signed by Governor Cyrus Harris on May 25, 1861.
{{blockquote| Up to this time, our protection was in the United States troops stationed at Fort Washita, under the command of Colonel Emory. But he, as soon as the Confederate troops had entered our country, at once abandoned us and the Fort; and, to make his flight more expeditious and his escape more sure, employed Black Beaver, a [[Shawnee]] Indian, under a promise to him of
five thousand dollars, to pilot him and his troops out of the Indian country safely without a collision with the Texas Confederates; which Black Beaver accomplished. By this act the United States abandoned the Choctaws and Chickasaws. . .

Then, there being- no other alternative by which to save their country and property, they, as
the less of the two evils that confronted them, went with the Southern Confederacy.
| sign=Julius Folsom |source=September 5, 1891, letter to H. B. Cushman}}

At the beginning of the [[American Civil War]], [[Albert Pike]] was appointed as Confederate envoy to Native Americans. In this capacity, he negotiated several treaties, including the [[Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws]] in July 1861. The treaty covered sixty-four terms, covering many subjects such as Choctaw and Chickasaw nation [[sovereignty]], [[Confederate States of America]] citizenship possibilities and an entitled delegate in the House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America.<ref name=choctaw_ok_statehood>{{cite web | url = http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH047.html | title = Choctaw | access-date = 2008-08-11 | author = Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081009193249/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CH047.html | archive-date = 2008-10-09 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Because the Chickasaw sided with the Confederate States of America during the [[American Civil War]], they had to forfeit some of their land afterward. In addition, the US renegotiated their treaty, insisting on their emancipation of slaves and offering citizenship to those who wanted to stay in the Chickasaw Nation. If they returned to the United States, they would have US citizenship.<ref name=burt_and_ferguson />

{{blockquote| This was the first time in history the Chickasaws have ever made war against an English speaking people. | sign=Governor Cyrus Harris | source=''As Chickasaw troops marched against the Union, 1860s''.<ref name=cyrus />}}

====Government====
{{Main|Chickasaw Nation}}
The Chickasaws were first combined with the [[Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma|Choctaw Nation]] and their area was called the Chickasaw District. Although originally the western boundary of the Choctaw Nation extended to the [[100th meridian west|100th meridian]], virtually no Chickasaw lived west of the [[Cross Timbers]]. The area was subject to continual raiding by the [[Plains Indians|Indians]] on the Southern Plains. The United States eventually leased the area between the 100th and [[98th meridian west|98th meridians]] for the use of the Plains tribes. The area was referred to as the "Leased District".<ref>{{cite book | author = Arrell Morgan Gibson| title=Oklahoma: A History of Five Centuries| year = 1981 | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press | chapter = The Federal Government in Oklahoma| pages = 112 | isbn = 978-0806117584}}</ref>

====Treaties====

{| class="wikitable" align=center
! Treaty !! Year !! Signed with !! Where !! Main Purpose !! Ceded Land
|-
| style="background:#DDDDDD"| Treaty with the Chickasaw<ref name=treaty_1786>{{cite web
| url = http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0014.htm
| title = Indian Affairs – Laws and Treaties
| volume = II, Treaties
| access-date = 2008-07-02
| last = Kappler
| first = Charles
| year = 1904
| publisher = Government Printing Office
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080512151521/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0014.htm
| archive-date = 2008-05-12
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> || 1786 || United States || Hopwell, SC|| Peace and Protection provided by the U.S. and Define boundaries || N/A
|-
| style="background:#DDDDDD"| Treaty with the Chickasaw<ref name=treaty_1801>
{{cite web
 |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0055.htm
 |title = Indian Affairs – Laws and Treaties
 |volume = II, Treaties
 |access-date=2008-07-02
 |last=Kappler
 |first=Charles
 |year=1904
 |publisher=Government Printing Office
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509191505/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0055.htm
 |archive-date=2008-05-09
}}
</ref> || 1801 || United States || Chickasaw Nation || Right to make wagon road through the Chickasaw Nation, Acknowledge the protection provided by the U.S. || (Not Available yet)
|-
| style="background:#DDDDDD"| Treaty with the Chickasaw<ref name=treaty_1805>
{{cite web
 |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0079.htm
 |title = Indian Affairs – Laws and Treaties
 |volume = II, Treaties
 |access-date=2008-05-02
 |last=Kappler
 |first=Charles
 |year=1904
 |publisher=Government Printing Office
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509055424/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0079.htm
 |archive-date=2008-05-09
}}
</ref> || 1805 || United States || Chickasaw Nation || Eliminate debt to U.S. merchants and traders || (Not Available yet)
|-
| style="background:#DDDDDD"| Treaty with the Chickasaw<ref name=treaty_1816>
{{cite web
 |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0135.htm
 |title = Indian Affairs – Laws and Treaties
 |volume = II, Treaties
 |access-date=2008-07-02
 |last=Kappler
 |first=Charles
 |year=1904
 |publisher=Government Printing Office
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512151900/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0135.htm
 |archive-date=2008-05-12
}}
</ref>  || 1816|| United States || Chickasaw Nation || Cede land, provide allowances, and tracts reserved to Chickasaw Nation || (Not Available yet)
|-
| style="background:#DDDDDD"| Treaty of with the Chickasaw<ref name=treaty_1818>
{{cite web
 |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0174.htm
 |title = Indian Affairs – Laws and Treaties
 |volume = II, Treaties
 |access-date=2008-07-02
 |last=Kappler
 |first=Charles
 |year=1904
 |publisher=Government Printing Office
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211162357/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0174.htm
 |archive-date=2008-12-11
 }}
</ref>  || 1818 || United States || Chickasaw Nation || Cede land, payments for land cession, and Define boundaries || (Not Available yet)
|-
| style="background:#DDDDDD"| Treaty of Franklin<ref name=treaty_1830>
{{cite web
 |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi1035.htm
 |title = Indian Affairs – Laws and Treaties
 |volume = II, Treaties
 |access-date=2011-03-27
 |last=Kappler
 |first=Charles
 |year=1904
 |publisher=Government Printing Office
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100907051003/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi1035.htm
 |archive-date=2010-09-07
 }}
</ref> (un-ratified)
| 1830
| United States
| Chickasaw Nation, See [[Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7]]<ref name="nrhpinv2Hiram">{{Cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7 / Masonic Hall|url={{NHLS url|id=73001859}} |format=pdf|date=February 26, 1973 |first1=Ben |last1=Levy |first2=Cecil N. |last2=McKithan |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=73001859|title=''Accompanying one photo, exterior, undated''|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(32&nbsp;KB)}}</ref>
| Cede lands east of the Mississippi River and provide protection for the 'weak' tribe
| (Not Available yet)
|-
| style="background:#DDDDDD"| Treaty of Pontotoc<ref name=treaty_1832>
{{cite web
 |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0356.htm
 |title = Indian Affairs – Laws and Treaties
 |volume = II, Treaties
 |access-date=2008-07-15
 |last=Kappler
 |first=Charles
 |year=1904
 |publisher=Government Printing Office
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513065155/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/chi0356.htm
 |archive-date=2008-05-13
}}
</ref> || 1832 || United States || Chickasaw Nation || Removal and Monetary gain from the sale of land || {{convert|6422400|acre|km2}}.<ref name=burt_and_ferguson />
|}

====Post–Civil War====
[[File:FredWaite.jpg|thumb|[[Fred Waite|Fred Tecumseh Waite]], a cowboy and Chickasaw Nation statesman]]
Because the Chickasaw allied with the Confederacy, after the Civil War the United States government required the nation to make a new peace treaty in 1866. It included the provision that they [[emancipate]] the [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved African Americans]] and provide full citizenship to those who wanted to stay in the Chickasaw Nation.

These people and their descendants became known as the [[Chickasaw Freedmen]]. Descendants of the Freedmen continue to live in Oklahoma. Today, the Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Association of Oklahoma represents the interests of Freedmen descendants in both of these tribes.<ref>[http://www.african-nativeamerican.com/8-chocfreed.htm The Choctaw Freedmen of Oklahoma], african-nativeamerican.com. (accessed October 17, 2013)</ref>

But the Chickasaw Nation never granted citizenship to the Chickasaw Freedmen.<ref>{{cite news|last=Roberts|first=Alaina E.|title=A federal court has ruled blood cannot determine tribal citizenship. Here's why that matters.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/09/07/a-federal-court-has-ruled-blood-cannot-determine-tribal-citizenship-heres-why-that-matters/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 7, 2017|access-date=July 18, 2020}}</ref> The only way that African Americans could become citizens at that time was to have one or more Chickasaw parents or to petition for citizenship and go through the process available to other non-Natives, even if they were of known partial Chickasaw descent in an earlier generation. Because the Chickasaw Nation did not provide citizenship to their Freedmen after the Civil War (it would have been akin to formal adoption of individuals into the tribe), they were penalized by the U.S. Government. It took more than half of their territory, with no compensation. They lost territory that had been negotiated in treaties in exchange for their use after removal from the Southeast.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}