The governor of French Louisiana wrote in 1726 that the Chickasaws “breathe nothing but war and are unquestionably the bravest of the continent.” Similarly, decades later British Indian Superintendent John Stuart called them “the bravest Indians on the Continent.” The Chickasaws claimed that they had “only to beat drums in our cabins” to scare the Choctaws away from attacking their villages. From an early age, Chickasaw boys received training in the martial arts and were taught to withstand pain and deprivation without complaint. This culture of war elevated the status of war leaders within Chickasaw society; normally war chiefs only had authority during a war party, but the constant state of war meant that war leaders commanded power and authority at nearly all times. During war, the Chickasaws withdrew into a few fortified towns for protection against attack. Until the American Civil War, the Chickasaws never lost a major military engagement or war.

Chickasaw – Unconquerable in the Mississippi Valley

Chickasaw – Unconquerable in the Mississippi Valley

Chickasaw – Unconquerable in the Mississippi Valley

The Chickasaw were known as the “Spartans of the Mississippi River”,because of their brave warlike, stature. They were seen as unconquerable, the Chickasaw tribe are descendants of people called the Chickemicaws, who were among the first inhabitants of the ancient Mexican empire and the Mississippian culture. These ancient people built earthwork mounds at their villages located throughout the Mississippi River valley. The Chickasaw people established villages across the Deep South and used dugout canoes to travel along the rivers and waterways. Their numbers diminished due to the diseases brought by the Europeans including the Spanish, French and British. They allied with the British against the French who attacked the Chickasaw in numerous military expeditions, attempting to break the stranglehold the Chickasaw imposed upon French commerce on the lower Mississippi. The French were defeated by the fierce warriors on every occasion. Following the War of Independence the ‘civilizing programs’ began. Many Chickasaw people adopted European practises such as European style dress, housing and farming techniques but were eventually sent to reservations. The Chickasaw tribe became known as one of the Five Civilised Tribes who also included the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw and Seminoles tribes.The Chickasaw clothes were primarily made from buckskin. The men wore breechcloths with thigh-high deerskin boots. The women wore a knee-length dress. The Chickasaw removed all body hair and made extensive use of tattooing and body paint. The warriors wore a scalp lock with a roach style headdress adorned with feathers. The most honored Chickasaw warriors wore a mantle of swan feathers. By the 1800’s the Chickasaw were greatly influenced by the American style of dress and the availability of trade cloth.

The Chickasaw language was the primary language of Chickasaw people for hundreds of years. Chickasaw is a Muskogean language, and Chickasaw and Choctaw together form the Western branch of the Muskogean language family. The language loss occurred over time. Government boarding schools discouraged Indians from practicing their cultures and speaking their languages. Learning English was encouraged by some Chickasaw people because English was a necessary skill in negotiating with non-Indians. Speaking the Chickasaw language was often discouraged, even in tribally run schools. The current state of Chikashshanompa’ (the Chickasaw language), is similar to that of most tribes in the United States. Less than 20 languages spoken by tribes in the United States are projected to survive another 100 years. In 1994, the estimated number of fluent Chikashshanompa’ speakers was less than 1,000. Today, there are less than 75 speakers, with the vast majority older than age 55. The value of speaking the language has been realized and several programs and services have been established over the years to revitalize the Chickasaw language. Tribal employees and Chickasaws of all ages are participating in community language classes, language camps and clubs, the Chickasaw Master-Apprentice program as well as learning through self-study programs, language classes on Chickasaw.tv and using the Chickasaw Language Basics app.

The Chickasaw people value a lot of things like language, the preservation of family information is fundamentally important in understanding their culture, and, like oral tradition, it must be passed on to future generations of Chickasaws.
The Chickasaw do not have a tradition of a time when they were without belief in a supreme being, whom they called Aba Binili (Sitting or Dwelling Above) also called Inki Abu (Father Above) under Christian influence.
There were ancient beliefs in a multitude of celestial powers. There were four “Beloved Things” above: The clouds, the sun, the clear sky and “He that lives in the clear sky.”
It was believed that Aba Binili lived above the clouds and on earth with “unpolluted” people. He is the sole creator of warmth, light and of all animal and vegetable life. Chickasaw elders conveyed traditional knowledge to younger generations to keep traditions and tribal stories alive, thereby instilling in younger generations cultural identity and tribal cohesiveness. The stories of our elders had significance in describing tribal history, not in terms of chronological dates, but more in terms of how events and locations impacted nature and our people.

The diaspora of the Chickasaw tribe was forced from their homeland that was southwestern Kentucky, western Tennessee, northern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama. The Chickasaw people moved to Indian Territory during the “Great Removal,” on what was called the “Trail of Tears.”  Other tribes forced to relocate such as the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, called the “Five Civilized Tribes” because of their highly developed ruling systems.  But the Chickasaws were one of the last to move.  In 1837, the Treaty of Doaksville called for the resettlement of the Chickasaws among the Choctaw tribe in Indian Territory.  In 1856, the Chickasaws, in order to restore direct authority over their governmental affairs, separated from the Choctaws and formed their own government.