Choctaw
Choctaw,
Native American tribe of the Muskogean linguistic family,
originally occupying an area that now includes Georgia,
Alabama, and southern Mississippi and Louisiana.
The
Choctaw were less warlike than their traditional enemies,
the Chickasaw and the
Creek. They lived in mud-and-bark
cabins with thatched roofs.
The
Choctaw were an agricultural people, probably the
most able farmers of the southeastern region, employing
simple tools to raise corn, beans,
sweet potatoes, pumpkins,
and tobacco. The Choctaw usually had a surplus to
sell or trade.
They
also raised cattle, fished, and hunted with blowguns
and bow and arrow.
After
the arrival of the Europeans, the Choctaw began riding
horses and using them for pack animals.
Along
with the Seminole and Chickasaw,
the Choctaw developed their own horse breeds.
During
the 18th and 19th centuries the Choctaw were forced
to move farther and farther west to avoid conflict
with European settlers.
By 1842 they had ceded most of their land to the United
States and were relocated in Indian Territory, land
set aside for them in present-day Oklahoma. Here the
Choctaw became, along with the Creek, Cherokee,
Chickasaw, and Seminole, part of a group of Native
Americans known as the Five Civilized Tribes, so called
because they had organized governments with written
constitutions and because they had adopted other habits
of the white settlers, including the establishment
of public schools and newspapers.
The
Choctaw fought on the side of the Confederacy during
the American Civil War.
The
members of the Choctaw nation were instrumental in
developing the new state of Oklahoma (founded 1907).
Today
a large number of Choctaw and their descendants live
principally in Oklahoma and also in Mississippi and
Louisiana.
"Choctaw,"
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com
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