Choctaw
Choctaw was a Native American nation.
Contents
History
Tuskaloosa organized the Creek defense against the Spanish conquistadors. The battle of Mabila was ultimately a pyrrhic victory for the Spanish, and further expeditions stalled. Mabila itself was massacred and burned. A new confederacy emerged shortly thereafter in this region, likely from the remnants of the Mabila settlements joining local tribes.
The Spanish continued to have a deeply contentious relationship with the Choctaw confederacy.
Over time, Choctaw governments became volatile. Successive chiefs seized power and sold land to the English for personal profit.
The nation became highly integrated with the English colonies. There was significant intermarriage, and these people increasingly held political positions over the tribes. Renowned inns were established for traveling merchants.
In 1830, Mississippi granted citizenship to the nation, conditional on dissolution of tribal government. Greenwood !LeFlore convened a tribal council: himself as the chief of the Upper Towns; David Folsem, chief of the Lower Towns; and John Garland, chief of the Six Towns. Among them he consolidated power, became an advocate for voluntary removal, and negotiated for the sale of all Choctaw lands.
Moshulatubbee was elected to replace Folsem, and proceeded to run for Congress. Nitakechi was elected to replace Garland.
!LeFlore ultimately lost power in the tribe and renounced his Choctaw nationality. When the tribe was removed to the portion of the Arkansas north of the Red River, he remained as a Mississippian slaveholder and planter.
Composition
Like the Creek nation, the Choctaw confederacy was governed as loosely connected tribes. They were generally considered as parts of three political entities: the Upper Towns, the Six Towns, and the Lower Towns.