At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Chickasaws signed an alliance with the South and raised troops to fight with the Confederacy. Tribal leaders established the capital at Tishomingo, adopted a constitution and organized executive, legislative and judicial departments of government with the offices filled by popular election. In 1856, the Chickasaws, in order to restore direct authority over their governmental affairs, separated from the Choctaws and formed their own government. In 1837, the Treaty of Doaksville called for the resettlement of the Chickasaws among the Choctaw tribe in Indian Territory. The Chickasaws were one of the last to move. The Chickasaw people moved to Indian Territory during the "Great Removal," on what was called the "Trail of Tears." Other tribes forced to relocate were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, called the "Five Civilized Tribes" because of their highly developed ruling systems. Some historians give the Chickasaws credit for the United States being an English-speaking country. They allied with the English during the French and Indian War. They conducted a successful trade business with other tribes and with the French and English, and lived largely an agrarian lifestyle, but were quick to go to battle if necessary. Living in sophisticated town sites, the Chickasaws possessed a highly developed ruling system complete with laws and religion. Revered in ancient times as "Spartans of the Lower Mississippi Valley," the first contact with Europeans was with Hernando de Soto in 1540. From migration to what is now Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee in prehistoric times to the purchase of the new homeland in south-central Oklahoma in the mid 1800's, the Chickasaw culture and heritage have always had roots in nature and the elements.
0 kommentar(er)
