Over the next year and a half, Iti Fabvssa is running a series
that covers Oklahoma Choctaw history. By examining each decade since
the Choctaw government arrived in our new homelands, and using Choctaw-created
documents, we will get a better understanding of Choctaw ancestors
experiences and how they made decisions that have led us into the
present. This month, we will be covering 1850-1860, a decade of
dealing with the central issues for the Treaty of 1855, its fallout
and the lead up to the U.S. Civil War.
The beginning of the decade was notably marked by
the Constitution of 1850. One major change was the reorganization
of Choctaw Nations court system. The four districts
Apuckshunnube, Pushmataha, Moshulatubbee and Chickasaw were
divided into counties, each with their own court. This greatly increased
the number of judges throughout Choctaw Nation. Each county established
a court ground where they held elections. Having a local
court ground also made travel distances for people shorter, encouraging
greater participation. Judges were elected for a two-year term and
handled issues regarding divorce, probate (wills), preliminary hearings
for individuals charged with major crimes and minor offenses where
the penalties did not exceed fifty dollars. Today, many of these
county court records are available for viewing in the Choctaw National
Records at the Oklahoma Historical Society. Despite the improvements
brought about by this new constitution, Choctaws continued to have
unresolved issues involving the U.S. and past treaties.
When Choctaw leadership signed the 1820 Treaty of Doaks Stand,
Choctaws secured a massive stretch of land that included all of
what is now southern Oklahoma and part of the Texas panhandle as
part of the new Choctaw homeland. Todays reservation is just
a small fraction of that original land cession. When the U.S. government
ceded these lands to Choctaws in anticipation of removal, these
were the homelands of other Indigenous nations, particularly Caddo,
Quapaw, Wichita and Comanche. When the U.S. ceded these lands to
Choctaws, it did not have the authority to do so. Nations like the
Delaware, Shawnee, Kickapoo, Wichita and Comanche, whose land was
also included, did not agree to such a cession to the Choctaws.
They still saw these lands as part of their homelands which resulted
in conflict between the removed Southeastern nations and some of
these western nations.
Despite council meetings between Choctaw, Chickasaw and Plains
nation leaders to negotiate peace between them throughout the 1830s
and 1840s, agreements were not long-lasting. The land conflict with
Western Indigenous nations became a constant source of problems
for the Chickasaws in particular. Since Chickasaws lived in the
western-most district, they experienced more raids than the three
Choctaw districts. Chickasaws even called on the U.S. government
to build forts in their territory so they could better protect themselves
from raids. This problem only added to the grief of the Chickasaws,
who found their political placement within Choctaw
Nation increasingly unsatisfactory.
Despite the 1850 Constitutions organizational changes that
gave Chickasaws greater representation in government, Chickasaws
were still unhappy with their status as a district within the larger
Choctaw Nation. Understandably, they wanted to govern their own
nation as they had done for generations. But this conflicted with
U.S. government policy which was working to reduce the number of
Native governments and to integrate them into the U.S. political
system. Chickasaws raised the issue in their letters to the Bureau
of Indian Affairs and called for them to separate the nations. Chickasaw
desire for political separation from the Choctaw Nation became a
negotiating point that the U.S. government used to its benefit in
discussions regarding other issues Choctaw leaders were focused
on resolving.
According to the 1830 Removal treaty, the U.S. government planned
to sell the lands in the homeland and provide the Choctaw national
government with the net proceeds. Since Article 14 of
Dancing Rabbit Creek allowed Choctaws to choose whether to stay
or move westward, some decided to stay in the homeland and accepted
640-acre allotments. All these individuals were supposed to be registered
by U.S. Agent William Ward, but he sabotaged many of these records
and told people to move west instead. Without a proper record of
Choctaws who stayed, the U.S. government sold many Choctaws
allotments against their wishes. The money from the sale of these
lands, or net proceeds, was then supposed to be provided to the
Choctaw national government in Indian Territory. Along with the
net proceeds, Choctaws were also supposed to be compensated for
any lost livestock and improvements. But the U.S. failed to pay
out in a timely manner, and its settlement became a major area of
focus in Choctaw negotiations with the U.S. This became known as
the Net Proceeds Case.
The issues regarding the Net Proceeds Case, Plains Indigenous nations
raids and Chickasawsdesire for political separation culminated
in the Treaty of 1855. This treaty significantly divided the massive
land mass the Choctaws initially gained in 1820. All of the lands
between the 100th and 98th meridian became known as the Leased District.
After paying the Choctaw Nation $800,000 for their lands west of
the Chickasaw district, the U.S. government could use the land to
resettle Wichita and other western Plains nations. With the signing
of the Treaty of 1855, the Choctaw land base shrunk considerably
decreasing from over 23.7 million acres to a mere
6.688 million acres.
Since the Treaty of 1855 split the Choctaws and Chickasaw into
two separate nations, Choctaws needed a new constitution. In January
1857, a small group of prominent Choctaws met at Skullyville, a
town twelve to fifteen miles southwest of Fort Smith, at the Choctaw
Agency. Since Choctaws received per capita payments from the U.S.
government at the Choctaw Agency, as promised by treaty, it was
named after the Choctaw word for money, iskulli. When
other Choctaw citizens read the drafted constitution, it was very
unpopular. This was in part because this particular constitution
was seen as representing the interests of the slave-owning Choctaw
minority that wanted to keep chattel slavery as an institution.
Some prominent Choctaw families, particularly mixed-blood ones,
had picked up the practice of chattel slavery while in the homelands
and brought slaves over on the Trail of Tears. Most Choctaw families,
particularly the traditional fullblood ones, did not own slaves.
Another problem was that the new Skullyville constitution eliminated
the office of the district chief and replaced the three chiefs with
a single governor. Some saw the usage of the title governor
as a step towards dismantling the Choctaw Nation and making it part
of the United States. The Skullyvilleconstitution was only approved
by a minority of Choctaw citizens.
In May 1858, another group of Choctaws met at Doaksville to draft
and approve a completely different constitution than the one proposed
at Skullyville. They also elected a new set of district chiefs.
With this, the Choctaw Nation had two governments involving two
different factions. Civil war loomed as a possibility and this drew
the attention of the U.S. government, which threatened to send in
federal troops. By October 1859, the two governments worked with
one another to create a government more aligned with what the majority
of Choctaws actually wanted. At the close of 1859, Choctaws decided
they would hold a constitutional convention in January 1860. While
things began to settle in Choctaw Nation, turmoil in the U.S. increasingly
impacted Choctaw Nation.
Additional reading resources on this period are available on the
Choctaw Nation Cultural Service webpage (https://choctawnationculture.com/choctaw-culture/
additionalresources.aspx). Follow along with this Iti Fabvssa series
in print and online at https://www.choctawnation.com/history-culture/history/iti-fabvssa.
If you have questions or would like more information on the sources,
please contact Megan Baker at meganb@choctawnation.com.
Next month, we will cover the period of 1860-1870 when Choctaws
found themselves involved in the U.S. Civil War and its aftermath.
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