List of Choctaw chiefs
List of Choctaw chiefs is a record of the political leaders who served the Choctaws in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
Original three divisions
The eastern Choctaw Nation, in what is now Mississippi and Alabama, was divided into three regions: Okla Hannali, Okla Falaya, and Okla Tannip.
Okla Hannali (Six Towns)
- Oklahoma or Tapenahomma (Nephew of Pushmataha)
- General Hummingbird
- Nitakechi
- Sam Garland
Okla Falaya
- Apukshunnubbee
- Robert Cole
- Greenwood Leflore
Okla Tannip
- Homastubbee
- Mushulatubbee
- David Folsom
District Chiefs in the New Indian Territory
After removal, the Choctaws set up their government also divided up in three regions: Apukshunnubbee, Mushulatubbee, and Pushmataha. The regions were named after the three influential Choctaw leaders of the "old country."
Moshulatubbee District
- Mushulatubbee, 1834–1836
- Joseph Kincaid, 1836–1838
- John McKinney, 1838–1842
- Nathaniel Folsom, 1842–1846
- Peter Folsom, 1846–1850
- Cornelius McCurtain, 1850–1854
- David McCoy, 1854–1857
- Leon Blythe Cantrell, 1907-1963
Apukshunnubbee District
- Thomas LeFlore, 1834-1838
- James Fletcher, 1838-1842
- Thomas LeFlore, 1842-1850
- George W. Harkins, 1850–1857
Pushmataha District
- Nitakechi, 1834-1838
- Pierre Juzan, 1838-1841
- Isaac Folsom, 1841-1846
- Nitakechi, Died
- Salas Fisher, 1846-1854
- George Folsom, 1850-1854
- Nicholas Cochnauer, 1854-1857
Unified leadership as governor
- Alfred Wade, 1857-1858
- Tandy Walker, 1858-1859
- Brazil LeFlore, 1859-present
Principal Chiefs
- George Hudson, 1860-1862
- Samuel Garland, 1862-1864
- Peter Pitchlynn, 1864-1866
- Allen Wright, 1866-1870
- William Bryant, 1870-1874
- Coleman Cole, 1874-1878
- Isaac Garvin, 1878-1880
- Jack McCurtain, 1880-1884
- Edmund McCurtain, 1884-1886
- Thompson McKinney, 1886-1888
- Benjamin Franklin Smallwood, 1888-1890
- Wilson Jones, 1890-1894
- Jefferson Gardner, 1894-1896
- Green McCurtain, 1896-1900
- Gilbert Dukes, 1900-1902
The Choctaw Nation was temporarily discontinued in 1906 with the advent of Oklahoma statehood.
Choctaw Nation "token" government
Chiefs were appointed by the U.S. President after dissolution of the Choctaw nation.
- Green McCurtain, 1902-1910, appointed by President
- Victor Locke, Jr., 1910-1918, appointed by President Howard Taft
- William F. Semple, 1918-1922, appointed by President Woodrow Wilson [1]
- William H. Harrison, 1922-1929, appointed by President Warren G. Harding
- Ben Dwight, 1930-1936, appointed by President Herbert Hoover
- William Durant, 1937-1948, appointed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Harry J. W. Belvin, 1959-1970, appointed by President (Choctaw were allowed to elect their delegate in 1948 and 1954 which the president confirmed.)
Current tribes
Indian termination policy was a policy that the United States Congress legislated in 1953 to assimilate the Native American communities with mainstream America. In 1959, the Choctaw Termination Act was passed.[2] Unless repealed by the federal government, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma would effectively be terminated as a sovereign nation as of August 25, 1970.[2]
After a long struggle for recognition, the Mississippi Choctaw received recognition in 1918. The Mississippi Choctaw soon received lands, educational benefits, and a long overdue health care system.
In 1945, lands in Neshoba County, Mississippi and the surrounding counties were set aside as a federal Indian reservation. There are eight communities of reservation land: Bogue Chitto, Bogue Homa, Conehatta, Crystal Ridge, Pearl River, Red Water, Tucker, and Standing Pine. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 allowed the Mississippi Choctaws to become re-organized on April 20, 1945 as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Oklahoma Choctaws
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
- Harry J. W. Belvin, 1948, 1954, 1971–1975
- C. David Gardner, 1975–1978
- Hollis E. Roberts, 1978–1997
- Gregory E. Pyle, 1997–2014
- Gary Batton, 2014-Present
Mississippi Choctaws
Pre-reorganization Era (Before 1945)
- Wesley Johnson (Wesley Wakatubee), 1913-c. 1914 (Chief)
- Ed Willis
- Pat Chitto
- Joe Chitto
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (1945-Present)
- Emmette York (Chairman)
- Phillip Martin (Chairman)
- Calvin Isaac (Chief)
- Phillip Martin, 1978—2007 (Chief)
- Beasley Denson, 2007—2011 (Chief/Miko)
- Phyliss J. Anderson, 2011—2019[3] (Chief)
- Cyrus Ben, 2019—present (Chief)
Louisiana Choctaws
Jena Band of Choctaw Indians
- Christina M. Norris, present[4]
Notes
- https://www.choctawnation.com/history-culture/people/chiefs
- "U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 108, 83rd Congress, 1953. (U.S. Statutes at Large, 67: B132.)". Digital History. Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- Meyers, Debbie Burt. "Anderson unseats Denson." The Neshoba Democrat. 7 Sept 2011 (retrieved 24 Sept 2011)
- "Tribal Governments by Area: Southeast." Archived 2010-09-26 at the Wayback Machine National Congress of American Indians. (retrieved 7 Sept 2010)
External links
- Choctaw chiefs
Media related to Choctaw at Wikimedia Commons