Five of the Southeastern Indian nations – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole – are sometimes called the “five Civilized Tribes”. The designation “civilized” is an indication that they had acquired many elements of European cultures and were the most acculturated Indian tribes during the nineteenth century. The Chickasaw, descendants of one of the Mississippian chiefdoms that dominated the region after 1000 CE, became a major power-player when the European invasion of the Southeast intensified in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The traditional Chickasaw homeland was in northern Mississippi with some additional territory in what is now western Kentucky, eastern Arkansas, and western Tennessee.
Origins
There is an oral tradition which says that the people emerged from the underworld at Ninih Waiya. The first to emerge were the Creek, who dried themselves in the sun and then went east. Next to emerge were the Cherokee, who tried to follow the Creek but got lost and settled in the north. The third group to emerge was the Chickasaw, who followed the Cherokee. The last group to emerge was the Choctaw, who settled near the mound.
In another migration story, Gary White Deer, in his entry on the Chickasaw in The Encyclopedia of North American Indians, reports:
“The story of the Chickasaws begins somewhere in the dim past, perhaps in what is now Mexico. According to legend, the people followed a sacred leaning pole, which they erected each day. When the pole no longer leaned, they knew that had found their new home.”
Language
Linguistically, the Chickasaw language is a part of the larger Muskogean family and is most closely related to Choctaw.
Subsistence and Housing
Like the other Indian nations of the Southeast, the Chickasaw were an agricultural people who raised corn, beans, squash, melons, and sunflowers. They farmed the fertile floodplains and located their villages on high grounds away from the annual flooding. Chickasaw houses, like those of other Indian nations in the region, used a pole and frame construction which could then be covered with bark or thatch.
Corn was the most important Chickasaw crop, so it is not surprising that he Green Corn Ceremony was their most important religious ceremony. Held after the harvest, the Green Corn Ceremony was an expression of gratitude for a successful corn crop. This was a time for renewing life when the villages were cleaned and worn pottery was broken. The Green Corn Ceremony was also associated with the quest for spiritual purity. Fasting – one of the principal ways of attaining purity – was an important element in the ceremony. Among the Chickasaw, the fast started on the first afternoon of the ceremony and lasted until the second sunrise. Following the fast an emetic was used to purge the body of all impurities.
The emetic used was the Black Drink, a black beverage which was made from the leaves of the cassina shrub. Drinking the beverage -- a strong purgative -- gave special purification to the drinker. It was used to cleanse the minds of village leaders for debate and to cleanse and strengthen the bodies of warriors for battle. By removing bodily impurities, the drinkers were restored to a state of equilibrium which allowed them to successfully complete whatever task they faced. Anthropologist Charles Hudson, in his book The Southeastern Indians, notes:
“The physiological effects of black drink are mainly those of massive doses of caffeine.”
Fishing and hunting supplemented the agricultural diet. Fish were often speared using green cane spears which could be 16 to 18 feet in length. Spearing was often done from canoes.
Clothing
Among the Chickasaw, the basic dress for men was a deerskin breechclout and a poncho-like garment upper garment which was worn when visiting. With regard to women’s dress, Josephine Paterek, in her book Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume, reports:
“Women wore a skirt of woven mulberry bark or of deerskin. To this was added, when necessary, an upper garment like the men’s poncho.”
While both Chickasaw men and women usually went barefoot, they did make moccasins which were smoked to prevent hardening.
With regard to personal adornment, Josephine Paterek reports:
“Men followed the usual custom of lengthening the lobes of the ears and binding them with wire in order to hang hoops, pendants, or dangling strings of bead from the aperture.”
Josephine Paterek also reports:
“War captains and other men of distinction were tattooed, often with figures of serpents or other animals; these figures were esteemed not only as ornament but were calculated to frighten enemies.”
Cranial Deformation
One of the interesting cultural practices of some of the Southeastern tribes, such as the Natchez, Chickasaw, Catawba, and Choctaw, was cranial deformation in which the heads of infants were deliberately flattened. Christina Snyder, in her book Slavery in Indian Country: The Changing Face of Captivity in Early America, reports:
“When infants from these groups lay on their cradle boards, families placed wooden boards covered with deerskin on the foreheads, making the cranial vault rounded and long.”
Cranial deformation was usually an indication of high social rank.
Government
Like many of the other Indian nations in the Southeast, the Chickasaw had a dual system of government in which there was a civil chief who managed internal matters and peaceful diplomacy and another chief served as war chief. During times of conflict, the war chief would function as the primary leader.
Warfare
Warfare was common among the Southeastern Indian nations. Even though there were women warriors, warfare tended to be dominated by men. Warfare generally involved raiding to obtain booty or captives. Among the Chickasaw a typical raiding party consisted of about 20 men led by a war leader who carried a medicine bundle. Christina Snyder reports:
“Women also contributed by accompanying men into battle and providing both critiques and encouragements through song.”
In his 1934 book The Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Grant Foreman writes:
“The Chickasaw were noted from remote times for their bravery, independence, and warlike disposition.”
As with other Southeastern tribes, if anything happened which could be interpreted as a bad omen the warriors returned home.
Christina Snyder also reports:
“While some men benefited from high status that came from being born into prestigious clans, war represented a unique opportunity for young men of all clans to enhance their social and material capital. The desire for war honors was a cultural imperative that drove Native men to fight their enemies.”
Indians 101/201
Twice each week this series presents American Indian topics. Indians 201 is an expansion of an earlier essay. More tribal overviews from this series:
Indians 101: A Very Brief Overview of California's Achumawi Indians
Indians 101: A Short Overview of the Western Apache
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the Caddo Indians
Indians 101: A Brief Overview of Cherokee Culture
Indians 101: A very short overview of California's Chumash Indians
Indians 101: A short overview of the Coeur d'Alene Indians
Indians 201: A short overview of the Duwamish Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Havasupai Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Hualapai Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Kiowa Indians
Indians 101: A short overview of the Makah Indians
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the Mohave Indians
Indians 101: A Brief Overview of the Omaha Indians
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the O'odham Indians
Indians 101: A Very Short Overview of the Ottawa Indians
Indians 201: A short overview of the Tillamook Indians