About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 91. Chapters: Acolapissa, Agua Dulce people, Ais people, Akokisa, Alachua culture, Belle Glade culture, Bidai, Caloosahatchee culture, Casqui, Catawba people, Chakchiuma, Cherokee Nation, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Christian Munsee, Congaree people, Coushatta, Cusabo people, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Five Civilized Tribes, Hilibi, Hopewell tradition, Houma people, Mayaimi, Mississippian culture, Mocama, Mocoso, Natchez people, Nodena Phase, Nottoway people, Okchai, Okelousa, Okfuskee, Pacaha, Pee Dee people, Pensacola people, Pisgah Phase, Pohoy, Potano, Safety Harbor culture, Saponi people, Secotan, Seminole, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Shakori people, Taposa, Timucua, Tipton Phase, Tunica-Biloxi, Uzita (Florida), Walls Phase, Wando people, Westo, Yamasee, Yazoo tribe. Excerpt: The Choctaw (alternatively spelled Chahta, Chactas, Tchakta, Chocktaw, and Chactaw) are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States (Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana). The Choctaw language belongs to the Muskogean linguistic group. The Choctaw are descendants of the peoples of the Hopewell and Mississippian cultures, who lived throughout the east of the Mississippi River valley and its tributaries. About 1,700 years ago, the Hopewell people built Nanih Waiya, a great earthwork mound, which is considered sacred by the Choctaw. The early Spanish explorers of the mid-16th century encountered Mississippian-culture villages and chiefs. The anthropologist John Swanton suggested that the Choctaw derived their name from an early leader. Henry Halbert, a historian, suggests that their name is derived from the Choctaw phrase Hacha hatak (river people). The Choctaw coalesced as a people in the 17th century, and developed three distinct political and geographical divisions: eastern, western and southern, which sometimes created differing alliances with nearby European powers. These included the French, based on the Gulf Coast and in Louisiana, the English of the Southeast, and the Spanish of Florida and Louisiana during the colonial era. During the American Revolution, most Choctaw supported the Thirteen Colonies' bid for independence from the British Crown. They never went to war against the United States prior to Indian Removal. In the 19th century, the Choctaw became known as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" because they adopted numerous practices of their United States neighbors. The Choctaw and the United States (US) agreed to nine treaties and, by the last three, the US gained vast land cessions and deracinated most Choctaw west of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory. They were the first Native Americans forced under the Indian Removal Act. The Choctaw were exiled because the U.S. wanted to expand territory available for set
