Nomads, Indians & Saints

Thrilling news to share with you. I've been hired to do a little short term research work that takes me to Philadelphia (MS) to interview tribe members with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians tribe for an upcoming local television show segment.

I'm really excited because there are so many questions I have about their foodways and culture.  (Apparently my maternal grandmother was 1/32 Choctaw.  Don't ask me how far back that goes and truth be told, as white as I am, probably doesn't count for much of anything at this point...)

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are descendants of the several thousand who elected to stay behind in Mississippi after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830.  This treaty secured a final and ultimate removal of Native Americans from Mississippi to Oklahoma.  The United States government bought the remaining Indian lands and opened it up to white settlers.  Within this land was the Choctaws' Mother Mound, Nanih Waiya, which means "leaning hill," located in Winston County.


How many people know that the Choctaws' creation story begins in Mississippi? I didn't until I found it out during Culinary Trail research.  It's absolutely amazing, isn't it? 

In August of 2008, the state of Mississippi gave the Choctaws the land containing their Mother Mound includes the cave, where according to their creation story, they emerged from the earth.  The land was owned by a family for several generations and then given to the state and designated as a state park, which closed down in 2004.

There are a few versions of the creation story including the Grandmother spider that steals the fire, brothers Chata and Chicksah leading them to the spot that is Mississippi (and subsequently breaking up into the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes) and another where they emerged from a cave in the earth in a cocoon-like state and were spread outside to dry and became the very first Choctaws.

For anyone in search of Indian mounds in the area - and there are quite a few to see in the Delta, along the Trace in the Pines, around Natchez - you can head north on Highway 49 to Pocahontas and walk the park area at the visitor's station.

The Pocahontas mounds are ceremonial, not burial.  The village was usually set up around it.  Archaeologists found the remains of a wooden hut or shack of this one, where an elder, chief or spiritual leader typically lived.  The other mound nearby is to the west and on private land not open to public access.

Nearby "Big Tee Pee BBQ" has apparently closed for business in the last month or so.  I heard they had great barbecue that the Cohen Brothers scarfed up while they were here scouting for O, Brother.  Too bad!