Choctaw Country

The drive to the Choctaw reservation was pretty easy - right at an hour and a half.  The countryside there is lush, green farmland.  

It's hard to decide what exactly to write about at the moment because there are many facets to Choctaw culture and every person I spoke with has a great story to tell.  So, for now it'll be simple recap.


Once I got to the reservation, I met up with Wilma Simpson who is in the office of Public Information.  She was my guide for the day and toted me around everywhere, introducing me to people and sharing information and insight into Choctaw life.


I first met with Police Captain Harold Comby who is also a Mississippi Humanities Council Board member.  We talked for a long time about foodways, life, his work and traditions and his perspective and experiences as a Choctaw.  It was really incredible.  Before we knew it, our stomachs were rumbling and it was way past lunchtime.


Wilma, by request, took me to Peggy's.  If you haven't already heard, Peggy's is THE place to go in Philadelphia for good home-cooking.  Peggy began feeding people out of her home about 40 years ago.

The modest buffet is set up in the hall of the home and we had our fill of fried chicken, Lima beans and black-eyed peas, mashed potatoes or rice and gravy, marinated carrots, salad, topped off with rolls and cornbread sticks.

You pay by the honor system and make change from the basket.

After lunch, we went out into the county to visit the Creation Cave and Nanih Waiya, the Mother Mound (pronounced Nah-nee why-uh).


I was under the impression that the cave and the Mother Mound were one and the same, but that is not the case.  I'm looking forward to hearing more stories about this.

After the acquisition of these two pieces of land, the Choctaw now celebrate an annual holiday (which replaces Columbus Day - and my thought is, why the heck would they want to celebrate Columbus Day in the first place.  That was the advent of all their troubles, truth be told.  Just another paradox of modern Choctaw life, I discovered).


Wilma mentioned that the road to the cave became narrower and narrower as you get closer.  

We decided against getting out and wandering around.  There were horseflies and deer flies that swarmed the SUV.  We hadn't brought any repellent and thought it best to wait until we did!  Poor Vince, who drove us out there, got bitten on the head locking the gate back.

The Choctaw are hoping to restore these sites, which fell under much neglect, through grants.  It is through the kindness and diligence of tribe members, that these sites are maintained.  It's a beautiful green, wooded area.

There are two cave entrances, both of which have been eroding over the years.  The entrance used to be large enough for a man to walk into but now looks like a crawl space.

 

Wow.  I'll snap more photos next time we go.


We then drove to the Mother Mound nearby and walked to the top. 

 

The view was pretty and a nice, cool breeze was blowing.  (Unheard of in this heat.)  Chief of Staff Barry McMillan met us there.  I asked all three of them what they felt and how they felt when they came out to the Mother Mound and the Cave.  Each of them said, they felt the overwhelming spirit of their ancestors.  What a powerful force.


How many people can say they are still so nearby their true place of origin?  

Views from the top of the mound below:

What an amazing experience. 

By the time we headed back, it was getting close to 5 p.m.

We stopped off at Cheatham's gas and grocery store on Highway 21 for a drink.  They also sold homemade fried apple pies.  And they were pretty good...

My Friday in Choctaw country was not over just yet...more to come.

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!

Excursion to Horn Island

I was supposed to head home on Thursday but the Marine Mammals field research class was going to Horn Island.  New friends and filmmakers Chandler Griffin and Alison Fast (who taught our filmmaking workshop two weeks ago) were going on the trip and I decided to go along with them because when might I ever get to do this again given the current state of things?

I had to cancel an appointment later that day to go out on the boat, but hopefully Mary Margaret will forgive me!  Especially when I treat her to lunch soon  :)

We set out around 8 a.m. made our way across the Mississippi Sound waters.

It was hot and humid but there was a terrific breeze coming off the water.  A thrilling sight was the line of shrimping boats heading out for a days' work.  

The experience was naturally poignant and bittersweet because you end up asking yourself, How much longer will they be able to go out on the water?

Chandler getting B-roll footage of the boats.  

The boats are so colorful.  

As you can see above, the boat's cabin had an A/C window unit.  At first we thought it was pretty funny but by the end of the day were thankful it was there!!

The Marine Mammals class boats out and follows the dolphins around for a little while.  It didn't take us long to spot one!

You can't help but think about how Walter Anderson made the trek to Horn Island and other points in the Sound.  This was no 5 minute jaunt!  If you look at a map of the coast, the Barrier Islands don't look very far from the mainland.  We got out there in about an hour, give or take, and this was a big boat with a motor.  I can't imagine rowing in the small boat of his...

I really can't imagine how incredibly difficult that must have been.  Below is an image from the Walter Anderson Museum of Art website that mapped out his route to the Islands.

Below is our first sight of Horn Island.  We drove around a little longer to watch the dolphins.  You might also be able to see in the distance that there are quite a few boaters still out and about.

Chandler and Alison grabbing more footage.

The guy in dreads below is from Jackson and is a Teaching Assistant at GCRL.  His family owns The Trace Grill in Ridgeland.  Small world!

The boat stopped and a motor was secured on a small raft to take us over to the Island.  As you can see, there is no shade to be had - I immediately thought Uh oh.  I'm gonna be burnt like crispy bacon before the day is done!

We got to the Island and began our walk across.  There was no hiding from the sun - it was about 9:30 a.m. or so and already dangerously hot.  We all took full water bottles with us.  Everyone from Sea Camp counselors the day before to field research professors stressed keeping hydrated by drinking water constantly.  (I don't know about anyone else, but I used the bathroom only twice that day.  Once in the morning and the other time later that night.  Every other drop of moisture was sweated out of me over the day.)

I wore a thin shirt over my camisole and ended up wearing that over my head and shoulders and it felt like I channeled Lawrence of Arabia.  I could totally envision people passing out in the desert!

The island was absolutely beautiful.  The trees were still stripped from Hurricane Katrina but vegetation was slowly growing back and there were lots of animal tracks through the sand.  One of the professors told me the tracks I asked about were Nutria but now I'm sort of wondering if it wasn't an alligator.  Could have been...also there were rabbit and bird tracks in the sand, too.

Here's a view of our boat after walking a little ways from the shore.  It was a lovely silence on the island with waves lapping the shore and birds chattering.

The Parks service put red flags up to let us know where to walk, so folks wouldn't track all over the budding vegetation.  Perched high in the trees were Osprey nests that were really huge.

This one circled around a few times before landing. 

We walked past a lush, green freshwater marsh.  Someone mentioned earlier to watch out for copperheads!  Yipe!

We made it to the other side of the island where I stopped and took it all in. The students went swimming in the Gulf, played frisbee in the water - and I was wondering why I hadn't worn my bathing suit!

 

Above is one of the GCRL professors.  He was really nice and told us a lot about the vegetation we walked through and other interesting facts.  Obviously, there is quite a glare on the white sand (below)!

 The water was cool and felt so good. 

I walked right in a little ways knowing it wouldn't take long for my pants to dry (there is still sand in the cuffs of my pants legs).  It was so pretty there.  I kept remembering what I've read about how harsh the climate is and wondering how Walter Anderson did it all those years, spending weeks out there exploring.  

Students enjoying the cool water - they spotted a dolphin swimming past nearby.

Alison and Chandler did an interview with the professor in the surf and got more B-roll.  I shot a little bit of footage and did a preliminary interview with William (the guy in dreads).

The professor showed us the little multi-colored mussels that live in the sand.  You can scoop them up with your hand and toss them back on the sand.  As the waves lap up, they begin digging themselves back underneath the sand again.  It was fun to watch. We saw several crabs scuttling sideways underneath the shallow water and the professor also dug up a few crablike animals that live underneath the sand.

It was here on the shores of Horn Island that the state of the oil spill, the lives we lead all really hit home for me.  As angry as we get, it's still easy to be fairly disconnected from the reality of what is going on because all we do is look at a map.  As we discovered and watched the animals, small and large, that make their homes beneath the sand and in the water, the brutal reality made me upset.  It was a thrilling experience but one with marked sadness as well.  Those animals are home and have no place to go and many of the fish live only in the Mississippi Sound and the Gulf, not migrating anywhere else.

Watching the shrimping boats, the private boaters, going out with the field research students and scientists was deeply moving as we all sit and wait to see how long it will be until the oil reaches Mississippi's shores; and what exactly will happen when it does; and how long that impact will affect the ecosystem, the aquaculture and our culture.  Already tar balls are washing up on Horn Island and bringing with it dead crabs and fish.  A coke can on the beach was covered with a thick, smelly black oil that looks a lot like asphalt.  There's so much more I want to say but will leave it at that for now.

After a couple of hours, we headed back to the other side of the island, got in the raft and went back to the boat.  There were several dolphins (with a baby) that we followed around - or rather, I think they followed us!  As the boat gathered speed, the dolphins jumped over the waves the boat made - you could see smiles on their faces.  It was beautiful!

If I can get some video footage of it that Chandler caught, I'll post it here.

Not too long thereafter, I spotted a dolphin-shaped cloud!!

Vietnamese shrimping boat "Thanh Hai"

A view of a student's notebook.

As I headed back to Jackson, I passed the largest rocking chair in the world in Gulfport and had to get a shot of it!  You've probably seen Ginger talk about it on Deep Fried Kudzu.  It was BIG!

I arrived home to a happy husband, smelling of SPF 50 sunblock and the outdoors, with a sunburn and the wish that I could have stayed on the Coast.  What a gorgeous, magical place.

It was one of those experiences that was both exhausting and exhilarating.  I will never forget it.