Choctaw Traditions: Stories of the Life and Customs of the Mississippi Choctaw

There are thousands of books that record the oral traditions of Native peoples, documenting their myths, legends, folktales, and tribal histories. Yet, there are almost none that pay the same attention to the oral traditions that make up the other 95 percent of Native American storytelling: the personal, familial, humble stories that convey the depth of cultural knowledge, traditional practices, and lived experience of Native peoples today.

Choctaw Traditions: Stories of the Life and Customs of the Mississippi Choctaw draws on over 1,400 stories from interviews with over one hundred tribal members, past and present, from all of the nine Choctaw communities in Mississippi and Tennessee. This breadth creates a collection of stories capturing the rich detail and complexity of Choctaw customary life. Archival stories offer a glimpse into the past, but the vast majority of the stories were recorded over the past three decades, a collaboration between Choctaw youth, Choctaw elders, Choctaw leaders, and a folklorist.

In their own words, Choctaw elders tell stories of participating in customs and traditions--stories about growing up sharecropping, where the work to put food on the table was balanced with weekends of ballgames, picnics, and dancing. They recount stories of helping each other when an iyyikowa was called to help their neighbors in need, and in gathering seasonally for ceremonies, holidays, festivals, and fundraisers. Important customs that structure lives from cradle to grave come to life through stories about the dos and don’ts of pregnancy and birth, coming of age, courtship, weddings, marriage, parenting, deaths, wakes, and funerals. With these stories, Choctaw elders offer a blueprint for how to live.

Tom Mould is professor of anthropology and folklore at Butler University. He is author of Choctaw Prophecy: A Legacy of the Future; Choctaw Tales; Still, the Small Voice: Narrative, Personal Revelation, and the Mormon Folk Tradition; and Overthrowing the Queen: Telling Stories of Welfare in America, which won the Brian McConnell Book Award and the Chicago Folklore Prize. Eddie Johnson is a tribal member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, has served as the special projects/media program coordinator in the Department of Chahta Immi, and is now the tribal archivist. Jay Wesley is a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and he is director for the Department of Chahta Immi, which consists of the Choctaw Tribal Language Program, the Cultural Affairs Program, the Special Projects/Media Program, and the Chahta Immi Cultural Center.