Choctaw Nation

With U.S. government promises that no part of their granted land would ever be embraced in any state and that the U.S. would forever secure the Choctaw Nation from all laws except those enacted in its own National Councils, the Choctaw Nation reluctantly agreed to removal in 1830. More than 16,000 Choctaws left Alabama and Mississippi along the 350-mile Trail of Tears to Indian Territory. Traveling by foot, horseback, wagon, and steamboat, they struggled through blizzards, floods, lack of supplies, and cholera. Approximately 25 percent of the Choctaw perished during 1831-1833. By the time Indian Territory became the state of Oklahoma in 1907, the U.S. government had abolished tribal ownership of land and the Choctaw tribal government. The Choctaw Nation, however, survived and operates today under a constitution adopted in 1983. The Choctaw Nation has become one of the primary players in the economic development of southeastern Oklahoma. It has over 175,000 tribal members, operates more than 70 different programs, and employs over 5,000 people worldwide.

Fort Smith, Arkansas · United States