2 minute read
Choctaw tribal experience comes to life at cultural center
Many history books, even ones focusing on Oklahoma, tell a condensed story of the Choctaw people.
BY LINDA MILLER
Their heritage, perseverance, strength and at times sorrowful journeys and experiences come to life in extensive detail and description at the Choctaw Cultural Center in Durant. Photos, exhibits, films and personal stories await visitors at every turn, along with plenty of history to learn or, for some, to remember. and for many, it’s an opportunity to reconnect to that side of their culture.
A visit reveals the Choctaws’ early days and what it was like for them in their native homelands in what is now Southeastern United States. How they thrived, built a community and later were forced to cede the land and leave their flourishing and happy villages to endure the grueling and often deadly trek to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. Visitors start their own journey at the Orientation Gallery where vignettes introduce 12 Choctaw citizens, each from one of the dozen districts that make up the reservation, as they share what it’s like in the Choctaw Nation today. A few steps away in the Orientation Theater, a short video narrated by tribal members focuses on Choctaw culture, tradition and spirit, a theme that continues throughout the center.
The Choctaws believe their story began 14,000 years ago and spans 600 generations. Oral history tells of forebearers originating from a sacred hill often referred to as the Mother Mound. Moundville in what is now Western Alabama became a center of villages with ruling families living atop the larger mounds arranged around a center plaza. Later the entire area became a formal burial ground, a monument to ancestors’ lives.
Throughout the center, numerous scenes, exhibits and interactive displays highlight daily life and activities from ancestral days to more modern living. Exhibits and vignettes share origin and creation stories and highlight early family scenes. There’s a church, a stickball game, a village hut and the Warrior Gallery representing the history of both men and women serving in the military. Artifacts include beads dating from the 1700s, an effigy head originally attached to the rim of a ceramic bowl and a lump of clay complete with finger and palm impressions left behind 400 years ago. Skilled members of today’s Chickasaw community created other
The bronze sculpture Tvshka Homma, the Red Warrior, watches over the entry of the Choctaw Cultural Center in Durant.
Photo provided
