The path we take

By Quiet

Four Days of Green Corn

One thing that allows a Native-American to feel proud is the celebration of an important event. The Ceremonies also have the beliefs that come with it and Indians wear ceremonial dresses while playing instrument(s), singing and dancing. A Ceremony from the Choctaw Indians is called Green Corn Ceremony the commonly known term for it was Okissa which means fast. Parts of the ceremony are different between Choctaw communities. Preparations are made a week before it actually starting which is the hunters would hunt deer, squirrels using snares, bears, hogs and cattle and green corn was harvested. The ceremony would last for four days and on the first day they would reestablish and meet old friends. On the second day everyone would be fasted and the Choctaw Alikchi or doctor would make herbal drinks to participating dancers to purge their body. They would then bath in herbal solution after they would not eat before going to sleep. On the third day they would eat and the ceremony would start by the beating drum for the start of the Stomp dance. One man would go to a place near a main fire and pray thanking God for blessing the community. A male caller would lead the vocal singing followed by repeat singing of the male dancers. The women would dance double step and the dance would go on for the rest of the night until sunrise. On the four day it consisted of meeting old friends and relatives in breaking camp. The Green Corn ceremony is traditionally taken place on a Dance Ground; a Dance Ground is an area blessed by an Alikchi. A new one can only be used by assistance from the previous Dance Ground. In the center of a Dance Ground there is a fire which is considered sacred by those who practice it. The old Choctaw Indians called it Luak Hashtahli Itichapa meaning Fire, the friend of God. Surrounding the Fire is the dance area for those who are participating. On the outer side of the dance are four brush arbors that are placed in four cardinal directions. Each brush arbor is assigned to a representative of one tribe of the Four Mothers Society. These Indians consisted of the Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek/Seminole, and Chickasaw who were to continue the traditional tribal life ways and values. The Green Corn dances are done in parts of four and would go counter clockwise around the fire. The old callers are replaced by the new callers to lead dances until sunrise. The women would keep
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the rhythm using turtle shell rattles strapped to their lower legs while the men had them strapped to their upper legs. Two commentators/participants said that the dances were the same to those of the Cherokee, Creek, and Chickasaw. In 1951 Murial Wright wrote Choctaw tribal dances were no longer held in Oklahoma. In 1970 Elders who participated in the Yellow Hill dance Ground that was open from 1902 to 1937 formed a committee and revitalized many of the old dance styles. Traditional Choctaw dances were taken out of their original contexts of the Green Corn Ceremony. The ceremony is still celebrated in the late time of July for the ripening of the corn and though the practiced has come and gone places over the decades. For instance moving from Mississippi with the Trail of Tears and reestablishing in Oklahoma. This dance such as others is an event that brings others together to dance, sing and eat. Words: 579

Has anyone heard of Muskogean?

Speaking in the Indian culture is very important do to the fact that unlike Americans who had the written language. But this language is slowly losing its oral tradition meaning that people that are Choctaw now do not know how to speak the language. Is it because today so many are to learn the English or do they not know who they are? This is what the language is explained in detail. The Choctaw language is Muskogean and very similar to the language of the Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole. With the exception of the Cherokee that is the Iroquoian language. The person who had translated the language into the written was Cyrus Byington a Presbyterian Missionary in the nineteenth century. He had used the Roman alphabet to decode most of the sounds of the language. The language has twenty-one letters including three combinations. The language also has two diphthongs that are AI meaning pine and AU meaning now or all. The Choctaw language does not use the English letters c, d,
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g, j, q, r, v, x, and z. Instead they use the letters a, b, ch (as one sound), f, h, I, k, l, ih (as one sound, m, n, o, p, s, sh (as one sound), t, w and y. Only three vowels are used: a, I, and o all have three sounds long, short and nasal. The language is disappearing even from the land they were forced to live in that is Oklahoma. It is do to past Indian policies that are concentrated on everyone being able to speak English as their focused language to study. Choctaw adults and children do not know their own cultural language. In bringing it back and keeping it the Muskogee area office of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs are in charge of the language book Chahta Anompa. It is believed to help educate people about the language. Unlike Spanish the Choctaw language does not have masculine, femine or neuter with the exception of hattak meaning man and ohoyo meaning woman. Adding to this there are no plural words that must have a number quantity of the object or objects or people. Unlike the English dictionary that may contain many words for a simple word the Muskogean language does not have many words. So that means that one word in the language can mean many things or rather something different then said. The language also contains reflexive forms and reciprocal forms. But unlike in English the Choctaw language the nouns can also be in plural form such as dog or dogs. Though the language is disappearing people are who are of the culture and may not be of the culture are trying to keep it alive and to be continued to be taught and know. As well as having people know it that is of the Choctaw heritage. One such evidence is the previously stated book called Chahta Anompa that teaches people of the language and of the culture of the Choctaw Indians. We the people should not forget the Muskogean language and the tribes that come with it. Words: 519

Spirits inside us and the Pole Purpose

Animal are very important to the Indians in aspects that believe and the stories that go behind the animal. Animals had given much to the Indian culture and what they represent around the world. Everything on Earth is alive; everything on earth has purpose; everything on earth is connected; everything on earth is embraced. Indians believed that animal should only be killed when they killed it for its meat and needed to use its fur its for something. Indians would use everything they could from the animal and would not waste the meat or the fur. They would use the animals skin and feathers in dances and in ceremonies to honor the animals. Indians believe that everything that is created has spiritual energy. Though beliefs are different throughout the different tribes they all believe in the Great Spirit that created the earth. Meaning they practice different styles of Monotheism and animal belief. An animal guide is said to be with you since birth though you may have more depending on your personality. The main animal will always stay with you even if you have many guides. One symbolic animal for example of animal could be the Owl. It represents wisdom, mystery, transition, messages, intelligence, mysticism, protection and secrets. Indians think of the bird as wisdom, foresight and keeper of sacred knowledge. A spirit guide is with you even if you make a mistake they would try to lead you on the right path. They can be seen as teachers trying to assist a student, but it is up to the student to use the knowledge for their life.

One symbol of the animals that is most renounced to people is the totem pole with different statures to tell a story. A totem can represent the tribe that has crafted it to show what they represent. An individual could carve a tote to tell their life through the animals that are carved into it. A family can carve a totem so that they could show their history to others and show what animal out of the nine fitted those best. An animal represents you physically and spiritually. A totem does not completely have

to be a tall pole. It could be a crest, emblem small figurine. An object that could depict you as representing the animal that is a part of you and which tells what type of person you are. Though we know it animals have played a role in shaping this world to what it is what cannot be on it. One such animal is the wolf that has killed many livestock and though it does not try to interact with humans we keep pushing ourselves on to their land. Thus conflict arises and they are taken care of. The animal that is inside of you will continue to follow your path no matter what happens in the future. So maybe its time to stop with technology for once go into nature and find out who you really are as a person. Words: 503

Clothing for the people

Though over thousands of years the clothing of Indians have been kept for the environment that they lived in. They would need for the different seasons was differed they had some sort of similarity even in the smallest aspects. The men of the Choctaw tribe would wear breechcloths and moccasins if they were to travel somewhere but would walk around barefoot at their tipi. Women would wear a blouse and a skirt made of hide and to get the tannish color for it they would rub deer brains on the hides. Men would change

into shirt and pants when traveling somewhere. When the season turned to winter they would change to wearing outer garments made of animal hide and furs while the leggings were tucked into the moccasins. While the women would wear a blouse and skirt made of cotton and the body would be protected by a shawl. Though their clothing would end up changing after the nineteenth century when the white people came. The change would happen to the women more than it did with the men though they kept somethings they would wear. They would change to wearing an apron and a kerchief but kept the style of a loose dress with the hemline above their ankles. Choctaw moccasins were made of deer skin and hair is cut then hung over a wood fire to give it a dark brown color. Where a flap is left over is decorated with beads and porcupine quills dyed in color. The ceremonial dresses were very colorful and the women would carefully sew the dresses by hand. The dresses were similar to those of peasant dresses of Brittanys Province of France during the early eighteen hundreds. The dress would be long sleeved and of a skirt form with ruffles that would need up to six yards of colored cotton material. Presently the colors would be a solid color of blue, red, purple, green or any other bright colors with a contrasting trim color. This would represent the mountains and the valleys with a path/trail on both sides of them. While the circle and cross represents the sun and the stars, the diamond shaped trim would represent nature and the respect they have for it. The decorative white apron with contrasting trim and ruffles is an integral part of a Choctaw womans dress. Marriage also deals with how a womans dress is made. An unmarried woman would have the back of their upper body dress open. A married woman would have the front part of their dress open so that they could feed their baby. Decorations that are worn with the dress are mostly worn for special occasions such as a beaded comb that is decorated, beaded earrings and a medallion. Though an Indians style of clothing may change do to adaption to what they needed over the time. The change that has happened to Indians and have caused them to lose the knowledge of the clothing and the creation of the clothing have almost all had been lost. Some clothing have been able to

last a long time and will continue to last. The Choctaw tribe will make sure their clothing is remembered and if able continued to be worn. Words: 539

Choctaw Nation Cultural Services. Iti Fabvssa, 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://choctawnationculture.com/choctaw-culture/iti-fabvssa/0310-green-corn-ceremony.aspx>. OK Choctaw Tribal Alliance, Inc. Ira H. Bryant III, 2008-2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.<http://www.okchoctaws.org/choctawphrases.htm>. Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. N.p., 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.choctawnation.com/cultureheritage/choctaw-traditions/choctaw-language/>.

Legends of American. N.p., 2003. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-totems.html> . Indians.org. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.indians.org/articles/
totem-poles.html>.

Mantaka American Indian Council. N.p., 2012-2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

<http://www.manataka.org/index.html>.

Marciesalsakaweb. N.p., 10 Apr. 2002-2006. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

<http://www.marciesalaskaweb.com/choctawclothing.htm>.