The Chickasaws were part of the Five Civilized Tribes.  Originally, the Chickasaws inhabited an area that extended northward from the northern portions of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama to the Ohio River, and eastward from the Mississippi River to the head waters of the Elk River in what is now the state of Tennessee.  This was the homeland of the Chickasaws when DeSoto and his party passed through their country in the winter of 1540 on their way to discovering the Mississippi River.  The Chickasaws were the most formidable warriors of the American Southeast, and anyone who messed with them came to regret it; if they lived!  They were sometimes called the "Unconquered and Unconquerable."  They were also known as the "Spartans of the lower Mississippi Valley."  No other tribe played a more significant role in Britain's victory over France for control of North America.  The Chickasaws would take on all comers, including tribes four or five times their size.  They never lost until they picked the wrong side in the American Civil War.  Even then, the Chickasaws were the last Confederate government to surrender to Union forces.

In the early nineteenth century, they tried to repel the white invaders but were defeated in the 1830's.  Then they were forced (along with the Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, and Seminoles) to move to lands west of the Mississippi River.  This was known as the Trail of Tears (see my story on that tragic event).  It was during this time that Chief Levi Colbert was convinced that continued resistance to white settlement would be futile.  He led a delegation to the west in search of a new Chickasaw homeland.  Originally, they were going to settle in the Southwestern corner of what is now Oklahoma, but it didn't work out.  Instead, they asked for permission to settle inside Mexican Texas on lands along the Sabine River.  Their request was denied, and they were told to settle in Indian Territory.  They settled inside Texas anyway until the late 1830's.  Then they joined the Choctaw-Chickasaw confederation, and joined their tribesmen in the Indian Territories.  Into the late 1850's and 1860's, the Chickasaws allied themselves with the new Confederacy.  This was a disastrous mistake.  After the Civil War, as punishment, the Chickasaws were forced to agree to another land cession.  In the years following the Civil War, Chickasaw land served as part of the great cattle highway between Texas and the marketplace in Kansas.  The Chisholm Trail was just one of the routes.  Due to contact with cattle ranchers and other frontier people, tribal identity soon was lost.

The literal meaning of Chickasaw is unknown.  The name apparently comes from a tradition about two brothers (Chisca and Chacta) whose descendants became the Chickasaws and Choctaws.  It's also been suggested that Chickasaw comes from a Choctaw word meaning "they left not long ago."  A few other names were:  Ani-tsidsu (Cherokee), Flat Heads (English), Kasahaunu (Yuchi), Tchaktchan (Arapaho), Tchikasa (Creek), Tetes Plates (French), and Tsikace (Osage).

Clothing

Clothing was primarily buckskin with the men preferring a breechcloth with thigh-high deerskin boots to protect their legs from the underbrush.  The women wore a simple short dress.  Both men and women used buffalo robes in colder weather.  The badge of honor that the Chickasaws wore was a mantle of swan feathers.  Both men and women wore their hair long.  War paint varied according to clan.  Like their neighbors, the Chickasaws removed all body hair and made extensive use of tattooing.  What was really distinctive, though, was that they flattened the foreheads of infants to "enhance their appearance as adults.

A Few Customs/Traditions

Adultery, especially for women, was a serious offense.  A young woman having a child out of wedlock was a disgrace to her family.  A widow was expected to remain single for four years after her husband's death, but there was not a similar restriction for the men.  The Chickasaws believed in a Supreme Creator, lesser good and evil spirits, and a life after death.  However, unlike many tribes, the Chickasaws buried their dead facing west.  One of their biggest activities was the "ball game."  This was a brutal contact sport played each summer with the all day games involving entire towns and hundreds of players.  Compared to the Chickasaw (Choctaw) ball game, modern football appears to be an activity created for pre-schoolers.