Sources I Used

I used the sources...


http://www.google.com/                                               
http://www.bigorrin.org/choctaw_kids.htm
http://www.flickr.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw
http://www4.nau.edu/tribalclimatechange/tribes/gulfcoast.asp
http://www.thebcyclingguitarist.net/studies/trailoftears.htm
http://www.fluffy.demon.nl/american/namtri.htm
http://www.ask.com/web?qsrc=1&o=102294&l=oir&9=choctaw+indians+tribes
http://www.choctawnation.com/
http://www.ewebtnbecom/NACulture/food.htm
http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/games.htm
http://www.nativetech.org/games/
http://www.so84.k12.id.us/farmstid/Native%20American%20Web/choctaw.htm
http://www.dihd.ku.edu/foods/coctaw.html
http://www.choctawnation.com/services/departments/
http://www.ask.com/questions-about/Life-about-the-Choctaw-Tribe
http://www.choctawcasinos.com/
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/oklahoma/
http://www.bronsonattlecreek.com/services/birthcenter/nativeambabynames.shtml
http://www.20000-names.com/female_native_american_names.htm
http://www.20000-names.com/male_native_american_names_02.htm
http://www.wunderground.com/US/OK/Choctaw.html                  

Diary Entry Of 10 Year Old Choctaw Child Day 3

Diary Entry 3

Dearest Diary,

Today was a wonderful and sunny day. In the morning Poloma, Nita, and I didn't have to collect crops   because we already had enough. Also because we woke up kind of late and probably wouldn't have enough time to pick that many crops. My mother gave us cornbread and water for breakfast. Then dad said "Bye Isa. Bye Nita. By Poloma. Bye Fala. I am going hunting and I will try very hard to bring home a bear for us to eat for dinner!" We all shouted "Bye" back to him. Then he took his bow and arrows, jumped on his horse and left. My mother started cooking a soup. Nita, Poloma, and I played with our beaded dolls for a little while. Then my father came home and said "Sorry. I didn't catch a bear today but I did get a turkey and two fish." We were all very grateful that my father brought home some food even though he didn't bring home a bear. Then we had lunch. It was soup with berries and hickory milk. After lunch Poloma, Nita and I played outside. It was a lot of fun. Then it was time to eat again. We ate fish, a stew, cornbread, and hickory milk. In the stew was corn, beans, squash, and turkey. It was delicious. After dinner our family played a game and then my father said "I have a surprise for you girls. When I was out hunting, I passed by the chief's home and he told me to give you each a pair of moccasins that he made for you." My father gave Poloma, Nita and I a pair. They were brand new! We told him Thank You! and then he sent us to write our journal of the day. I have had a fun day and tomorrow I will get to wear my brand new moccasins which will be nice. 

Sincerely,

Fala

 

Diary Entry Of 10 Year Old Choctaw Child Day 2

Diary Entry 2

Dearest Diary,

Today I had a great time in the ceremony. In the morning, Poloma, Nita, and I had to get up earlier then usual and pick crops. It was a cloudy day. I had hoped that it wouldn't rain in the ceremony when we were having fun. Nita and I were suppose to collect the beans, corn, and squash. Poloma was supposed to collect berries. When all of us had a pot full of the things we were supposed to collect, we gave them to my mother and she gave us cornmeal. We ate it and then counted the utensils. We made sure there would be plenty for the whole tribe. Then we went to the ceremony. The first thing we did was we went to the chief's wife and congratulated her for having her baby. Her name is Talulah and it means leaping in water. We gave Talulah a pot that we made out of clay for a gift. Then we said "Hi" to the chief. Soon everyone started eating. I ate some of my mother's stew, cornbread, cornmeal, and some fish that someone caught. I drank hickory milk. Then we started to dance. We danced to some music that Choctaw were singing and drumming. It was a lot of fun. After a few more dances we played stickball. I was having so much fun but then it started raining and so everyone had to go home. I was sad that we couldn't stay and keep celebrating but I knew that we couldn't play Stickball in the rain. We said "Bye" to everyone and then left. When we got home my mother gave us our dinner. It was soup and cornbread with water. After dinner we didn't have time to play a game together so Poloma, Nita, and I wrote in our diaries. Now it is time for me to go to bed. I had a great time at the ceremony.

Goodnight Diary,

Fala

Recipe For Cornbread That The Choctaw Tribe Ate

Cornbread:
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of white flour
3/4 cup of polenta or cornmeal
4 tablespoons of sugar
5 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons of applesauce
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of water
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add wet ingredients and dry ingredients in another bowl together and stir well. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until it is golden brown.



This photo is from Queen Roly. Thank you!   

Diary Entry Of 10 Year Old Choctaw Child Day 1

   Diary Entry 1

Dearest Diary,

My name is Fala. It is a Choctaw name and it means crow. I have two sisters, a mother, and a father. My sisters names are Poloma and Nita. Poloma means bow and Nita means bear. I am ten years old, Poloma is fourteen years old, and Nita is eight years old. My mother's name is Isi. It means deer. My father's name is Shikoba. It means feather in Choctaw.     Today was a good day. In the morning, right after I woke up, I went outside. It was windy. I had to pick some crops. I picked squash, corn, and beans. Then my mother gave me, Poloma, Nita, and my father  some cornmeal. When we were all done eating, my father took his bow and arrows, got on his horse, and left to hunt meat for our family to eat for dinner. My mother got her pots that she made out of clay and she started making stews with the crops that I collected before we ate so we could have them in a stew for lunch. Poloma and I helped my mother make food by making cornbread and Nita collected more crops for tomorrow. Tomorrow there would be a big ceremony because the chief's wife had a baby very recently. Everyone in the Choctaw tribe needed to bring some food. Our family was going to bring a stew and enough utensils for every one to eat with. That would mean that tomorrow we were going to have to make stew and my father would have to hunt a buffalo or find shells because my family doesn't have enough utensils for everyone to use so we would have to make some more. Soon Nita came in with a lot of crops and Poloma and I finished the cornbread. Since we were done with our chores for now, we got to play. The three of us played a game. Our game got interrupted when my father came and shouted "I caught a buffalo!" Then we had to go and see. The buffalo was huge! My father took the horns off the buffalo and my mother told us to get ready for lunch. Then she gave us stew with beans, squash, corn, and turkey. It was really good. Then Poloma, Nita, and I went to play with our beaded dolls. After awhile it was time for dinner. We went over to my mother and she gave us more stew and cornbread. She also gave us hickory milk. After dinner our family played a game together and we had to write in our journals. I have to go to bed now because tomorrow we will have our ceremony. We will need to wake up earlier then usual because we will need to prepare for the ceremony.

Sincerely,

Fala

Choctaw Entertainment and Interesting Facts

Entertainment

The Choctaw tribe had ceremonies. In the ceremonies they would eat and dance. The most important dance was the Sun Dance. That is because they believed in the sun. Every year they had festivals in Oklahoma. They were in the tribes capital. There, people can learn about the Choctaw culture. Also they played instruments. They made the instruments out of natural things and played them.

Interesting Facts

Andrew Jackson became the president of the United States. He was willing to use force to remove the Choctaw tribe. They were forced to travel to Oklahoma. They were to move in three groups starting in 1831. There was bad weather on the journey. Some died because they weren't prepared for the journey. They died on the infamous Trail Of Tears. There are still two Choctaw tribes today. Choctaw lived in cabins. The cabins were made by driving poles close together in the Earth. Native Americans in the Choctaw tribe wore moccasins on their feet. Today, some rock climbers wear moccasins when they are climbing because they help to grip the rocks better. Moccasins that people wear today came from the Native Americans.

                                                      
                                                                                                                         
This photo is from Jos van Wunnik Thank you!                                         This is from Jondresner. Thank you!

Choctaw Culture And Religion

Religions

The Choctaw believed in an evil spirit and a good spirit. They believed in the sun. The sun was known to have the power of life and death. The life was the good spirit and the death was the evil spirit. The sun was so important to them that they even had a Sun Dance that they danced in ceremonies.  They were sun worshippers. They also had a symbol. Their symbol was a seal. It had a circle within which was a set of bow and arrows. There was a set of bow and arrows because the Native Americans used bow and arrows to shoot the meat that they hunted. The Choctaw tribe believed that they and other tribes emerged from the Earth and that that was how their tribe started.

Culture

There were many games that they played. The most important games were Stickball and Ishtaboli. Whole villages played against each other.Women usually didn't play but they encouraged their team. If they thought men weren't working hard enough when playing a game, they would whack the men with a stick. The Choctaw tribe danced different dances. Women did all the cooking and men did the hunting. The men rode horses and carried a set of bow and arrows. They shot animals that they saw. Everyone, even kids, had to do chores. When they weren't doing chores, children played. Sometimes they played games and sometimes they played with beaded dolls. Eating utensils were made out of wood, shells, or bison horns.

                      
                                                                                             This photo is from Travis S. Thank you!