Chickasaw Elders Tour the Historic Homeland

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By Chickasaw Nation Media

November 27, 2024

For five enlightening days, a group of spirited Chickasaw elders immersed themselves in rich cultural heritage and explored significant historic sites in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee that bear witness to their ancestors’ enduring legacy.

Each stop, from the revered Piominko Statue in Tupelo to the poignant Chokka' Falaa' Monument, offered a chance to honor their past, celebrate their identity and strengthen the unbreakable bonds of kinship that define the Chickasaw Nation.

The Piominko Statue, located in front of Tupelo City Hall in Lee County, Mississippi, was the first historic stop on the Homeland tour. The 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Piominko was unveiled in 2005 with the Chickasaw Inkana Foundation hosting annual commemorations honoring the Chickasaw leader since. Sculpted by artist William Beckwith, the statue was built to honor the rich history of the tribe and fortify a bond between the Chickasaw Nation and Tupelo, Mississippi, community.

Chickasaw Nation Cultural Interpreter Bill Brekeen said “Piominko” is a contraction for “Hopayi' Minko',” meaning “prophet leader.”

Piominko served as a pre-Removal leader for the Chickasaw Nation. He met with Southeastern First American tribes, state governors and U.S. President George Washington to reach agreements benefiting the tribe. One of Piominko’s most noteworthy achievements was his signing of the Treaty with the U.S. and Chickasaw of 1786 (also known as Treaty of Hopewell). This treaty officially established the name “the Chickasaw Nation” and formally recognized the boundaries of the historic Chickasaw Homeland.

Sandra Williams, a Chickasaw elder, said the Piominko statue was her favorite stop on the tour because it represents a celebration of Chickasaw culture from people not directly involved.

Elders also visited the Chokka' Falaa' (Long Town) Chickasaw Monument, a site to honor Chickasaw ancestors whose remains were found nearby. The remains were unearthed after the North Mississippi Medical Center began construction on its hospital in 1996. Understanding the significance of the find, the Chickasaw Nation, Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History respectfully agreed to preserve, protect and interpret the remains and artifacts.

“It took seven weeks to perform the excavations,” Brekeen said.

Long Town was the largest known community of Chickasaw people in the 1700s. After excavations, the late Rev. Charlie Carter led a private reburial ceremony in 1997. One month later, Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby and more than 100 Chickasaw citizens returned to the Homeland for another ceremony. The late Chickasaw elder Pauline Walker led a prayer in Chickasaw during the memorial. Long Town marked the first repatriation and reburial by the Chickasaw Nation in Mississippi.

The tour also included a visit to the Chickasaw Preserve, which is located along a portion of the Chickasaw community of Chisha' Tálla'a', Post Oak Grove, in Tupelo, Mississippi. The land, home to Chickasaw ancestors in the 1600s and 1700s, consists of rolling hills and native vegetation situated along Coonewah Ridge. The property was purchased in the 1960s by the late John Ray and Lottye Betts Beasley, who worked to preserve the land after learning its historical value. In 2005, the Chickasaw Nation and the Archaeological Conservancy combined efforts to acquire and begin preservation of the site.

The Beasleys coined the name “Cedarscape” for the property due to the immense number of cedar trees nestled in the acreage. Charles Penna, a research and media specialist for the Chickasaw Nation Heritage Preservation Division, said the strong presence of cedar trees is due to the lack of annual burns and hardwood harvesting.

When cedar trees must be removed from the property, they are processed through a woodchipper. The chips are used on the trails to provide beautification and erosion control.

The Pontotoc County Post Office and Museum in Pontotoc, Mississippi, was another stop on the tour. After the signing of the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek in 1832 and the supplemental treaty in 1834, all land held by the Chickasaw Nation was surveyed to be sold. The United States General Land Office was constructed at this location to handle land sales, essentially creating the city of Pontotoc.

The museum portion of the Pontotoc County Post Office and Museum also features cultural items and artifacts donated for display, including a Removal-era replica dress made by the late Pauline Brown.

Elders were able to visit the Chickasaw Village Site along the Natchez Trace Parkway in modern-day Tupelo, Mississippi. The site dates back to the early 1700s. Once a flourishing community confirmed by archaeological fieldwork, interpretive panels and informational markers help guide visitors along the walkway to visualize life in the community more than 200 years ago.

The Chickasaw Village Site is mere steps from the future Chickasaw Heritage Center, expected to open in 2026. The Chickasaw Heritage Center will educate visitors about Chickasaw history from prehistoric times to 1837, before the tribe’s forced Removal to Indian Territory. The Chickasaw Heritage Center will also have an exhibit connecting visitors to the Chickasaw Nation today.

The strong presence of Chickasaw history along the Natchez Trace Parkway led elders to the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center where they received information about the Natchez Trace from an on-site ranger. The original Natchez Trace was a part of a larger precontact and historic Southeastern First American trade network. Later, the route was frequented during the early 1800s by boatmen from Kentucky, known as “Kaintucks.” The Kaintucks traveled the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Illinois rivers down to markets in Natchez and New Orleans on flat boats filled with goods. Once commodities were sold, Kaintucks would dismantle and sell the lumber from their boats and travel back home on foot through the Old Natchez Trace.

Stands or inns operated by Chickasaw ancestors offering food and shelter became popular along the Old Natchez Trace. Chickasaw elders visited Buzzard Roost Spring near Cherokee, Alabama, where a stand built by Levi Colbert, or Ittawamba, an early Chickasaw leader, attracted travelers like the Kaintucks. Although Colbert’s inn is no longer standing, Buzzard Roost Spring still serves as a piece of history preserved in nature.

The Homeland tour included visitation of Southeastern First American mound sites, stretching from northeast Mississippi to southwest Tennessee. Built between the Woodland Cultural Period (approximately 1000 B.C.-1000 A.D.) and Mississippian Cultural Period (approximately 1000-1600 A.D.), mounds were often made for spiritual purposes or burial sites.

The laborious process of mound building included excavating large quantities of soil by hand, transporting the dirt to a desired location and methodically stacking baskets of soil onto the site.

“I’m in construction, and I know what it takes to bring that much dirt in,” Chickasaw elder Foster Craig said. “To think about those people hundreds and thousands of years ago carrying that in baskets and stacking it up just blows my mind.”

Bynum Mounds near Houston, Mississippi, is one of the oldest mound sites along the Natchez Trace Parkway, established by Southeastern First Americans in the Middle Woodland Cultural Period between 1000 B.C. and 1000 A.D.

“There were six mounds here, but we only see two,” Brekeen said.

The location contains a 200-foot paved pathway along the site with an interpretive shelter featuring maps and pictures of archaeological finds from past digs.

Pharr Mounds is the largest Middle Woodland Cultural site in northern Mississippi, spanning across 90 acres. The approximately 2,000-year-old site consists of eight dome mounds created and used by Southeastern First American ancestors. Although weathered with age, the mounds still stand tall in a picturesque meadow with lush trees lining the background.

“The scenery is just awesome,” Chickasaw elder Gail Glase said.

The Shiloh Indian Mounds at Shiloh National Military Park are hidden in the forest along the Tennessee riverbank. Six mounds, rectangular in shape with flat tops, scattered throughout the plaza were likely used as platforms for social and spiritual structures and residences. A seventh mound, oval in shape with a rounded top, is settled at the southernmost tip of the site.

Nearly 50 miles northwest of the Shiloh Mounds are the Pinson Mounds in Pinson, Tennessee. Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park envelopes 1,200 acres and 17 mounds, making it the largest known Southeastern First American mound complex of the Middle Woodland Cultural Period. The area became a state park in 1974 and has since gained paved hiking trails and picnic areas for the general public to enjoy, as well as a museum with First American exhibits, an archaeological library and a theater.

After a five-day journey through ancestral history, Chickasaw elders returned to Ada, Oklahoma, with new friends and a better understanding of the historic Homeland.

“This has really been a first-class trip – from the transportation and meals to the lodging and staff,” Craig said. “The Chickasaws always do things first-class.”

Learn more about the Chickasaw Elders Homeland Tour

Chickasaw elders 60 years of age or older can participate in the all-expenses-paid trip to the Chickasaw Nation historic Homeland. An elder is only required to submit one application for consideration of future tours. Two Homeland trips take place each calendar year, with elder applications being selected at random. Elders are permitted one travel companion. Companions must be a spouse or blood relative above the age of 21. Visit Chickasaw.net/EldersTour to apply. For more information, contact the Chickasaw Nation Department of Community Services Aging Division at (580) 795-9790.

Piominko’s statue in Tupelo, Mississippi, commemorates the bond between the community of Tupelo, Mississippi, and the Chickasaw Nation. Piominko was born in the 1750s and played a pivotal role in ensuring security for the Chickasaw Nation.

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