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“Rather Than Submit,” Chickasaw Council House, Milepost 251
Transcript
This exhibit, titled “Rather Than Submit,” contains an illustration of the inside of a council house during the signing of the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek. A map shows the homelands the Chickasaw ceded by four treaties in the early 1800s. [Text]
By the 1830s, westward expansion and the imposing US government made life for the Chickasaw living here increasingly oppressive. Settlers encroached on Chickasaw land. State officials ignored tribal laws and enforced state laws. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 made tribal relocation official US policy. In 1832, Chickasaw leaders and US officials met for days at a council house along Pontotoc Creek near here. Determined to negotiate the best terms possible, Chickasaw leaders discussed removal terms with General John Coffee, US Commissioner. After the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek was signed, six million acres of Chickasaw Homeland were exchanged for an equal amount of land in Indian Territory plus the proceeds from the sale of their eastern lands. But in the process, the Chickasaw gained more control over how they would move west. The illustration shows the council house during treaty negotiations. Eleven men sit or stand around a table in the center of the image. The table is strewn with papers, inkwells, and pens. Four US government representatives on the right wear trousers, dark jackets with tails, white shirts, and ties. Seven Chickasaw on the left, all standing, wear feathered turbans, loose fitting, colorful shirts, leggings, and knee-high moccasins. Most wear peace medals or gorgets. One of the Chickasaw holds a sheet of paper and a pen. Across the table, a US negotiator gestures with the palms of both hands up. The walls of the round building are posts set into the ground. The thatched roof is steeply pitched and supported by two wood poles. Indian shields, pipes, corn, and a basket, hang from the poles. Five spears rest against the right pole Six Chickasaw, some carrying shields and weapons, stand along the right wall; five American men sit on rough-hewn log benches along the left. One man stands. There is an American flag on a pole in the background. The illustration says Pontotoc Creek Treaty, Chickasaw Council House, October 20, 1832, in the bottom left corner. Martha Ann S. Sheffield signed in the right. A quotation from the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek says:
Being ignorant of the language and laws of the white man, they cannot understand or obey them. Rather than submit to this great evil, they prefer to seek a home in the west. The map shows that, before removal, the Chickasaw homeland covered one third of northern Mississippi. The Chickasaw ceded over half of their homeland in 1805, 1816, and 1818, and the remainder in 1832. Land ceded by the Pontotoc Creek Treaty is dark red.
The Natchez Trace ran from northeast to southwest through Chickasaw land. You are facing a clearing with scattered trees backed by a forest. Parking and the Parkway are behind you. There is picnic area and a routed wood sign with more information to your right. A council house was located in what is now a wooded area on the opposite side of the Parkway. The exhibit has a black band across the top. The band contains the National Park Service arrowhead on the right and the words National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior. On the left, the band contains the words Natchez Trace Parkway.
Description
This exhibit, titled “Rather Than Submit,” contains an illustration of the inside of a council house during the signing of the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek. A map shows the homelands the Chickasaw ceded by four treaties in the early 1800s.
Duration
4 minutes, 17 seconds
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