List of Choctaw chiefs

Phillip Martin (1926–2010), Principal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

List of Choctaw chiefs is a record of the political leaders who served the Choctaws in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.

## Original three divisions

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Pushmataha Moshulatubbee

The eastern Choctaw Nation, in what is now Mississippi and Alabama, was divided into three regions: Okla Hannali, Okla Falaya, and Okla Tannip.

### Okla Hannali (Six Towns)

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* Yowannee Mingo[1]
* Pushmataha
* Oklahoma or Tapenahomma (Nephew of Pushmataha)
* General Hummingbird
* Nitakechi
* Sam Garland

### Okla Falaya

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* Apukshunnubbee
* Robert Cole
* Greenwood Leflore
* Chief Red Wing Turkey Okla Falya Clan

### Okla Tannip

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* Homastubbee
* Mushulatubbee
* David Folsom

## District Chiefs in the New Indian Territory

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After removal, the Choctaws set up their government also divided up in three regions: Apukshunnubbee, Mushulatubbee, and Pushmataha. The regions were named after the three influential Choctaw leaders of the "old country."

George W. Harkins (1810–1890) Tandy Walker (1814–1877) Peter Pitchlynn (1806–1881) Green McCurtain (1848–1910)

### Moshulatubbee District

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* Mushulatubbee, 1834–1836
* Joseph Kincaid, 1836–1838
* John McKinney, 1838–1842
* Nathaniel Folsom, 1842–1846
* Peter Folsom, 1846–1850
* Cornelius McCurtain, 1850–1854
* David McCoy, 1854–1857

### Apukshunnubbee District

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* Thomas LeFlore, 1834-1838
* James Fletcher, 1838-1842
* Thomas LeFlore, 1842-1850
* George W. Harkins, 1850–1857

### Pushmataha District

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* Nitakechi, 1834-1838
* Pierre Juzan, 1838-1841
* Isaac Folsom, 1841-1846
* Nitakechi, Died
* Salas Fisher, 1846-1854
* George Folsom, 1850-1854
* Nicholas Cochnauer, 1854-1857

### Unified leadership as governor

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* Alfred Wade, 1857-1858
* Tandy Walker, 1858-1859
* Basil LeFlore, 1859-1860

### Principal Chiefs

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* George Hudson, 1860-1862
* Samuel Garland, 1862-1864
* Peter Pitchlynn, 1864-1866
* Allen Wright, 1866-1870
* William Bryant, 1870-1874
* Coleman Cole, 1874-1878
* Isaac Garvin, 1878-1880
* Jackson McCurtain, 1880-1884
* Edmund McCurtain, 1884-1886
* Thompson McKinney, 1886-1888
* Benjamin Franklin Smallwood, 1888-1890
* Wilson Jones, 1890-1894
* Jefferson Gardner, 1894-1896
* Green McCurtain, 1896-1900
* Gilbert Dukes, 1900-1902
* Green McCurtain, 1902-1906

The Choctaw Nation was temporarily discontinued in 1906 with the advent of Oklahoma statehood.

## Choctaw Nation "token" government

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Chiefs were appointed by the U.S. President after U. S. Congress stripped recognition of the Choctaw national government.

* Green McCurtain, 1906-1910, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt
* Victor Locke, Jr., 1910-1918, appointed by President Howard Taft
* William F. Semple, 1918-1922, appointed by President Woodrow Wilson [2]
* William H. Harrison, 1922-1929, appointed by President Warren G. Harding
* Ben Dwight, 1930-1936, appointed by President Herbert Hoover
* William Durant, 1937-1948, appointed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
* Harry J. W. Belvin, 1948-1970, appointed by President Harry S. Truman
(Choctaw were allowed to elect their delegate in 1948 and 1954 which the president confirmed.)

## Current tribes

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Indian termination policy was a policy that the United States Congress legislated in 1953 to assimilate the Native American communities with mainstream America. In 1959, the Choctaw Termination Act was passed.[3] Unless repealed by the federal government, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma would effectively be terminated as a sovereign nation as of August 25, 1970.[3]

After a long struggle for recognition, the Mississippi Choctaw received recognition in 1918. The Mississippi Choctaw soon received lands, educational benefits, and a long overdue health care system.

In 1945, lands in Neshoba County, Mississippi and the surrounding counties were set aside as a federal Indian reservation. There are eight communities of reservation land: Bogue Chitto, Bogue Homa, Conehatta, Crystal Ridge, Pearl River, Red Water, Tucker, and Standing Pine. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 allowed the Mississippi Choctaws to become re-organized on April 20, 1945 as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

### Oklahoma Choctaws

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#### Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

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* Harry J. W. Belvin, 1948, 1954, 1971–1975
* C. David Gardner, 1975–1978
* Hollis E. Roberts, 1978–1997
* Gregory E. Pyle, 1997–2014
* Gary Batton, 2014–Present

### Mississippi Choctaws

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#### Pre-reorganization Era (Before 1945)

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* Wesley Johnson (Wesley Wakatubee), 1913-c. 1914 (Chief)
* Ed Willis
* Pat Chitto
* Joe Chitto

#### Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (1945-Present)

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* Emmette York (Chairman)
* Phillip Martin (Chairman)
* Calvin Isaac (Chief)
* Phillip Martin, 1978—2007 (Chief)
* Beasley Denson, 2007—2011 (Chief/Miko)
* Phyliss J. Anderson, 2011—2019[4] (Chief)
* Cyrus Ben, 2019—present (Chief)

### Louisiana Choctaws

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#### Jena Band of Choctaw Indians

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* Christina M. Norris, present[5]

## Notes

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1. ^ https://home.nps.gov/articles/choctaw-warriors-consider-alliances.htm [bare URL]
2. ^ "Chiefs | Choctaw Nation".
3. ^ a b "U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 108, 83rd Congress, 1953. (U.S. Statutes at Large, 67: B132.)". Digital History. Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
4. ^ Meyers, Debbie Burt. "Anderson unseats Denson." The Neshoba Democrat. 7 Sept 2011 (retrieved 24 Sept 2011)
5. ^ "Tribal Governments by Area: Southeast." Archived 2010-09-26 at the Wayback Machine National Congress of American Indians. (retrieved 7 Sept 2010)

## External links

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