The Resurgence of the Choctaws in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

After the Civil War, the Choctaw Nation experienced a rapid transition from a cultural, tribal identity to a political, national one. Railroads and white entrepreneurs entered its territory and propelled it into a market driven economy. Individual monetary interests conflicted with communal property rights, and allotment of tribal land finally destroyed the Nation's land base. The dissolution of the tribal government with Oklahoma statehood would have destroyed the nation altogether except for the need to oversee the final disposition of tribal land, coal and timber resources. Long-term coal leases meant that the government had to maintain a semblance of fiduciary responsibility to the Choctaw Nation. In 1959 the appointed Choctaw Chief attempted to have the relationship between the Nation and the federal government terminated without losing services to tribal members. The termination legislation passed, but services were lost as well, and a groundswell of opposition to termination in the 1960s, including a significant and vocal group of urban based Choctaws, led to a resurgence of national, political Choctaw identity and the repeal of termination.