Nanih Waiya
Nanih Waiya Mound And Village | |
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Location | Winston County, Mississippi |
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Nearest city | Noxapater, Mississippi |
Coordinates | 32°55′17″N 88°56′55″W / 32.92139°N 88.94861°W |
NRHP reference No. | 73001032 |
Added to NRHP | March 28, 1973[1] |
Nanih Waiya (alternately spelled Nunih Waya) have venerated Nanih Waiya mound and a nearby cave as their sacred origin location.
The
After being privately owned, the state acquired it to preserve the ancient site and operated it as a park. In 2006, the Mississippi Legislature's State Bill 2803 officially returned control of the site to the Luke Family, and T. W. Luke deeded it to the State on the condition that it be maintained as a park.
In 2008, the Luke family deeded control of the site to the
Archaeological evidence
The earliest
Archaeologists have not documented any use by the succeeding
According to
The mound has been a site of pilgrimage for the Choctaw since the seventeenth century, but they have not held any major festivals there. Their religion was private, and involved rituals related to death and burial, and to communication with spirits. Despite the traditional account, some anthropologists noted that unlike other tribes, the Choctaw do not appear to have practiced the Green Corn ceremony. In the 1850s, observers noted smaller mounds near Nanih Waiya, but these have since been plowed away and were never dated. They may have been constructed by the later Mississippian-culture peoples, who developed a widespread network after the Woodland period. As there is no archaeological data, historical records, nor Choctaw stories of these small mounds, nothing may ever be known about them.[5]
Cave
One mile east, across the county line into Neshoba County of the platform mound, is a natural hill near Nanih Waiya Creek, surrounded by woods. Within this hill, sometimes called Nanih Waiya Cave Mound, is Nanih Waiya cave, considered by many Choctaw to be the site of their emergence onto the surface of the earth. The cave may have had four entrances at one point.[7][8] In 1973, two cave explorers surveyed the cave and were able to travel 137 feet down. Thirty-five feet from the entrance was water, which deepened as the cavers progressed.[8]
Since the early 21st century, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians have regained control of these sites, acquiring the land by purchase.[7] Under Miko Beasley Denson, the tribe purchased the site in 2008 and began holding annual Nanih Waiya Day celebrations each August with Choctaw foods and dances.[9]
Choctaw beliefs
Some Choctaw believe that Nanih Waiya is the "Mother Mound" (Inholitopa iski) where the first Choctaw was created. As told by some Choctaw storytellers, it was either from Nanih Waiya or a cave nearby that the Choctaw people emerged to the world. There are many variations of the story.
According to some versions, the mound (or nearby cave) is also the origin of the
Others believe Nanih Waiya is the location where the Choctaw tribe ceased their wanderings and settled after their origin further to the west. George Catlin's Smithsonian Report in 1885 included a traditional story of the Choctaw that recounted their following a prophet from an origin in the west:
The Choctaws a great many winters ago commenced moving from the country where they then lived, which was a great distance to the west of the great river and the mountains of snow, and they were a great many years on their way. A great medicine man led them the whole way, by going before with a red pole, which he stuck in the ground every night where they encamped. This pole was every morning found leaning to the east, and he told them that they must continue to travel to the east until the pole would stand upright in their encampment, and that there the Great Spirit had directed that they should live.[10]
They say that Nanih Waiya, which means "leaning hill," "stooping hill," or "place of creation" in Choctaw, was the final destination of their migration.
Preservation
During the
The state of Mississippi preserved Nanih Waiya as a state park for years. It was also recognized as a significant site by the federal government, which listed it on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2006 the Mississippi Legislature State Bill 2803 officially returned control of the site to the Luke Family, who had privately owned it. T. W. Luke had deeded it to the State with the condition that it be maintained as a park. The 150 acres (61 ha) property reverted to the Luke family when the State stopped maintaining the park.
In August 2008, the Luke family deeded the mound to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a federally recognized tribe. The Choctaw have declared August 18 as a tribal holiday to mark the return of the mound, and have used the occasion for telling stories of their origin and history, and performances of dances.[11]
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Swanton 2001, pg. 25.
- ^ Spratt, Robert D. (c. 1900). "Notes on Choctaw Indians, their language, etc". The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections. p. 50. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ Cummings, Jodie (2017). "Nanih Waiya". Mississippi Encyclopedia.
- ^ a b c d e Carleton, Ken (1996). "The Delta Endangered". NPS Archeology Program. 1 (1).
- ^ Riley, Franklin Lafayette (1904). "Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society".
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(help) - ^ ISBN 978-1617032455.
- ^ ISBN 9781617034084.
- ^ Myers, Debbie Burt (August 18, 2010). "Nanih Waiya Day includes traditional Choctaw dance, food". The Neshoba Democrat. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ^ Catlin, George. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1885, Part II, Report of the U.S. National Museum under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1885. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1886, Annual Report, 40 pt2 : 1-264 and 1-939
- ^ Burt Myers, Debbie (August 18, 2010). "Nanih Waiya Day includes traditional Choctaw dance, food". The Neshoba Democrat. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
Sources
- Catlin, George. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1885, Part II, ' Report of the U.S. National Museum under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1885. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1886, Annual Report, 40 pt2 : 1-264 and 1-939
- Knight, Vernon James, Jr. 1989 "Symbolism of Mississippian Mounds", in Powhatan’s Mantle: Indians in the Colonial Southeast, edited by Peter H. Wood, Gregory A. Waselkov, and M. Thomas Hatley. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press,
- Lincecum, Gideon. (1904) "Choctaw Traditions About Their Settlement in Mississippi and the Origin of Their Mounds", Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society 8:521-542.
- Senate Bill 2803. Mississippi Legislature, 2006 Regular Session. To: Public Property, By: Senator(s) Williamson. AN ACT TO RETURN THE NANIH WAIYA STATE PARK AND MOUND TO THE MISSISSIPPI BAND OF CHOCTAW INDIANS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 29-1-1 AND 55-3-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
- Swanton, John R. (2001). Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-1109-2.