Yowani Choctaws
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The Yowani were a historical group of
When this area became part of the United States under the
During the
Between 1840 and 1843, elements of the Mexican militia, led by Vicente Cordova, fought a
For the remnant tribes, peace came when
Most of the men served in the
In 1905 the Bureau of Indian Affairs struck all the registered Texas Yowani from the Final Rolls of the Choctaw Nation.
Village
The original Yowani village appeared on a 1777 French map near the village of Chiasawhay and the Pascagoula River, west of what was described at the "Choctaw Capitale."[21]
The Yowani Choctaw were associated by name with the village where they were living when French traders from the
Over time, the Yowani band expanded its territory westward to the eastern dividing ridge of Bogue Homa, then northward as far as present-day Pachuta Creek. From this point, their territory ran south to the confluence of the Chickasawhay and Buckatunna rivers.[citation needed]
By 1764, a group of Yowani had moved west into Louisiana, where they established contact with the
In the late 19th century, the American anthropologist
Moving westward
At the time that the Yowani ventured into Louisiana, the territory had been under Spanish control since 1763, when France ceded it after defeat by Great Britain in the Seven Years' War, fought both in Europe and North America. In 1800, Spain traded Louisiana back to France. After Napoleon briefly attempted to re-establish control over Saint-Domingue, with visions of empire in North America, he sold the mainland territory in 1803 to the United States as what they called the Louisiana Purchase. It doubled the area of the new nation. Many of the ethnic French residents of Louisiana, and many of the Indian tribes, did not want to be ruled by the United States.
Spain agreed to allow several Indian tribes, including the Yowani Choctaw and the
During the period between 1810 and 1836, many of the relocated tribes, including the Yowani Choctaw, were often subject to attacks from the
By 1832, all but two families had left the traditional Yowani lands in Mississippi to migrate west.
The Yowani remaining in east Texas joined with other remnant peoples to form a part of what is now recognized as the Mount Tabor Indian Community. In Louisiana, they were closely related to the remaining Coushatta, the Louisiana Band of Choctaw and the
Texas Indian Wars 1835–1843
In 1835, English-speaking settlers and some anti-
In March 1836, the Republic of Texas was established, gaining full independence from Mexico the following month.[26] Elected the first president of the Republic, Houston continued to negotiate peace with the various Indian tribes. After 1837, the Yowani combined settlements to form a single village on Attoyac Bayou in extreme southeastern Rusk County.[28] An 1837 census of Indians in the Republic of Texas noted that 70 Yowani Choctaw lived in this village, along with several Chickasaw. The census also noted that these people were peaceable.[28]
The Texas Legislature refused to ratify many of Houston's treaties. The second president of the Republic,
Several small Cherokee bands escaped detection and removal. One small band, led by Chicken Trotter, tried to regain some of their lands in 1840.
Angry at the death of the three white men, a vigilante group formed in Nacogdoches. Unable to catch up to Chicken Trotter and his group, the vigilantes attacked the nearby Yowani village, massacring some eleven Choctaw men, women, and children.[34] After the attack, the Yowani Choctaw abandoned their village. Some returned to Mississippi and others moved to Indian Territory to join the Chickasaw Nation.[35] A third group joined the Caddo at the Brazos Reservation[36] further west, and eventually accompanied the Caddo to a reservation in Indian Territory. A fourth group, led by Woody Jones, chose to remain in East Texas, moving further into the piney woods to avoid detection by Texas military forces.
Throughout Lamar's term as president, the Republic of Texas conducted a policy of attrition against various groups of Natives, including those under Chicken Trotter. He launched a
Mount Tabor Indian Community
The Mount Tabor Indian Community formed following the purchase of 10,000 acres of land in Rusk County by Benjamin Franklin Thompson in the spring of 1844. Acting on behalf of the Cherokee, Thompson was the American husband of Annie Martin, a Cherokee and daughter of John Martin, first Chief Justice of the Cherokee Nation. These Cherokee were joined by those who had been a part of the original Texas Cherokee Nation and removed to Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico.[38][page needed] The Mount Tabor community continued to grow after Texas joined the United States in 1845.
President James K. Polk in 1844 granted permission to both members of the Ridge Party and the Old Settlers of the Cherokee, who had political differences with the Cherokee Nation, to relocate from Indian Territory to Mount Tabor.[39] The community was named by John Adair Bell, a Cherokee signer of the Treaty of New Echota.[40] More Yowani Choctaw, led by Atahobia's grandson Archibald Thompson and Nashoba's grandson Jeremiah Jones, relocated to the Mount Tabor Indian Community before 1850.[41][42] These were followed by McIntosh Creek Indians, led by brothers William and Thomas Berryhill, also before 1850.[41][43]
Civil War
When the
Dawes Commission
Between 1866 and the close of the Dawes Commission Final Rolls in the early 20th century, 80% of the Cherokee left Mount Tabor to return north to the Cherokee Nation. Most of the Texas Choctaw stayed in Texas, with a few relocating to the Chickasaw Nation. Only during the period of registration in the Dawes Rolls under the Commission, when members registered to be eligible for allotments of communal land, did a number of Choctaw take the opportunities available and move north.
A handful settled in Atoka in the Choctaw Nation. One family moved to Tuskahoma. The majority moved into Pickens County in the Chickasaw Nation near present-day Marlow, Oklahoma.
Many of the Yowani Choctaw from Texas sought to register on the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes as Citizens by Blood in the Choctaw Nation. Because of their long residence in Texas, the Choctaw Nation officially opposed them and challenged theirs and other registrations. In 1906, 70 members of the Yowani Choctaw who lived in Texas were stricken from the membership rolls of the Choctaw Nation. William C. Thompson and his cousin John Thurston Thompson, Jr. were among them, and sued to be reinstated. In 1909, the
Recent years
Throughout the twentieth century, there have been a number strong leaders among the Texas Choctaw community within the overall Mount Tabor Indian Community, which has been recognized as a tribe by the state. These include William Clyde Thompson[19] and Martin Luther Thompson, who helped gain registration for their peoples as citizens "by Blood" in the Choctaw Nation. They also helped to keep the Texas community viable. The Cherokee predominated by number in the group and generally led the community.
No Choctaw was selected as Chairman of the Executive Committee before 1988. When the Cherokee Nation adopted its 1975 constitution, it excluded the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands-Mount Tabor Indian Community as a band or affiliate of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, although they had been considered so during the earlier part of the 20th century.[44] Cherokee who remained in Texas were no longer recognized formally as part of a tribe or as Native Americans by the Federal Government. In 1972 Judge Foster T. Bean,[45] an original enrollee on the Guion Miller Roll,[46] took over as Chairman of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands. Keeler became Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Judge Bean served until retiring from in 1988. He was replaced by J.C. Thompson,[47] who as a descendant of the Thompson-McCoy family was of Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw descent.[48] Thompson held the position for eleven years until Terry Easterly took over in 1999.
Terry was descended from Arthur Thompson, brother of William Clyde Thompson. Terry was the first woman to hold the position and the first who did not have Cherokee blood. Terry was Choctaw, Chickasaw and Muscogee-Creek, and was the first person of Creek ancestry to head the community. In 2001, she was succeeded by Peggy Dean-Atwood, Choctaw and Chickasaw, a descendant of Archibald Thompson. In 2002, J.C. Thompson was then again chosen as Chairman and remained in that capacity until August 2018. He was succeeded by William Ellis "Billy" Bean. Chairman Bean is the great grandson of Mount Tabor Chief John Ellis Bean, an original enrollee on the Cherokee Old Settler payment roll. Chairman Bean was removed as Tribal Chairman by action of the Tribal Court for cause on September 2, 2019. He was replaced by Cheryl Giordano of Arp, who is of Choctaw-Chickasaw descent and had previously served as Operations Coordinator on the Executive Committee. She is assisted today by Deputy Chairman Rex Thompson, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee of Troup. The next tribal election is tentatively scheduled for October 2020.
The Community is continuing to seek Federal Acknowledgment as an American Indian Tribe. On May 10, 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed into law 84 SCR 25, recognizing the Mount Tabor Indian Community in Texas.[49] The community adopted a new constitution in August 2017,[50] establishing a three-tier government made up of the five-member Executive Committee; a seven-member Tribal Council, and a three-member Tribal Court. There are more than 500 enrolled members, with offices in both Kilgore and Troup, Texas. The Community also supports the Mount Tabor Indian Heritage Center[51]
See also
- Charles Collins Thompson
- John Martin Thompson
- Martin Luther Thompson
- Mount Tabor Indian Community
- Stand Watie
- William Clyde Thompson
References
Notes
- ^ a b Glover, William Bonny (October 1935). "A History of the Caddo Indians". The Louisiana Historical Quarterly. 18 (4). Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ Hodge, Frederick Webb (1907). Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Issue 30, Part 1. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 289.
- ^ a b c Correspondence Between General Manuel Mier y Terán and Texas 1828-1832
- ^ Texas Indian Papers 1837, census of tribes in the Republic, attitudes of the Yowani Choctaws and allied Chickasaw of Attoyac Bayou, Nacogdoches District
- ^ "Treaty of Bowles Village", Cherokee and Twelve Associated Tribes and the Republic of Texas: February 23, 1836
- ^ "Expulsion of the Cherokees", Texas State Library and Archives Commission
- ^ "Indian Relations in Texas", Texas State Library and Archives Commission
- ^ "Vicente Cordova", by Robert Bruce Blake, Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ "Adrian Woll", Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ "Dawson Massacre", by Thomas W. Cutrer, Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ Thomas W. Cutrer, "Salado Creek, Battle of", Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ Brewer, Graham Lee; Ahtone, Tristan (27 October 2021). "In Texas, a group claiming to be Cherokee faces questions about authenticity". NBC News. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ "Treaty of Birds Fort, September 29, 1843", Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas
- ^ 1850 United States Census, Canton Beat EU
- ISBN 0-916489-85-X, 13:978-0916489854
- ^ William C. Thompson, et al. vs. Choctaw Nation, MCR File 341, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee, Oklahoma
- ^ Letter of April 4, 1905 from Thomas Ryan, First Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs to Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes, Muskogee, Indian Territory, re: William C. Thompson et al. MCR 341, MCR 7124, MCR 581 and MCR 458.
- ^ Dr. Douglas Hale, William C. Thompson and the Choctaw-Chickasaw Paper Chase, Norman, OK: Oklahoma State University
- ^ a b United States Department of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior-Choctaw Citizenship Cases, #4 William C. Thompson et al., pgs 151-157
- ^ "Choctaw Re-instatement list," correspondence from the Department of the Interior to the Commissioner of the Five Civilized Tribes, February 20, 1909
- ^ Hodge, Frederick Webb (1907). Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Issue 30, Part 1. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. pp. 289–81.
- ^ a b "Texas Indian Papers 1825-1845", Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas
- ^ a b Frederick Webb Hodge, ed., Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico (2 vols., Washington: GPO, 1907, 1910, rpt., New York: Pageant, 1959
- ^ Kathy LaCombe-Tell (June 2004). "Coushatta heritage reaches deep into the past of Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana". Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "Choctaw Heritage of Louisiana and Mississippi".
- ^ a b "TSHA | Texas Revolution". www.tshaonline.org.
- ^ "Treaty of Bowles Village, February 23, 1836," Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas
- ^ a b Texas Indian Papers, Census of Tribes, Texas State library and Archives, Austin, Texas
- ^ Herbert Gambrell, "Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar", Handbook of Texas Online,
- ^ "TSHA | Houston, Sam". www.tshaonline.org.
- ^ Killough Massacre, by Christopher Long, Handbook of Texas Online,
- ^ "TSHA | Cherokee War". www.tshaonline.org.
- ^ The 1840 Census of the Republic of Texas, 1966 Pemberton Press, Austin, Texas, Edited by Gifford White, Nacogdoches County
- ^ Handbook of Texas Online, Indians, Texas and Mexican Republics, by George Klos
- ^ "Some East Texas Native Families: Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands Genealogy Project: Rootsweb Global Search: Familyties".
- ^ "Tejas > Caddo Voices > 20 Years Without a Home". www.texasbeyondhistory.net.
- ^ Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs correspondence between A. C. Tonner, Acting Commissioner for the Dawes Commission, and the Secretary of the Interior, April 29, 1904; ref. Land 25846-1904, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City
- ^ Grant Foreman, History of the Five Civilized Tribes, University of Oklahoma Press, 1934
- ^ Texas Indian Papers 1835-1845, Texas State Archives, Austin, Texas
- ^ Cherokee Cavaliers by Litton and Dale, page 80
- ^ a b "Mount Tabor Indian Community". Texas Handbook of History. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ 1850 United States Census, State of Texas, Canton Beat Enumeration District, Smith County
- ^ 1850 United States Census, State of Texas, Rusk County
- ^ 1973 Proposed Constitution of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
- ^ Minutes to meeting TCAB Executive Committee, March 3, 1972, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
- ^ John Starr Bean, Guion Miller Roll: Kilgore, TX, ap # 23615, roll# 4489
- ^ Minutes to meeting TCAB September 10, 1988, Kilgore Country Club, Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas,
- ^ Sally McCoy 1818 Chickasaw Annuity Roll
- ^ "Texas Legislature Online - 85(R) Actions for SCR 25".
- ^ 2017 Constitution of the Mount Tabor Indian Community
- ^ "Mount Tabor Indian Heritage Center in Longview, Texas (TX) - NonProfitFacts.com". www.nonprofitfacts.com.
Bibliography
- Hodge, Frederick Webb (1907). Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Issue 30, Part 1. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. p. 289.
Sources
- The Choctaw Before Removal By Carolyn Keller Reeves, Published by University Press of Mississippi, 2004, ISBN 978-1-57806-685-8
- Texas A&M University-Sons of Dewitt Colony Texas: Texas—Disputed Border and Buffer between New Spain and the United States, Neutral Ground (No Man's Land) between the Sabine and Arroyo Hondo—Attempts to Control Immigration 1805-1809
- Texas A&M University-The Journal of Lieutenant Colonel Don Manuel Salcedo, March 11, 1810 - June 23, 1810
- Texas A&M University-Tenoxtitlan, Dream Capital of Texas; by Dr. Malcolm D. McLean, Originally published in "The Southwestern Historical Quarterly" July 1966, Vol. LXX, No. 1
- Texas A&M University-Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas: Some difficulties of a Texas Emprsario, Letter from L.R. Kenny to Stephen F. Austin, May 5, 1826
- Texas A&M University-Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas: Letter of Peter Ellis Bean to US President Andrew Jackson September 11, 1835
- Texas Indian Papers 1837, census of tribes in the Republic, attitudes of the Yowani Choctaws and allied Chickasaws of Attoyac Bayou, Nacogdoches District
- Texas by Terán By Manuel de Mier y Teran, Jack Jackson, John Wheat, Scooter Cheatham, Lynn Marshall
- William C. Thompson and the Choctaw-Chickasaw Paper Chase, by Dr. Douglas Hale, Oklahoma State University
- The Old Mount Tabor Community; Genealogy of Old and New Cherokee Indian Families, (out of print) By George Morrison Bell Sr. 1969
- Oklahoma Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 9, Number 2, 1964
- Cherokee Adairs, By Betty Barker and the Adair Reunion Committee; A family history recording the Adair family from Europe to the Cheorkee Nation, 2003, ARC Press ISBN 0-938041-97-5
- The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914 By Kent Carter, Published by Ancestry Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0-916489-85-X, 9780916489854
- Cherokee Cavaliers: Forty Years of Cherokee History As Told in the Correspondence of the Ridge-Watie-Boudinot Family, 1939 By Edward Everett Dale and Gaston Litton, University of Oklahoma Press; ISBN 0-8061-2721-X, 13:978-0806127217
- The Handbook of Texas Online: Indians; Republics of Mexico and Texas, George Klos
- The Handbook of Texas Online: Yowani Indians, Margery H. Krieger
- Asbury Indian Cemetery, Smith County, Texas, Information related to Choctaw and Cherokee descendants buried there, by Paul Ridenour, 2005
- Handbook of Texas Online: John Martin Thompson, By Thomas D. Isern
- Texas-Cherokees vs United States Docket 26, 26 Ind Cl Comm. 78 (1971)
- Library of the University of Michigan, Department of the Interior, Laws, Decisions and Regulations Affecting the work of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes 1893-1906 pgs 130-138
- United States Department of the Interior, secretary of the Interior-Choctaw Citizenship Cases, #4 William C. Thompson et al., pgs 151-157
- Texas Legislature Online "Actions" Senate Recognition of the Mount Tabor Indian Community [1]
External links
- Legacy of Los Adaes
- The Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma (official site)
- A History of the Caddo Indians By: WILLIAM B. GLOVER
- The Handbook of Texas Online: Yowani Indians, Margery H. Krieger
- The Handbook of Texas Online: Indians by George Klos
- The Handbook of Texas Online: Mount Tabor Indian Community by Patrick Pynes
- Mt. Tabor Cemetery, Rusk County TxGenWeb
- Law Offices of Steven D. Sandven, Texas Choctaw proposed constitution separate from the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands, 2005