Choctaw mythology

The tradition & historical record

Choctaw mythology is part of the culture of the Choctaw, a Native American tribe originally occupying a large territory in the present-day Southeastern United States: much of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. In the 19th century, the Choctaw were known to European Americans as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" even though controversy surrounds their removal. The Choctaw and their ancestors have lived in the Mississippi region in what is now the southeastern region of the US for centuries. Thousands of years of myth and story-making have contributed to their collection of history. The Choctaw continue to tell and write about their legends. ¹

The Choctaw tell the following creation story of their coming to this land, and how Nanih Waiya Mound, built of earthwork by ancestors, came to be. Two brothers, Chata and Chicksah After travelling for a long time, they finally came to a place where the pole stood upright. In this place, they laid to rest the bones of their ancestors, which they had carried in buffalo sacks from the original land in the west. The earthwork mound developed from that great burial. After the burial, the brothers discovered that the land could not support all the people. Chicksah took half the people and departed to the North, where they eventually emerged as the historic Chickasaw tribe. Chata and the others remained near the mound, which became known as Nanih Waiya (The mound of all creation), and became known as the Choctaw tribe. ¹

At the beginning there was a great mound. It was called Nanih Waiya. It was from this mound that the Creator fashioned the first of the people. These people crawled through a long, dark cave into daylight and became the first Choctaw. For many years they lived in this area until a great shift occurred. At this time a great flood arose covering the lands. The Choctaw people had to flee by canoes to an island as guided by a dove. They prospered and then over populated the island. They then traveled back to the coast of Turtle Island. Once they arrived again the people who remained were not friendly. They then traveled for hundreds of years down the coast down south. They finally traveled across what is now the Yucatán again in canoes. Once they landed up on the land of giants and fought for territory. They then rebuilt their sacred Nanih Waya and found a sacred home for their ancestor's bones that they lovingly carried with them all those many years. (Caitlin, Letters and Notes, 1841) ¹

Some early writers, and in later times Cushman and Bushnell, report that the Choctaw believed in a great good spirit and a great evil spirit. Choctaw oral histories mentioned numerous supernatural beings. In addition to their terms for what might also be called the Great Spirit or God and the Devil, the Choctaw believed they had many other "powerful beings" in their midst. ¹

The Great Spirit of the Choctaw was referred to by various names. The Rev. Alfred Wright wrote that the Great Spirit was referred to as Nanapesa, Ishtahullo-chito, or Nanishta-hullo-chito, Hushtahli, and Uba Pi̱ke or Aba. Shilup chitoh osh is a term anglicized to mean the Great Spirit. Chitokaka means the Great One. The terms lshtahullo or nanishtahullo are applied to any person or object thought to possess some occult or superior power – such as a witch. ¹

Anthropologists theorize that the Mississippian ancestors of the Choctaw placed the sun at the center of their cosmological system. Mid-eighteenth-century Choctaws did view the sun as a being endowed with life. Choctaw diplomats, for example, spoke only on sunny days. If the day of a conference were cloudy or rainy, Choctaws delayed the meeting, usually on the pretext that they needed more time to discuss particulars, until the sun returned. The sun made sure that all talks were honest. The sun as a symbol of great power and reverence is a major component of southeastern Indian cultures. ¹

Hushtahli is from Hashi (sun) and Tahli (to complete an action). Hushtahli is believed to have originated as a Choctaw term without European influence; the Choctaw were believed to be Sun worshippers. Fire was the "most striking representation of the sun"; it was believed to have intelligence, and was considered to be in constant communication with the Sun. ¹

The Choctaw venerated Sinti lapitta, a horned serpent that visited unusually wise young men. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Choctaw mythology”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Choctaw mythology is part of the culture of the Choctaw, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²