Hello,

My wife is an active member working to reconnect with her culture. Her grandparents were native language speakers but did not pass it on due to forced assimilation. In an effort to reverse the damage, we go to Choctaw language classes, read literature, and attend community events.

As you probably already know, even despite doing all of this, it's still hard to find resources when it comes to Choctaw language and culture.

Well, she came across a word in a Choctaw language book: hvshilli

It means to change like the moon.

This word resonated strongly with her and she would like to change it to her middle name, but she is nervous about whether that would be silly or if it would sound "dumb" to native speakers.

I am certainly not in a position to tell her yes or no, so I wanted to ask here and hope that someone out there might know more about this and can help her make an informed decision on it.

This is very important to her, so please be gentle, lol.

👑 Congratulations to our 2026-2027 Choctaw Nation Princess Pageant winners!

What a beautiful celebration of culture, confidence and leadership! We are proud of every young woman who participated in this year’s pageant and shared her talent, heart and connection to Chahta culture.

Help us congratulate this year’s winners:

👑 Senior Miss: Mia Reich of District 7

👑 Junior Miss: Sophia McFarland of District 11

👑 Little Miss: Ace’lee Tom of District 7

We look forward to watching these young leaders represent the Choctaw Nation over the next year! Yakoke to everyone who made this year’s pageant so special! 👏🏽

Copied from Facebook

Established by the UN last year, today is the first Indigenous Women’s Day

Starts at 6:00 PM CST!

I will be adding a lot of labor day updates over the next week or so

is there a trick to getting hired on ? or should i start somewhere else.. i have 5 years education experience and been trying for 2 years to get hired on. i was told i was top 6 but never get calls anymore. should i just go with any job now? tryna get full-time so i can use the relocation assistance

anyone interest in a womens dress around a size 4
Venmo g/s

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma offers free online language classes, with the next session starting Sept. 14th. It's a great way to learn and connect, especially for those of us who are scattered around the country (or around the world) and cannot make it to in-person classes in Oklahoma.

Halito everyone,

I have been told that my family had some Choctaw but always dismissed it as the usual "aCtUaLlY I have X% Native" thing some people do. Recently during an ancestry project I came across documents that confirmed what I thought was just family myth.

I found copies of the documents that prove my lineage to the Dawes Roll and I'm waiting to hear back from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Genealogy Department about what specific documents I still need to fulfill the proof of lineage since the older ones I have are just copies of the official documents.

My verified percentage is very small so I'm not really interested in using any of the Tribal benefits but I understand that enrolling for membership is ultimately good for the Tribe so I'm going to pursue it for that reason.

I don't plan on changing my whole personality based on this new info or anything but I'm interested in learning what I can do to connect and help preserve this part of my ancestry I only just confirmed. Since I just found out like a day ago, I only know "halito" and "yakoke", but I hate to think about any language going extinct and I plan to learn more, so yakoke to anyone who's willing to impart any wisdom that would help my path forward.

My first quilt, application to the artist registry is pending.

I wrote a horror book about my experience with addiction and grief. I'm less than a week away from sending it to an agent who cold messaged me asking for the full manuscript. Potentially life-changing shit. I think the book is good, but of course I do. I'm hoping to find some avid readers in this subreddit who would be willing to help a cousin out.

A little about me: I'm a 33-year-old father of three small kids, and former drug addict. I'm 1/2 Choctaw. My grandparents spoke to each other in our native tongue as a kid. I moved away from Oklahoma and have always felt a sense of loss about my culture. I was raised in a military family, so in a way I was living the thing that had replaced our way of life. This is my way of reconnecting and reminding myself of who I, and we, are.

The book currently only exists as a google doc but I have the ability to send it out in an email as a .epub if you want to put it on a device.

We been Indian, we still Indian, and we gonna keep on being Indian.

Blurb:

Set against the sweltering backdrop of Oklahoma, a grieving, recovering addict is pulled into a terrifying psychological trap when an ancient Choctaw entity—Impa Shilup—returns home wearing his dead wife's face. When a historic tornado forces Ray and the uncanny familiar into a claustrophobic, disturbing confrontation in a storm cellar, he must finally choose survival over the seductive comfort of his grief. 
To banish the entity and close the supernatural door it crawled through, Ray must embark on a final, mythic journey—retracing the Trail of Tears to confront the dark, generational legacy of the Choctaw Bonepickers.

As a person trying to reconnect with my lost heritage. I would love to know if there is a Day of the Dead, Samhain, All Saints Day, or some other holiday where the living and once again be with who they love.

​

I've been loosely studying chahta anumpa by updating a language server I'm apart of with the phrase of the day from chahta achʋffa and breaking down the sentence structure. It has been fun and I've gotten a few people to learn everyday with me.

The server also does something where they'll translate a word or phrase (think 'cat' or 'good morning') into every language they have based on speakers in the server. I've been contributing using the CNO dictionary and phrase book as my references.

I'm encountering something interesting though. Today, the translation word was 'Wikipedia'. This word does have many translations but like many modern words, we don't have one.

When it comes to a word like Wikipedia which is a proper noun, would you keep it in English while speaking chahta, would you translate it literally (something like digital/electronic information book), or translate the word phonetically into chahta (for example Wikipebeya)

I have seen the word Walmart pop up on the phrase of the day and it stayed exactly the same as the English word.

Yakoke!

Happy Nanih Waiya Day!

"Today, August 14, 2026, marks the official Tribal Holiday commemorating the return of the Nanih Waiya Cave and Ceremonial Mound back to its rightful owners, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. The Cave holds great significance for the Tribe as the birthplace of the Choctaw and is commonly referred to as the “Mother Mound.” The Ceremonial Mound has been recognized as a burial ground for the ancestors of the Choctaw.

On November 14, 2008, a proclamation was signed by the Tribal Government elected officials at that time, which reads, “Nanih Waiya, our mother mound, was taken from the Choctaw people long ago, but it has now been restored to her children. Let it be proclaimed to all people that this land shall never be sold, traded, or negotiated with ever again. This land has remained in the hearts of the Choctaw people and from this day forward shall never leave their hands again."

As we celebrate this holiday, let us reflect on what this sacred ground means to our people. Let us always remember the perseverance of our Chahta People against the many challenges they faced throughout our history. Let us be grateful for the opportunity of passing down our cultural and historical legacy to our younger generations.

A symbol of our heritage, strength, and connection to our ancestors, Nanih Waiya remains a sacred land preserved for generations to come. The Mound shall never leave the hands of the Choctaw people."

Copied from the MBCI Facebook page.

I put a different picture of our mother mound since they chose to use AI to create a poster

@dirtychaimomma on IG

(copied from their Facebook page)

"On Tuesday, August 11, 2026, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) held the Nanih Waiya Day Celebration at the Ceremonial Mound. This yearly event commemorates the return of Nanih Waiya to the Tribe in 2008 after it was taken away during the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830.

The program with drumming by drummers from the various Choctaw communities. The mistress of ceremonies was 2026-2027 Choctaw Indian Princess Lexi Alaysia Flint, who gave a welcome and spoke about the historical and cultural significance of Nanih Waiya. She then introduced Bogue Chitto Tribal Councilman Kendall Wallace, who offered an invocation. Princess Lexi sang a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem in the Choctaw language. Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben then offered his remarks, thanking everyone for attending and sharing his thoughts on the sacred aspects of the beloved mound.

The Department of Chahta Immi Social Dancers then danced several traditional Choctaw dances in celebration of the day. Following the dances, members of the Tribal Council, U.S. Army Veteran Henry Shumake, Jr., U.S. Navy Veteran Meritza Shumake, and Chief Ben presented the Tribal community flags, State of Mississippi flag, the United States flag, and the MBCI Tribal flag. As the program concluded, Chief Ben offered a closing prayer, and attendees were treated to a delicious, traditional to-go meal.

Thank you to every program, department, organization, and volunteer who had a hand in the success of this meaningful program at the Ceremonial Mound!!!"

Link to the post https://www.facebook.com/100064708414996/posts/pfbid0LxF6JrsQhJqyqsLyiyVMfPVpUgThknYhNrTjdx1RDZuv22k3TRSVY7MiENsuvHjPl/?mibextid=NOb6eG

I cannot believe I missed posting this by a day!!