1. Trail of Tears For the Chickasaws Trail of Tears painting

2. About the Chickasaws The Chickasaws are original people of the American southeast, particularly Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. Most Chickasaw people speak their native Chickasaw language. Chickasaw is a rhythmic language that is very similar to Choctaw. Speakers of the two languages can understand each other without much difficulty. Chickasaw men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Chickasaw women were farmers and also did most of the child care and cooking. Both genders could succeed at storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. Chickasaw hunters primarily used bows and arrows. Fishermen generally used fishing spears. In war, Chickasaw men fired their bows or fought with tomahawks and lances. Chickasaw warriors used hide shields to defend themselves, and sometimes set arrows on fire before shooting them at their enemies.

3. Indian Removal Act The Indian removal act was when the Americans decided that they wanted the land that the Indians were on. So they forced the Indians to travel on the Trail of Tears to Indian territory or what is now Oklahoma. One of the tribes was the Chickasaws.

4. Removing the Chickasaws The Chickasaws had seen removal as inevitable, and had not resisted to move. They signed a treaty in 1832 that said that the federal government would provide them with good western land and would protect them until they moved. But once again, the approach of white settlers proved too much for the War Department, and did not keep its promise. The Chickasaws were forced to pay the Choctaws so that they could live on part of their western allotment. They migrated there in the winter of 1837-38.