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When President Andrew Jackson signed the Choctaw citizens. I opted to skip the region’s
Indian Removal Act in 1830, he banished seven big casinos (and smaller gambling
thousands of native Americans from their an- venues they call “Casinos Too”) to find history,
cestral homelands and forced them to live in culture, natural beauty, good food- and a few
“Indian Territory” - a broad patch of raw, un- unexpected surprises.
settled land that became The Choctaw Cultural Cen-
known as Okla Humma, ter, which opened in 2021 in
Choctaw words that mean “red Calera, about 10 miles from
people.” The area eventually the Texas/Oklahoma border,
was recognized as Oklahoma – sits on land where cattle once
and in 1907, became the na- grazed. It was the perfect
tion’s 46th state. place to put my adventure into
More than a century later, perspective. It’s where I
Oklahoma remains Indian ter- learned that Choctaw history
ritory – with a higher per spans 14,000 years, that
capita population of first Choctaw warriors fought for
Americans than any other us in the American Revolution
state. It’s home to 39 Ameri- - that until the Indian Re-
can Indian nations – each moval Act, the nation’s tradi-
with its own distinct geo- tional homeland included
graphic region, culture, her- most of present-day Missis-
itage and language. sippi and parts of Louisiana
First Americans Museum
I visited Oklahoma for the first time this and Alabama.
summer – and wanted to learn more about the Cheyhoma Dugger, a Choctaw citizen, guided
families who lived there first, long before so me through the dozens of interactive exhibits
many others moved in. in the 100,000-plus-square-foot center. My
heart ached in the Hall of Treaties – where
Where to start? U.S. history I’d never studied made me cringe
– and grieve. My aching heart shattered as we
walked the “Trail of Tears and Death,” a pow-
The First Americans Museum in Oklahoma
erful exhibit representing the torturous 500-
City, opened in 2021, weaves the threads of
the state’s 39 tribes into an intricate, enrich- mile journey, mostly on foot through frozen
ing, breathtaking, heartbreaking, sometimes forests and disease-ridden swamps, mandated
by the U.S. government for 12,000 Choctaw
joyous tapestry. First Americans tell their sto-
ries in their own voices. men, women and their children.
With only four days for exploring Indian Dioramas of traditional Choctaw homes and
ceremonies lightened the mood. Dugger ex-
Territory, I decided to focus on Choctaw
Country, which spans almost 11,000 square plained that the characters depicted in those
miles across 10 counties in Oklahoma’s south- scenes are casts of actual Choctaw citizens. She
knew most of them – and shared more stories.
east quadrant. It includes about 85,000
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