Choctaw Villages Swanton

From Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians, ¹ the Sixtowns District Okla Hannali extended to certain neighbors, particularly Chickashawhay and Yowanni, and another body, the Kunshak or Cane Towns, centrally located, and early in the 18^th century the location of the principal leadership of the nation also embraced the customs and differentiation noted among the Sixtown Villages. Regis De Roulliet gave these people the name Okla Chito, or Big People. These towns had a different dialect, as did the other two districts the Okla Falaya (Long People) and the Okla Tannap (The Other Party) (Cushman names this district Apa Opetat.). A part of the Sixtowns that sided with the English against the French was called Inglis Tamaha (English Town).

The following table is the Villages as given by Swanson²

Name	Meaning	Location	District	1784 Divisions don’t always match
Nashobawenya	Howling Wolf	Jasper County	Sixtown	Nashuba Huanya
Oskelagna	Yellow Cane	Probably Jasper	Sixtown	Usgue Lagana
Tala	Palmetto	S. Newton County	Sixtown	Tala
Siniasha	Sycamore Place	Unknown	Sixtown	Seniacha
Boktoloksi	Little two streams	Boguetuluski Creek Off Chickashawhay	Sixtown
Cousanna/Tousanna	None Given	Unknown	Sixtown
Inglis Tamaha	English City	NE part Jasper Probably same as Cousanna		Yngles Tamaha
Chickasawhay	None Given	Clarke Co, 3 miles From Enterprise	Southern	Chicachae
Yowani	Junebug	East side Chickashaway Wayne county	Southern	Yanni
Talapokta	Palmetto (where two bayous) unite	Jasper County	Southern	Taulepa
Chiskilikbacha	Blackjacks in a row	Probably Jasper	Southern	Escalibacha
Puskustakali	Child hanging	Sw Kemper	Southern	Puscus Tacale
Bissasha	Blackberry/Mulberry Place	Newton Co., west side of LR Creek	Southern	Beacha
Otak Chito Tamaha	Big Prairie Town	Unknown	Southern	Octa Chito
Otak Chinakbi	Crooked Prairie	Garlandville, Jasper county	Southern
Bishkun	None given	Jasper county	Southern	Bisconne
Oka Taleya	Water Spreading	East Smith County	Southern
Coatraw	Perhaps this is Tala	Sw of Newton, Newton County	Southern
Sakti Tamaha	Bluff Town	Unknown	Southern	Sacte Tamaha
Itchechana	? Notched Stick	Unknown	Southern	Ite Chana
Shumotakali	Moss Hanging	Unknown	Southern	Cheman Tacante
Tinshinkla	Blue Jay	Unknown	Southern	Tinsca Itla
Chucafalaya	Longhouse	Unknown	Southern	Chuca Falaya
Ouiacha	Not clear	Unknown	Southern	Ouiacha
Osapa Chito	Big Field	Unknown	Southern	Ozapachito
Kunshak (Coosa/Kunsa)	Cane Brake	Losthorse Creek, Lauderdale Co.	Central
Kunshak Chito	Big Cane Town	Near upper Oktibehha Cr, Kemper Co	Central
Kunshak Bolukta	Round cane break	Sw Kemper, near Lauderdale and Neshoba	Central	Concha Bulucta
Kunshak /Oka Lusa	Black Water	Whites Br. Kemper County	Central	Oqueluza
Bokfalaia	Long Creek	Unknown	Central/western	Buflaya
Iyanabi	Ironwood	Yannubbee Creek, Dekalb, Kemper Co	Central/western	Yanahe
Koweh Chito/ mentions Panther	A great league	Nw Dekalb, Kemper Co	Central/western
Boktuklo	Two creeks	Unknown	Central	Buctuclo
Boktuklo chito	Two big creeks Running tiger Koi Yanalli	Nw of Dekalb at confluence of Running tiger and Sukenatcha Creek	Central
Lukfata	Chalk/white clay	Headwaters of prong of Sukenatcha Creek	Central	Lucfeata
Skanapa	Unfortunate ones	Prob. On running tiger creek, Kemper	Central
West Kunshak Chito	West big cane town	Neshoba near headwaters of Oktibehha Cr	Western
Abissa	Village of Mulberries	Unknown	Western	Bezahacha
Yazoo, West Yazoo	None	Near headwaters of Oktibehha Creek, Neshoba County	Western	Yasu
Imoklasha	There people are there	Headwaters of Talasha Cr, Neshoba	Western	Mongulacha
Kashtasha	Place of fleas	S side of custusha Cr, s of W. Yazoo Town	Western
Kafitalaia	Sassafras Thicket	On owl Cr, Neshoba	Western	Café talaya
West Abeka	Unhealthy place	Unknown	Western
Utapacha	Rows of chestnut trees	Unknown	Western
Osapa chito	Big cornfield	Site of Dixon, Neshoba County	Western	Ozapa chito
Okehanea Tamaha	Uncertain	Unknown	Western
Osak Talaia	Hickory grove	Near line between Neshoba and Kemper	Western	ochactalaya
Chunkey	Perhaps referring to game	Site of Union, Newton Co.	Western	Chanke
Chunky Chito	Big Chunkey	West bank of Chunkey Cr,	Western/sixtown
Itichipota	Little Tress	Between headwaters of Tombigbee and Chickasawhay	Western	Etuc Cambule?
Bok Chito	Big Creek	Probably on Bogue Chitto Neshoba and Kemper counties	Western
Atlantchito		Unknown	Western
Hashuk Chuka	Grass hut	Unknown	Western	Achonchuba?
Bokfoka	Near the creek	Unknown	Western	Bucpica or Bucjuca
Tiwaele	Land abounding in squirrels, subsidiary of hokfoka	Unknown	Western
Oklabalabaha	People talking unintelligibley	Unknown	Western
Oka hullo	Sacred water	Prob near Sanotee Cr, Kemper	Western
Otuk Falaia		Unknown	Western
Hashuk Homa	Red grass	Unknown	Western
Okla Tanap	War people	Unknown	Western
Oni Talemon	Where the wild onions are	So of Pickney Mill, Newton	Western	Uni
Oka Kapassa	Cold water	Abt at Pickney Mill, Newton	Western
Shinuk Kaha	Lying in sand	NE of Philadelphia, Newton	Western	Chenucaha
Oka Coopoly	Uncertain	On Ocobly Creek Neshoba	Western	Oguecuple
Halunlawi Asha	Bullfrog place	Site of Philadelphia, Neshoba	Western	Olan Luacha
Lushapa	Perhaps Lunsalaka	Perhaps on Lunsalaka Cr, Neshoba	Western
Oka Chippo	Perhaps water run down	Unknown	Western
Konshak Osapa	Canebreak field	Somewhere w of west imoklasha	Western
Tonicahaw		Unknown	Western
Cabea Hoola		Unknown	Western
Okapoola		Unknown	Western
Wiatakali	Hanging loft	South of Dekalb and Jackson Rd, Neshoba	Western
Fan Yakni	Squirrel country	Unknown	Western
Shinuk Chuckilissa	Deserted sand	Unk	Western
Nita Asha	Bears Home	Abandoned 1702	Western
Ite Ousano	Hard wood	Unknown	Western
Kinte Oke	Water where there are beavers	Unknown	Western
Nusi kon chito	Big alcorns	Unknown	Western
Okhata Talaia	Spreading pond	Conehatta district of Newton county, s 11 t 7e	Western
Holihta Asha	Fort Place	Dekalb, Kemper	Eastern	Olanluacha
Chicatalya		Unknown	Eastern
East Abeka	Unhealthy place	Junction straight creek with Sukenatcha, Kemper	Eastern	Abeca
Ibetap Okla iskitini	Little source people	Head of main prong Yazoo Cr, Kemper	Eastern	Ebitabuguluchi
Kunshak Tikpi	Canebrake knob	Coonshark Cr, Neshoba	Eastern
Itokchako	Green wood	Near east abeka, Kemper	Eastern	Ite Ochaco
Osap Issa	Abandoned field	N side of Black River, kemper	Eastern
Yazoo Iskitini	Little Yazoo	Both sides yazoo Cr.,	Eastern	Yassu?
Ibetap Okla chito	Big source people	Perhaps on straight creek, Kemper	Eastern	Ebitbugula
Imoklasha iskitini	Little band of relations	Flat cr, East prong of Yazoo, Kemper	Eastern	Mongulacha Esquitini
Pachanucha	Where pigeons sleep	Unknown	Eastern
Athlepele	Perhaps alipilla	Unknown	Eastern
Chuka Lusa	Black House	Unknown	Eastern
Hankha ula	Wild goose crying	Between petickfa and blackwater creeks, Kemper	Eastern	Ankkaula
East Kunshak Chito	East big cane brake	Near Moscow, Kemper	Eastern	Coucha
Shumotakali #2	Moss Hanging	Kemper Co between head prongs Blackwater Cr	Eastern
Watanlula	Whooping Crane	Unknown	Eastern
Pante, from pinti	White rats around the prairie	Head of Ponta Cr., Lauderdale	Eastern
Cutha Aimethaw		Unknown	Eastern
Oka Altakala	Prob between waters	Prob confluence of petickfa and yannubbe Cr, Kemper	Eastern
Nushkubo		Perhaps on or near Petikfa cr, Kemper	Eastern
Chuka Hullo #2	Sacred house	On N side Sukenatcha cr, near running tiger and straight creek, Kemper	Eastern
Cuthi Ukehaca		On or Near Parkers creek, empties into Petikfa, Kemper	Eastern
Yanatoe		Prob sw kemper co	Eastern
Alamucha		10 m from Sukenatcha Cr, kemper	Eastern
Thicacho oulasta,	Perhaps Chi-  cacha oulasita		Unknown
Ahipata bita Brugoula		Abandoned 1748	Unknown
Tabogoula			Unknown
Cha'ta tascanan gouchy			Unknown
Choutoua togoule			Unknown
Teeakhaily ekutapa	Standing pine	On lower Tombigbee	Not given
Chisha foka	Among the post oaks	Jackson MS	Not given
Shukhata	Opossum	Columbus, Alabama	Not given

Many of these towns were extinct by the time of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Probably in no small part due to the land cessions in previous treaties. As a result we see communities living on the Oxnubbe (Noxunnubbe), Yalobusha, Tombigbee and Pearl Rivers, most of these not named on the above list. We also see a larger portion living in what will become Washington, Sumter and Choctaw counties Alabama, but only one town is named in Alabama on the above list. It is useful however in understanding some of the key areas still in use during removal.

The Moeties as given by Swanton are the Beloved People, innholunta, being the beloved people, and the immoklushas, which Swanton takes as a term for leader, and the Kashap Okla, the divided people. A trivial note in 1772 by a British officers gives an example, Concha Oumanstabe, a Choctaw Chief was of the Immoklusha Clan, or the Peaceful family of the Chickasawhay village. ³ For moieties (corrected forms from Swanton in parenthesis) we have the following information there being for the Innholunta the Chufa (Chafa) iska, Iskulani,(iskitini), Chito and Shakchukia (Shakichuma), and for the immoklushas, the Kushiska (Kunsha), Lawokla (Luae Okla) , Lulak (tulak) Iska, and Linoklusha. (Itimoklusha)⁴ This certainly seems to be more indicative of the early smaller tribes who confederated into the Choctaw nation to me.

 Swanton goes on to say

“In fact these local groups seem to have been of all sizes and grades of importance, and were probably frequently increased by subdivision or the incorporation of foreign elements and decreased by the dying out of older iksas. At the present day it is impossible to make anything like a complete list of iksas, and I do not feel sure that the names which I give are all properly used in this connection. They are the following: Bok Chito, " Big Stream," on the stream so called (Bogue Chitto), which flows into Pearl River near its head, the only iksa to remain aloof from missionary teachings; Biasha, " Mulberry place," still living a few miles west of Philadelphia, Miss.; Okla hånnali, " Sixtowns," in and about Jasper County, Miss.; Okla untuklo, " Seven towns," near Hays, about 23 miles southwest of Philadelphia; Yåkan-okåni, "Land Creek," just west of Carthage, in Leake County, Miss.; Haiyip atokola, "Second lake," or "Two lakes," in the northeastern part of the old Mississippi territory. Chikashahe, " Chickasaw potato(?)," said by one informant to have been east of Mashulaville, but anciently, at all events, on the headwaters of the Chiclcasa whay River; Kuⁿshak, " reedbrake people" (though by one informant affirmed to have been the name of a bird found in the reedbrakes), said to have been north of Mashulaville, but anciently much farther south; Okla falaia, " long people," according to some Mississippi Choctaw about 16 miles north of Philadelphia, according to others near Harperville in Scott County; ⁸⁰ Spani okla, " Spanish people," 25 to 40 miles east of Jackson, Miss.; Obåla chaha iksa, along Turkey Creek, in the northeastern part of Scott County and the southeastern part of Neshoba; Koe chito, "Panther," not located; Bok falaia, " Long Creek," not located; and Yanabe, Yashu, Abeka, Lukfata, and Haiyowani, which were also names of well-known Choctaw towns and may easily be located. Mr. Bushnell adds the Shunkwane ogla (Shuⁿkåni okla), "Ant people," and Cushman, as we have seen, speaks of one known as Apela, " to help," " to assist." Gatschet mentions a few groups besides which may belong in this category, Cofetaláya, " quail are there Pineshuk Indians, "on a branch of Pearl River, in Winston County," the name perhaps transposed from " pishånnuk," the bass or linden tree; Sukinatchi or " Factory Indians," in Kemper County; the Cobb Indians, called after their leader, Colonel Cobb, but also known as Hopahka Indians; and the Shuqualak, in Noxubee County. Simpson Tubby spoke of a band in the Sixtown country called Tåshka himmita. Some of these may have been temporary or town groups instead of true iksa, and it is difficult to find out where the application of the term iksa begins or ends. Sometimes it seems to have been identical with a town, sometimes it appears to have embraced several towns, but more often I believe that each town was composed of several iksa ⁵

⁶

Thus strengthening my belief that you have in fact a three prong system (the Iska was the exogamous portion). The Moeity divisions, explained by Galloway as the older and younger people, the Iskas, the tribe of origin, and then lastly the Clan, also called Iska that represents in a great part regions where they lived. It is subjective, but I am of the mind that the marriage was most likely in relationship to the original tribe first and foremost, so when one was of the Kunshak Iska, it really meant they were from the people that originally settled the Kunsha area of the Central District given in the listing above. The Okla Hannalli, or Six towns may in fact be relatives of this group, as may the Yanni and Chickasawhay who are often associated with this grouping. I find it interesting that Swanton assigns Kunsha in 1784 to East Kunsha when in fact the actual village of Kunsha may have been the location, especially given the treaty of 1803 and 1802. I also noticed in the 1784 some of the names seemed to resemble the names of some of the towns. I wonder if given the newness of the Confederation, if the association with their town was part of their name? The practice surely changed by the nineteenth century.

1 ¹ John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931)55-57 ,Questia, Web, 24 May 2010

2 ¹ John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931) 59-67,Questia, Web, 24 May 2010

3 John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931) 76-78,Questia, Web, 24 May 2010.

4  John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931) 79-80,Questia, Web, 24 May 2010.

5 John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931) 81-82,Questia, Web, 24 May 2010.

6 John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931) 81,Questia, Web, 24 May 2010.