Chickasaw
Indians Yesterday And Today
Kevin K.
Family life for the Chickasaw was very
traditional. The boys were expected to be good hunters and warriors. Girls were expected to be good at
household tasks, such as food preparation and
taking care of children. The
Chickasaw people grew much of their own food and the whole tribe shared. 
Some of their food consisted of corn, peas, beans, squash, melons,
sunflowers, pumpkins, and tobacco. They
also ate deer and bear. The
Chickasaw hunted using bow and arrow, knives, and blow guns.
Hunting was considered religious
and it was not unusual to ask the spirits for help.
Deer and bear were the most hunted animals, using the meat to eat, the
antlers for tools and the hides for clothing.
The basic wardrobe for the Chickasaw consisted of deerskin.
For warmer weather the men wore breechcloths and
for colder weather they wore leggings, moccasins and long fur capes.
The Chickasaw liked to play games.
One of the games was toli, similar to today’s lacrosse on a 500 foot
field. Toli basically consisted of
two items. The toli sticks, which have a wooden rounded shaft that have a long
narrow hoop at the end. They also had the toli goal which was made out of a hoop crossed
deer sinew.
Another Chickasaw game is chunky.
They played by rolling a stone ball and throwing a lance where they think
the ball will stop. Blue lick Battlefield Park, State Kentucky samples of
"chunke" game pieces. The legend is the loser gets killed.
There are not many Chickasaws today. According to the 1990 census there are about 20,631 Chickasaws alive. The majority of them live through out the United States. About 12,772 Chickasaws live in Oklahoma and 2,000 live in both Texas and California. Today, Chickasaws are focused on education for both the young and the old. Programs for tutoring dropouts to get high school equivalency diplomas and adult education centers, are some of the programs.
