The center sets out its purpose plainly: to show the culture and history of the Choctaw people from the Chahta perspective. 'These are OUR stories, and this is OUR journey,' it says. The permanent exhibition is built in four parts. The first gives the origins of the Choctaw people and their creation stories at Nanih Waiya, the Mother Mound, in what is now Mississippi. The second recreates the Mississippi homelands centuries ago. The third tells the Trail of Tears through two families who made the journey at different times and by different routes. The fourth shows how the tribal government keeps its sovereignty and looks after its people now.
The removal behind that third gallery followed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek of 1830, under which the Nation gave up its Mississippi lands; from 1831 to 1833 Choctaws came west over what the Nation calls the trail of tears and death. Another gallery holds vignettes of people and landscapes from each of the twelve districts of the Choctaw Reservation.
Outside, the Living Village reflects the lifeways of Chahta families in the homelands: a modern-made mound at its center, chukkas, the winter houses called Anuka Lashpa, a three sisters garden, an earth oven and a remnant prairie of plants from Mississippi and Oklahoma. Weather permitting there is a daily exhibition of ishtaboli, stickball, and social dances that guests may be invited to join. The Champuli Cafe serves frybread tacos and grape dumplings.
The closest stops worth working into your route
Roadside plaques and monuments within a short detour