Historic Sources for the Choctaw Villages
Choctaw Village Descriptions
Before one looks for Choctaw villages, one should know what he is looking for ... sounds like my grandfather's logic. There are historic sources that described the Choctaw villages; let's see what they say. Remember Lusser, one of our French Journalists? In MPAFD I 115 he wrote in his journal,
"There are many little places of two or three cabins which all gathered together might form a village of two hundred and fifty to three hundred men but they are so scattered that one cannot know their number exactly."
Lusser was addressing the accuracy of his count of "Men bearing arms" in each Choctaw village in the Tables on pages 116 and 117. So, Lusser on March 23, 1730 indicated the villages could be scattered.
Another eye witness of the Choctaw villages was Father Michael Beaudouin (also Michel Baudouin). He was born Quebec 1692; entered Society of Jesus 1713; arrived Louisiana 1728; beginning 1729 spent 18 years as Jesuit missionary with the Choctaw; died New Orleans about 1768 (Source Catholic Encyclopedia Newadvent.org). He lived at the Choctaw village of Chickasawhay and knew our Journalists Lusser, Roullet and most of the French military contingent at Mobile and the Choctaw traders. And above all, he knew the Choctaw and their villages. In a letter dated November 23, 1732 Beaudouin provided descriptions of the Choctaw villages ...
"The Choctaw nation is ... forty-two villages ..."
"The villages are very widely extended and distant from each other. There are some that are four to five leagues long. Ordinarily they are two leagues (or) one league and a half and the smallest are at least a half-league long." (Note: French league was 2.5-2.7 English miles) "The cabins are separated by very long intervals." Source MPAFD I 155.
To better understand Father Beaudouin's description of the extensive villages, refer to Romans Map 1772 and look at the numbered villages. The villages were represented as dotted blotches (ridges) and addressed the scattering noted by Father Beaudouin.
James Adair also provided a description. Adair's perspective is different from either Lusser or Beaudouin in that he lived with other tribes as noted above, and he travelled through others, like the Creeks who lived on the British trading paths from the Chickasaw to Charleston, South Carolina. He wrote,
"The (Choctaw) barrier towns, which are next to the Muskohge (Creek) and Chikkasah (Chickasaw) countries, are compactly settled for social defense, according to the general method of the other savage nations; but the rest, both in the center and toward the Mississippi (River), are only scattered plantations, as best suits a separate easy way of living."
Source: The History of the American Indian page 282. Adair provided that the eastern and northern barrier towns, i.e. those closest to the Chickasaw and Creek Indian peoples were more compact. Taken together, the descriptions paint a picture of Choctaw villages in 1730s-1740s as being very scattered except those towards and closest to their neighbors the Chickasaw and Creeks.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how about an image of an actual Choctaw Village? See Figure 1.
ARCHAEOLOGY of the CHOCTAW VILLAGES
We are limited as we only know what is in print.
AR-16 1985
We are aware of two relatively recent archaeological reports. The earlier one: Archaeological Report-16, An Archaeological Study of the Mississippi Choctaw Indians, John Howard Blitz, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, 1985. The report is courtesy of Mississippi Department of Archives and History. On page 21 is a brief history of Choctaw Archaeology. On page 35 the sampling survey is discussed. Two survey areas in Kemper County of 5x7 miles each were selected; see Map 4, page 38. Results specific to the Choctaw villages are shown on Map 6 on page 45 and following text. Apparently the effort was to test part of Halbert's Kemper County village locations.
AR-27 1997
The later report: Archaeological Report No. 27, Many Choctaw Standing An Archaeological Study of Culture Change In the Early Historic Period, Timothy Paul Mooney, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson, 1997. The report is courtesy of Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Page 10 begins a very good historical background of the Choctaw. The paper described the collection of artifact and pottery from a half dozen sites.