♪ - [Voiceover] On this
edition of Mississippi Roads we're taking a look at diverse
Mississippi Indian heritage. We're up in
Neshoba County at the Chahta Immi
Cultural Center. We'll travel to some of our
important Indian mound sites then we'll revisit a classic
story about the annual Choctaw Indian Fair. Take a look at the
Winterville Mounds up in the Delta, then we'll hear
about recent work by the Choctaws to
promote home grown produce and promote healthy eating. - [Voiceover] Support
for the arts segment of Mississippi
Roads comes from the Mississippi Arts Commission whose mission is to be
a catalyst for the arts and creativity in Mississippi. Information available
at www.arts.ms.gov. - [Voiceover] Mississippi
Roads is made possible in part by the generous
support of viewers like you. Thank you. ♪ Down Mississippi Roads ♪ Mississippi Roads ♪ - Hi, welcome back
to Mississippi Roads. I'm your host, Walt Grayson. This week we're at the
Chahta Immi Cultural Center in Pearl River, Mississippi, in Neshoba County. I'll give you a quick
Walt Grayson translation of Chata Immi. Immi means lifestyle
or life ways, Chata is the word
the Choctaw have for themselves. So this is a place
that studies and houses and has exhibits
about the life ways of the Choctaw Nation. There are about 10,000 members of the Mississippi
band of Choctaw Indians who live in eight
reservation communities here in nine counties
in central Mississippi. When the Europeans began
settling in America in the 1600's, the Choctaw were
already living here in the southeast. They lived off the land
as hunter-gatherers, and as farmers living off corn, nuts, fruits, as well
as deer, bear and fish. The Choctaw had a long
tradition of conducting business very successfully I might add, having established trade
with European explorers as early as the 1700's. Throughout the 18th century the Choctaw had
immense land holdings all over the southeast but ceded more and more land to the newly formed
United States of America during the 1800's. The treaty of
Dancing Rabbit Creek signed in 1830, marked a major transfer
of land to America and outlined the removal of much of the Choctaw tribed lands
set aside in Oklahoma. The present day Choctaws who
live in central Mississippi are direct descendants
of those strong willed and proud people
back in the 1800's who just absolutely
refused to leave. Matter of fact, that same
kind of self determination that you saw in the ancestor can be seen today
in the descendants. Of course, there were a lot
of other tribes in Mississippi back in the day other
than the Choctaw, and we're finding
out a lot about them through the work of
archaeologists and historians as they study present
day Indian mounds. Let's take a look. (peaceful beat) - The Mississippi Mound Trail actually had its
beginnings probably something on the order
of like four years ago. And it looks like we're
gonna have about 40 mound sites on it and of all different
kinds we have sites which consist of a single,
relatively small mound to sites which are some
of the largest mound sites in the southeast United States. The Mississippi Department
of Archives and History was able to gain
funding through MDOT from the Federal
Highway Administration Office here in Mississippi. And the project
officially started the, it would have been the fall, late fall of 2012. And we selected a number of
sites for possible inclusion on the trail and
one of the things that we had to do
is that there were a number of these
sites all up and down the mound trail from Wilkinson County,
where we are now, all the way up to
DeSoto County not 50 yards from
the Tennessee line. - Part of our job
here at archives is to record all the
known sites in the state so we do a lot of surveying and we keep them
all in a database and what Cliff was able to do was to put this
whole layer of maps into the GIF's and he
printed this map for us which is the background of it is the physiographic
region of the state and you can see
the concentrations of mounds in the state. Along rivers and over
here in the delta. This map over here is a map of the Mississippi
Mound Trail sites. Which sites will be
on the trail and you can see it
goes from Wilkinson County all the way up
to DeSoto County following Highway 61
and Highway One. Follow this area
right through here, right through the
concentration of mounds on the western
side of the state. - My name's John O'Deer. I'm retired from
Mississippi State University a few years ago. And as far as the
mound trail goes I'm working as a consultant to the Department of
Archives and History. My title is Manager of
the Mound Trail Project which is actually
a pretty big job 'cause we start out,
trying to tackle, within a period of a
year, a year and a half, tackle 40 mound sites. Which is kind of ambitious and a piece of work like this hasn't really been done since the Smithsonian sent down crews into Mississippi in the 1890's. And so we're really trying
to put Mississippi on the map. Both in terms of
the mound trail and in terms of doing, kind
of cutting edge research on this group of mounds (peaceful music) Emerald Mound,
we're fortunate that it's already well
interpreted by the National Park Service to kind
of be one of the anchors, you might say, of the
Mississippi Mound Trail. Very impressive site
and we're now on top of the largest mound
that's on top of the mound. And you can see the other
large mound in the distance. There would have
been six more mounds, lining the plaza out here. We're not sure, exactly,
what went on here. Except that there
was a building on top of where we're
standing right now and probably a
building of some sort on top of that mound
and on the other mounds that were in here. There are midden deposits, basically Indian garbage, which are interspersed
with the mound construction layers in this
large platform out here so there was some
village activity or there were things going on on top of here but
there haven't been that many excavations
into the flat top of it to really
get a good idea exactly what was
going on. We think that the
Indian Chiefdom that controlled this whole area, 1500, maybe up to 1530 AD, was centered at this site. This was the capital. And we know that
it was a very large political organization because when Hernando DeSoto's troops made their exit from
the Mississippi Valley and the Mississippi River
which is a couple miles
from here, the political
entity in this area was able to send
100's of large canoes out to harass them and
basically speed them on their way to
the Gulf of Mexico. And they almost
were defeated again on the water on the
Mississippi River, probably by troops,
you might say, from this site. - This is one of
the more interesting and kind of more
exotic finds you'll, you'll uncover at
some of these sites that date Mississippi
in time period and that's roughly
from about 1,000 AD up until DeSoto then tried
to cross the southeast in 1540, somewhere in there. This is a pipe. Made out of clay. And it's what we
call an effigy pipe, it has a depiction of, you know, human characteristics, sometimes in combination
with animal characteristics. But this would have been an actual smoking pipe. It would have had a
long wooden tube here. Put the material in there to light the fire and start smoking but you can see by its face this was meant to
portray a human, very human face. And these kinds of
objects that are, were heavily used in
ceremonials purposes and so, and you
really see these, in these later
mound period times, especially when we have
those flat top mounds which is what you do
have in Pocahontas. You'll see these kind of objects that are really highlighted
in the ceremony. And the social gathering aspects of these areas as big
social communities and social
gathering spots. These finds
are fairly rare to find and especially
finding them intact. - Opportunities
like this don't come you know, don't
come by every day. Being able to do this, this level of research, even though our individual, our research at individual
sites is relatively small, we're working on so many sites that it basically becomes
a set of information we just didn't have. - One of the mounds that
you can find out about here at the Cultural Center
is a very significant mound to Choctaw culture and that's Nanih Waiya Mound. It was built by their
prehistoric ancestors. The historic mound still stands just down the road
in Winston County. It plays a central role
in the tribe's origins and is considered the heart
of the Choctaw people. Known to be their mother mound there's also a cave
right next to it. That's revered as the birthplace
of the Choctaw people. The tribe has named
August 18th of every year as a holiday to celebrate
this historic site. And while we're talking
about Indian mounds, there's another group of mounds that you might
want to check out. They're very accessible
here in Mississippi over in the delta. It's on a 42 acre site a few miles north of
Greenville at Winterville. And the Winterville
Mounds still contain 12 mounds today and two plazas plus they have a
nice museum there. Let's take a look
back at the story that I did about the
Winterville Mounds and my growing up in the area. Here it is. - These are the
Winterville Indian Mounds. They're just north of Greenville on Highway One. This was one of our play
places when we were kids growing up here. Along with the levee and of course any
empty lot we could find in the neighborhood. We'd ride our bikes out here and play all over the place. Used to climb the mounds
and slide down them on cardboard and I can't recall
not knowing what they were. I mean, I always knew
they were Indian mounds and we were told the
people were buried in them. And that's not quite true. Although, some of
the smaller mounds are burial mounds but the biggest of them is not. But it was long after
cardboard slides and bike rides
had been set aside that I became aware
of the significance of my childhood play place. It's kind of like
ripples in a pond radiating when the
rock hits the water. Our awareness of our world grows and expands from the
place where we hit. Our first
comprehensions, I guess, concern our own home. Later we learn about our street, and our neighborhood. And then after a few
visits to Grandma's we start to take on a
sense of personal history. And then we get old
enough to go to school and we learn there's
a bigger world out past the world
we've known about so far. And discover that
that bigger world has its own history. And its history goes
back a lot farther that we even know there was
a farther to go back to. But then sometimes, we find that something
in that larger world we're discovering, intersects with something
we already knew about in our own, personal world. Only, we knew it under
another context, maybe. And that happened for
me when I found out how important of an
archeological site is my former playground: the Winterville Mounds. Two worlds collided. It's not exactly like,
but it may be something akin to when a child
of a movie star one day discovers that
their mommy's famous. And a lot of people know Mommy. But on the other hand, they don't know Mommy
like you know Mommy. That's the way it was with me and the Winterville Mounds. Learning that they're
among the top five most significant Native
American mound sites in the nation is awe inspiring. But knowing that
you can get airborne if a gust of wind
catches your cardboard as you gain momentum about half way down from
the top of that big mound is personal knowledge. And I bet that's knowledge
that none of the archaeologists scrutinizing and sifting
and cataloguing this place even know about. I wonder if they
found my pocket knife that I lost out here
while they were surveying? So who's world is
this really then? Oh, I'm fully aware that the prehistoric Native Americans painstakingly built these mounds a basket load of dirt at a time over 1,000 years ago. And they used them
for whatever it was they wanted them for and then abandoned them. But the last practical
uses of the mounds for something other than
an outdoor museum piece like they are now, was us kids who slid on them
a few decades ago before they were
fenced up and rescued and put on display. Now hey, that may
not be important now, but think about it, 1,000 years from now, archaeologists will
think it important that mounds were built and
used for maybe 400 years and then abandoned for 600 years and then put back into use again for a short period of
time as a playground by children of an
entirely different culture than the culture
constructing them. And you thought we were
just wearing the mounds away by sliding on them. What we were actually
doing is making an asterisk in the more inclusive
continuum of archaeology, thank you very much. By taking a leftover
handed down to us and putting it to another use. Like taking a depot and
turning it into a restaurant after the railroad is abandoned. But a little more far-fetched. Aw, in reality I know
that we were ignorantly misusing something
of a significance that we didn't understand. But thankfully, we didn't
wear them to the ground and some of the very same
kids who used to slide here, are now members of the Friends
of the Mounds Organization who now are helping to
restore and preserve and show off our old
childhood buddies. And it's right that they are. I mean, because some of
you who just recently discovered this wonderful
archaeological site in Mississippi Delta over
the last little while, need to know that for
some of us out here, we and the Winterville
Mounds go way back. Now this is always a lot of fun. Highly anticipated Choctaw Fair happens every year
on the reservation. The Fair is an event
that helps to preserve and celebrate the
journey of the Choctaw. There are historical
and cultural displays, social dancing, tribal
arts and crafts, Choctaw stick-ball, the
granddaddy of all field sports, as well as the Choctaw
Indian Princess Pageant and delicious,
traditional Choctaw food. Let's take a look back
in the Mississippi Roads rear-view mirror at a story
we did a few years back about this fun-filled festival. - [Voiceover] The
Choctaw Indian Fair began generations ago as the
Green Corn Festival. It has since grown into one
of Southeast Mississippi's top ten attractions. Through this annual event, visitors get a glimpse into
the Native American culture. This experience is enhanced
through the cultural arts demonstrations and classes
such as basket weaving, friendship beading, and traditional Choctaw cooking which is still done outdoors over an open flame. These elements are
an integral part of the fair. - Events like this
entice young people to learn more about
their own culture, demonstrate their culture and we have some traditions here that are really outstanding. - [Voiceover] The annual
Choctaw Indian Fair truly has something
for everyone. - Would you pick a lane or what? What's your problem? - [Voiceover] For
the young at heart, or just the fun at heart, there are daily puppet shows
at Grandpa's General Store, circus clowns and a little
red firetruck train ride. You can even visit the Museum of the Southern Indian
for a look at authentic Indian dress and history
of the Choctaw Indians. Few tribes in the United States have held so tenaciously to
the dress of 100 years ago as the Choctaws of Mississippi. Worn daily by many older women, the hand made Choctaw dresses have a full skirt requiring up to six
yards of fabric. Beaded necklaces are added
for dress up occasions. The rules of the traditional
Choctaw's stickball game have been handed down from
generation to generation. The ball game has a
long and violent history as a sport and method
of settling wars and disputes. - We call it the
oldest game in America. And it is. The young people, young men, like to play the game and they have competitions
by communities going on. - [Voiceover] This
idea of a serious game played to win just may
be the Choctaw's greatest contribution to American sports. Another long standing tradition is the Choctaw Princess Pageant and the crowning of
the new princess. - The new Choctaw
Indian Princess for 1999/2000, is contestant number seven. (inaudible) (cheering) - [Voiceover] Just
because the sun sets, does not mean that
the fun has to end. This marks the beginning
of the senior stick ball championships. (cheering) Protective equipment
is not worn. A player depends
upon his or her speed to avoid the manhandling tactics of the opposing team. But what's a fair without food and rides? If you still enjoy the
adventure of a good old fashioned fair ride, then this Ferris
wheel is for you. - It's easy to see how
the Choctaw Indian Fair has made it to its
50th anniversary. And what, with so
much education, entertainment, and culture
wrapped into one event, I'm sure we can look
forward to many more. - While the Choctaw
people are firmly rooted in the traditions of the past, they're very quick to
embrace new ventures. Choctaw Foods has
been around for a while, but one of their new ventures is to promote healthy eating. And what they're doing is they're trying to get
the youngsters to plant, grow, produce, and
harvest healthy produce. In our next story, let's take a look at another way the Choctaws are
getting involved with this whole foods movement. They've got a program that
delivers fresh produce almost to your doorstep. Take a look. - [Voiceover] Mississippi
band of Choctaw Indians in Philadelphia,
Mississippi has started an agricultural program aimed
at getting fresh produce available to tribe members. Program's Director Dick Hoy has been working
with the Choctaws for the last three years. And has seen the impact
of the program's success. - Choctaw Fresh
Produce started as an idea of being
able to grow and distribute food locally. We got a grant to
start this program to where we could grow produce for the resort property, for local consumers, and it just took off from there. We built six high tunnels with intentions to building 18, we're now up to 17. It's just been slow,
going in three years. We um, got the first six up
and running the first year. Then we increased to 12. Every year we add
in two or three more greenhouses and high tunnels. About six months ago
we made the decision to transition from
conventional-grown produce to organic. Choctaws are historically, they were outstanding farmers. That's why they thrived
when other tribes didn't. And to see them getting
back into agriculture it just really excites me. - [Voiceover] As more and
more greenhouses were added, a surplus of produce
was the result. And this surplus has
now been made available to other communities
through CSA's. In Jackson, these
CSA's can be purchased at the Broad Street
Baking Company and Cafe in Banner Hall. - Well, we have a CSA, which is Community
Supported Agriculture. You buy a membership, each week you receive
a box of whatever is fresh and ready that week. It typically runs eight
to ten different products in a box. We extended our CSA
into Jackson and it's been a
huge success. We sold about 80 shares
there in two weeks and we've got a waiting list of about 100 people
ready for the fall. - Well, what we
do is we pick them Mondays and Tuesdays
and we box everything up on Wednesdays and
then Thursday mornings we take the boxes and
put them in the van and we deliver to Jackson. We have 77 customers here that have purchased a CSA and I bring them, I deliver, drop them off and they
have a sign in sheet up at the front and they pick up their box, sign off on it, and that's their
box for the week. - It's great. You never know what's
gonna be in the box. So that's been kind of a, an interesting aspect. And we have to tailor
our menus to suit that. - Oh my goodness,
that's an awful lot. - My husband grew
up on a farm so he really likes all the
fresh produce coming in and the spices, the
dill, and the cilantro. It's just so fresh and
easy to prepare meals with. - I really enjoy cooking. And so, and we of course
love the fresh produce. We go to the Farmer's
Market pretty frequently. And so when the, we saw this opportunity
which supports local farmers we thought that that
would be a good thing. We subscribed and you know, anxiously awaited
the first delivery. - I just feel like we should
support our Mississippi farmers and try to help them
have a good year. - It's as much a matter of
supporting something as it is what you get of it. You know, the produce
is better quality than anything you can get. It's, it wasn't
picked three weeks ago and trucked in here from Mexico. So you know, it's
high quality food. Particularly the greens that
we've been getting earlier. (inaudible) - [Voiceover] You know,
heck, why would you not want to support local farmers? If you like to eat,
you like to cook, well it's a no-brainer. - Well, that's
about all the time we have for this
visit to Pearl River in Neshoba County. If you'd like information
about anything you've seen in the program you
can always contact us at
mpbonline.org/MississippiRoads or you can become the coolest
person in your neighborhood by liking our Mississippi
Public Broadcasting Facebook page. That way, you can
be one of our peeps. You know, actually you
find out a lot of things that's going on around MPB because there's something
going on all the time and if you didn't know that it's because you haven't
liked that page yet. So, do that. And until next time,
I'm Walt Grayson. And I'll be seeing you
on Mississippi Roads. (theme song playing) - [Voiceover] Mississippi Roads
is made possible in part by the generous support
of viewers like you. Thank you.