The State of The Chickamauga Nation in 2022
The state of The Chickamauga Nation is strong, vital, and growing. We have come a long way together as a people. Our ancestors battled nature for survival against the elements and predators in the Mississippi River drainage basin. They battled other tribes over hunting and fishing grounds. They battled other nation states to keep their lands. They battled illegal immigration, needless violent attacks and gun violence which decimated our numbers.
We were able to boast of having the largest and most beautiful farms and ranches, crops, herds, and orchards. We were known for our agricultural expertise and knowledge. Our ancestors in the Southeast spent 19 centuries perfecting how to live as one with the land and used methods a thousand years ago that farmers and ranchers are starting to implement today as best practices for their lands and animals. We have a storied history and way of life, now is the time for us to return to those traditional ways for our future generations.
When I became Chief, my oath was a promise to look to the past for 7 generations and learn from them and to look 7 generations into the future and plan and prepare a place for them. That is ultimately what drives me every day, learning from the past so we can provide for the future. That is why I can proudly proclaim the state of our Nation is strong, vital, and growing. We have so much to be proud of as a Nation.
Our ancestors were brilliant innovators in how they managed the earth and their relationship with it. They know how to plant and produce for maximum efficiency on the lands. They knew what the lands could produce and what it could not be produced because they studied the lands and the resources of the earth before they ever planted one seed. They knew how to hunt and fish to provide for themselves and others within their tribes. They knew how to raise farm animals that could produce food for them and others. They were brilliant.
Now we have that same opportunity as a Nation. Since the spring of 2021, we have been taught how to use the USDA to assist our ranchers and farmers in their plans of becoming successful using the lands for our benefit. We are learning new things daily which will help our people become connected to our history and heritage. We will never go back totally to being dependent upon the land, but we need to know how to live off of the land when the world around us goes crazy.
For those of us who do not farm or ranch, you are vital to our continued growth and success as well. We need all of our people to be leaders in their industries. We want to help our people become experts in their own fields of interest and to lead their companies and industries into the future. We all must perform a part in the Nation for The Chickamauga Nation to be successful. I encourage everyone to learn how to preserve foods so they can teach the ancient skill to future generations. Our ancestors learned how to preserve and store foods for times when food became scarce and we too need to pass along that knowledge. They were shrewd businessmen and women. They knew how to trade the goods and services they had for the goods and services they needed. They developed arts and crafts they could use for themselves as well as trade if and when the need would arise.
Our Nation has such a diversity of knowledge from our people that we have the ability to thrive as a Nation for years to come. The Chickamauga Nation is truly blessed because our people are more than capable of being leaders in so many different areas of society. We have never been those poor Chickamauga Indians because we knew how to survive as a people when many others did not. We are proud of who we are and the direction we are going as a Nation.
We are continuing the good fight with the federal government to gain access to the List of Tribes which are Federally Recognized and determined eligible for benefits and services from the BIA. We are now also battling the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Incorporated, and the Keetoowah Band of Cherokees in Oklahoma because in June of 2022, their Tri-Council declared The Chickamauga Nation an enemy of the Cherokee people because we want to be placed on the List.
We are also working back channels to find additional ways to gain access to the List. Since August 1, 2022, we have intentionally become more aggressive in our push to gain access to the List. We are now pushing the fact that the Civil Rights of our people are being violated by denying us rights we are entitled to have as Citizens of the United States and as Native Americans.
I was born three years after John Kennedy asked, “Do not ask, “what your country can do for you,” but ask, “what can you do for your country?”” There are three things I want our people to do over the next year for their Nation.
First, I want to challenge us all over the next year to make a weekly sacrifice for our fellow Citizens. I want to ask each of us to spend 1 hour a week learning the Mobilian Trade Language and 20 minutes a week learning Native American Sign Language. Since we are not of Cherokee ancestry or descent, I am asking all of us to learn the Mobilian Trade Language. The Mobilian Trade Language is the trade language we used prior to learning the Cherokee trade language in the late 1600s to early 1700s. I know many of our people know some Cherokee trade language words and phrases, but we are not them, so we should go back to our roots of being a Mississippian, Muscogean, and Mobilian people and learn our traditional language as best as we can determine its existence.
Second, I want to challenge us all over the next year to make a weekly sacrifice for our fellow Citizens. I want to ask each of us to spend 20 minutes a week reading about our history on our www.ChickamaugaNation.Com website. Our website is a storehouse of information about our people and how we are progressing through history. Our people have suffered, succeeded, and advanced when the odds were stacked against us. We are the underdogs and we are now putting our history on our website for the world to see.
Third, I want to challenge all of us over the next year to plant a fruit tree or fruit trees in your yard. Every time I go out into my back yard, I see two peach trees. I am reminded every time I see my trees of the tens of thousands of fruit and nut trees that were cut down when our ancestors’ homes, farms, ranches, and orchards were destroyed by American soldiers. Plant a living memorial to remind you of your Chickamauga heritage then when the fruit is ripened eat it, preserve it, and give it to neighbors, family, and friends, and remind them that this is Chickamauga memorial fruit.
We are progressing on many different fronts as a Nation toward our ultimate goals. We are stronger, more vital, and growing as a Nation. May the Creator bless the Chickamauga people and may the Creator bless The Chickamauga Nation.
Book: The Mobilian Trade Language
Book: Mobilian Trade Language Phrasebook and Lexicon
Book Indian Sign Language (Native American)
(C) This document was produced at the request of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on July 18, 2019, to document the History, Anthropology, Culture, Religion, and Archaeology of The Chickamauga Nation.