Pashofa Video Presentation

Tribal library director Gina Brown and son Jared Walker, cultural specialist, demonstrate how to make the traditional Chickasaw meal of pashofa.

Supplies and ingredients needed are:

• 10-gallon cast-iron pot
• 3 pounds pearl hominy cracked corn
• 3 to 4 pounds pork
• 4 to 6 gallons water
• Firewood

This recipe has been passed down from many generations and has been cooked at many events. These include family gatherings, funerals, holidays and birthdays.
Pashofa was originally used in a healing ceremony to cure the sick. A medicine man would come to the family and have them cook pashofa over an open fire while he attended to the patient. Traditionally, the ceremony would start at midnight and last almost all night. Once the individual was healed, they would eat the meal and feel better.

For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Beading Around a Cabochon Video Presentation

Historic preservation technician Brittni Smith illustrates how to bead around a cabochon.

Cabochons are known as the “center” stone and can be used to make a variety of adornment for various occasions.

After European contact, trade beads became incorporated into Chickasaw culture. Shells and other natural materials were used by Chickasaws and other Southeastern tribes to construct cabochons.

Cabochons are shaped and polished stones and can be purchased at most local craft stores.

Here are the materials needed for this project:

• Beads
• Thread
• Cabochon (stone)
• A stiff piece of fabric
• Needle
• Scissors
• Glue

Several things can be beaded using this technique such as earrings and bolo ties. By watching this video closely, you can learn how to make your very own beaded cabochon.

For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Medicine Bag Video Presentation

Jareth Ray, site attendant II at the Chickasaw Bank Museum in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, displays how to make a Chickasaw medicine bag.

In First American cultures, medicine bags hold special importance and are steeped in history. Usually, they contain items that retain protection or spiritual healing properties for their owners.

Medicine bags vary in size and are considered good luck due to the items inside. They are also holy and prohibited from touching the ground. Many things such as herbs, animal teeth, tobacco, feathers, stones and coins are stored in these bags. Content was usually kept as a secret from others to conserve the holiness.

The bags were sometimes buried with the owner or passed down from generation to generation.

The materials needed for the medicine bag are:

• Buckskin or cowhide leather
• Scissors
• Markers
• Leather punch
• Beads, feathers
• Rawhide lace

All of these items can be purchased at most local craft stores.

For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Chickasaw Language Lesson Video Presentation

Youth education and outreach manager Kendra Farve, who currently works within the Chickasaw Nation language preservation division, teaches us how to say, “I am,” in Chickasaw.

Farve lists off many vocations so that individuals may represent themselves and what they do in the Chickasaw language.

During this Decade of Chickasaw Language, everyone is encouraged to engage with Chikashshanompa'. For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Emoji App Character Play

Utilize emojis like never before by downloading the Chikasha Emoji app.

The keyboard application allows users to incorporate culturally specific emojis and textisms into all digital communications. These creative tools are a fun and interactive way to engage with Chikashshanompa', or Chickasaw language.

Download the Chikasha Emoji app from the Google Play or the Apple App store.

For more information on Chikashshanompa' and language resources, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Princess Pageant

The Chickasaw Princess Pageant is a long-standing tradition during the Chickasaw Annual Meeting and Festival, taking place to select the next Chickasaw Princesses who will serve as Chickasaw Nation royalty.

Candidates exemplify the servant leadership core value while carrying out the mission to enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people.

Watch each candidate compete for the honor of serving in the 2022-2023 court.

Learn more about the princess pageant and see a list of former princess at Chickasaw.net/Princess.

Chickasaw Nation Virtual Memorial

Join us September 27 at 7 p.m. for the second annual Chickasaw Nation virtual memorial service. The Chickasaw Nation virtual memorial service honors the lives of Chickasaw citizens and Chickasaw Nation employees lost this past year. Thank you for joining us as we commemorate the lives we have lost. May this service honor their memories.

Virtual Tour of Elders Paintings, Series I

Storytelling Video Presentation

For centuries, Chickasaw ancestors maintained historical accounts and cultural traditions through the oral practice of storytelling. Today, storytellers carry the tradition onward to ensure future generations of Chikasha (Chickasaw) people may preserve this important part of their cultural identity.

Originally told by famed Chickasaw storyteller Te Ata Fisher, we present this video of “The First Birds of Spring.” Please enjoy as Stephanie Scott, visitor service manager at the Chickasaw Cultural Center, performs the traditional story.

For more information on traditional Chickasaw storytelling, please call the Arts & Humanities Division at (580) 272-5525 or email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Abuske Cooking Video Presentation

In this video, Aaimpaꞌ Café shift supervisor Steven Looney demonstrates how to make the traditional warm drink, abuske.

The drink dates to ancestral Chickasaw and Southeastern First American tribes in the Homeland.

Ingredients needed to prepare abuske include:

• 4 pounds dried white pearl hominy
• 2 teaspoons corn oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 gallons water
• 2 pounds freshly roasted pumpkin or 1 can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Retail and Artists Highlights Video Presentation

Traditional Game of Chunkey Video Presentation

Follow along as Isaac Gorrell-Kemp, cultural specialist at the Chickasaw Cultural Center, explains the ins-and-outs of the traditional game of chunkey.

Played by Southeastern tribal warriors in the Homeland, chunkey is a point-based game which utilizes unique, individualized rolling stones and spears. Warriors would represent their communities in the games. This made for competitive and sometimes long matches.

For more information, please email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Cultural Evening

Soap Carving Video Presentation

Dixie Brewer, cultural activities manager for the Chickasaw Cultural Center, demonstrates how to carve different items from soap.

In the past, Chickasaws and other Southeastern First American tribes carved figures from wood and stone. In similar fashion, soap carving is a wonderful craft for all ages to engage with Chickasaw carving traditions.

For this project, you will need:

• Ivory bar of soap
• Pencil
• Sculpting tools
• Paper
• Toothpicks
• Cloth or towel

For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Beaded Pen Video Presentation

Courtney Parchcorn, cultural specialist at the Chickasaw Cultural Center, illustrates how to make a beaded pen with peyote stitching. This technique is adapted from First American traditional beadwork.

Materials needed to bead a pen include:

• Size 0.7 mm ballpoint pen
• Size 12 C beads
• Size 12 short needles
• Nylon thread
• Small piece of thin leather
• Tacky glue
• Peyote stitch graph paper
• Pencil
• Beeswax
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Needle nose pliers

For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Virtual Tour of Chickasaw Preserve

Matthew Penna, research and media specialist for the Chickasaw Nation heritage preservation division, gives a virtual tour of the Chisha' Ta'lla'a' Chickasaw Preserve in Tupelo, Mississippi.

The Chickasaw Nation and The Archaeological Conservancy combined preservation efforts were led by Governor Bill Anoatubby.

We fulfill the mission of the Chickasaw Nation by preserving, protecting and interpreting early Chickasaw communities in the traditional Homeland which greatly contributes to telling the story of early Chikasha (Chickasaw) people. The sites also provide greater understanding of our cultural identity.

With Chisha' Ta'lla'a, Chickasaws can gain knowledge through interpretation and preservation of this site.

For more information or questions, email HistoryInquiries@Chickasaw.net.

Annual Meeting

Since being elected Governor of the Chickasaw Nation in 1987, Bill Anoatubby has delivered the State of the Nation Address to the Chickasaw people each year as part of Chickasaw Annual Meeting and Festival.

The State of the Nation Address is a report on tribal progress, as well as future plans of how the Chickasaw Nation is working to enhance the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people. Through the State of the Nation Address, the Chickasaw Nation keeps citizens informed, displays accountability and maintains a tradition that began with the grassroots Seeley Chapel Movement.

Each fiscal year, an Annual Report is provided as an overview for the tribe’s financial progress. This report is available to Chickasaw citizens yearly to stay informed on the Chickasaw Nation’s financial stability.  [View Report]