Fifth-grader Taelor Crosby received a Choctaw history lesson as her family passed by the Nanih Waiya burial mound on their way to Starkville earlier this month. The family lives in the Bogue Chitto community in northeastern Neshoba County—one of two Choctaw communities in the state that are located close to the revered burial mound that factors into two creation stories, the other being Crystal Ridge in Winston County.
The tribe nominated Crosby to sing the National Anthem in the Choctaw language at the pre-game ceremony at the Arkansas v. Mississippi State women’s basketball game the evening of Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. Her mother Marissa Morris regaled her daughter with an explanation on Nanih Waiya’s relevance to the Choctaw people as they made their way through the Mississippi backwoods to the city known as “Starkvegas.” Morris even tied in a little family history on this outing after explaining why she, a Choctaw, is from Mississippi and her father is also Choctaw, but from Oklahoma. After getting her history lesson, Crosby was more cognizant of the honor of signing the national anthem to a wider, non-Native audience.
”(And) here I am on my way to sing our beautiful language on a Native American Heritage Night; it’s really an honor!” Crosby enthusiastically told her mother.
‘Don’t Ever Lose It’
Taelor Crosby is no stranger to singing onstage. Her family is a gospel singing group, the Crosby Family, and the family has performed at the Choctaw Indian Fair on Gospel Night as well as crusades throughout Mississippi and Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, where they also have family there. “Taelor has been traveling with the family since she was a baby and has always had love for music,” Morris said of her daughter. “She started singing with the group as soon as she could talk.”
Large, digital screens in the Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss., displayed the American flag alongside Crosby’s photo and name while she prepared to sing. The darkened lights inside the sports arena highlighted the handmade maroon-colored Choctaw dress Crosby wore, handed down from her great-grandmother Mary B. Morris, a revered elder and chanter who performs at many spring festivals and community events in the Bogue Chitto community. Basketball fans favorably received Crosby’s solo, demonstrating that Crosby is following a similar path as her great-grandmother.
“My grandmother enjoyed listening to Taelor sing Choctaw hymns to her and always encouraged her, even as small as she was, to always keep God first and to always sing for him,” Morris said in a written statement to the Mississippi Free Press. “It was also evident that grandma was very proud that she was singing in our beautiful Choctaw language. Our grandma never spoke in English; she only spoke in Choctaw. She was adamant about our family speaking in our language, so we don’t ever lose it.”
Many tribal members from the Choctaw communities in east-central Mississippi traveled up the rolling hills on Highway 25 at dusk to attend what was called “Native American Heritage Night.” The Choctaw basketball fan base is well-documented in Mississippi media, and games always draw a crowd. This evening, however, many had to make a hard decision, as the beloved Choctaw Central High School basketball squadron was in its first-round game at the region 4-4A district tournament being held at Leake Central High School in Carthage, Miss., about 75 miles away.
Tribal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Cyrus Ben and 2024-2025 Choctaw Indian Princess Leilani Elyse Allen were on hand at center court to present gifts of double-weave Choctaw baskets and stickball sticks to Mississippi State University President Dr. Mark Keenum, MSU Athletic Director Zac Selmon, Lady Bulldogs Basketball Head Coach Sam Purcell, and Lady Razobacks Basketball Head Coach Mike Neighbors. One of the baskets was custom-made with the letters “MSU” dyed in maroon coloring woven with strips of swamp cane.
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ scholarship office reports that 54 students attend Mississippi State, with 47 seeking a bachelor’s degree and seven students in the graduate school programs, Scholarship Program Director Melinda Ben said. The TSP marked its 30th anniversary in the fall 2024 semester and has given approximately 4,700 scholarships to Choctaw students since the beginning of the program. Recipients receive assistance on tuition, room and board, books, and laptop computers to assist Choctaw scholars in their pursuit of higher education.
Coming Soon: ‘Carly Buckets’
After the game, the scores of tribal members present in Humphrey Stadium stayed behind and formed long queues to get an autograph from Arkansas junior guard Carly Keats—a former basketball standout from the Pearl River Community in Neshoba County—and to snap pics with the Chief Ben and Princess Allen.
Despite the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks not winning their game, losing 78-55 to the MSU Bulldogs, Keats still holds the hearts of her fellow tribal members. Part of a familiar family on the Choctaw reservation, she comes from a dynasty of former Choctaw princesses: Her cousin, mother, aunt, and grandmother are all former princesses. And many spectators attended the basketball game just to see her. She traveled to Starkville with her teammates, though she couldn’t play in the game itself due to an injury from a previous game.
Keats is also slated to be the star of an upcoming documentary about her personal life and basketball career titled “Carly Buckets.” Oklahoma Choctaw filmmaker Mark D. Williams and his company Digital Feather Media are producing the film and have been following Keats and her family between Arkansas and Mississippi for the past year to collect footage. The company released a trailer but has not yet announced a premiere date.
