An old Choctaw legend said the tribe came from the west and traveled to Mississippi in the late 1500s or early 1600s during the Green Corn Festivals, Choctaw Cultural Center Visitor Services Relations Coordinator Cynthia Massey told the Mississippi Free Press.

A tribal member would pierce a staff in the ground to determine whether they should stay on that land or move to another area. If the staff leaned in either direction, they would find another place to settle. 

When the Choctaw people arrived in Mississippi and struck the ground of what would become their mother mound—Nanih Waiya—Massey said the staff stood straight up, meaning they had found their homeland. They built the mound even larger by layering branches with dirt until it reached about 25 feet tall, 218 feet wide and 140 feet deep. The Mississippi Dictionary reports that indigenous people packed dirt into a platform mound sometime during the Woodland period from 0 to 300 A.D. and occupied the area until around 700 A.D. 

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian dancers perform a routine near the Nanih Waiya mound in Winston County, Miss., on Aug. 8, 2024. Photo courtesy Fred Willis

Because there is no written record of the Mississippi Choctaw people, no one knows exactly what they used the mound for. Massey said many people assume it was a ceremonial mound because of its platform shape or a burial mound. Its location is not available to the public and a gate guards the land because of its significance to the Choctaw people as well as to prevent vandalization, she said.

“That’s what we see as our historical Mother Mound, that represents our homeland,” Massey told the Mississippi Free Press on Aug. 1. 

U.S. Government Forcibly Removed Choctaw People From Mississippi

The U.S. government forced about 90% of Mississippi’s Choctaw people to move to reservations in Oklahoma in the Treaty of the Dancing Rabbit Creek, which went into effect on Sept. 27, 1830.

Choctaw historian Dan Isaac explained that some Choctaw teachings say that the tribe is not allowed to leave its mother, the Nanih Waiya mound, so about 10% of Mississippi’s Choctaw people stayed behind.

“Some families did remain here in Mississippi because of how sacred the mound was to us,” he told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 26.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben (right) and 2024-2025 Choctaw Indian Princess Leilani Elyse Allen stand next to tribal, state and American flags on the Nanih Waiya mound in Winston County, Miss., on Aug. 8, 2024. Photo courtesy Fred Willis

Through the treaty, the government also took possession of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ historic Nanih Waiya mound in Winston County, Miss. Nanih Waiya means “leaning hill” in Choctaw.

Isaac said he was happy for non-Choctaw people to visit the mound as long as they are respectful and don’t damage the land. Many Choctaw people make the pilgrimage to Nanih Waiya each year to honor traditions, he noted.

The Treaty of the Dancing Rabbit was the last time that the Choctaw people signed away a large portion of their land through an agreement with the U.S. government. 

“The only reason (the treaties) stopped was because the nation all were removed. We didn’t have a nation no longer. We had a band of Indians,” Isaac said.

The Choctaw people that stayed in Mississippi worked as sharecroppers picking cotton and doing “whatever we could do to remain here in order to survive,” he said.

“We were orphans in our own land,” the historian added.

Native Americans Are ‘Prisoners of War,’ Choctaw Historian Says

For 178 years, the U.S. government had possession of the Choctaw people’s sacred Nanih Waiya mound. Dan Isaac said that part of the reason he thinks it took the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians almost two centuries to reclaim its land is because the tribe was unorganized since most of its members had moved to Oklahoma.

The U.S. officially recognized Native Americans as citizens in 1924, which Isaac said then caused the government to create reservations to house Native Americans. Native Americans could not leave their reservations without written permission to travel from the U.S. Department of Interior until 1934.

“Any time you have an inmate or prisoner, you have to have permission before you can leave the prison,” Isaac said, calling Native Americans “prisoners of war.”

Cynthia Massey said that for years, the MCBI petitioned legislators to pass a bill that would give the mound back to the Choctaw people. She said a non-Choctaw family owned the land, so it was not on tribal grounds, making it difficult for the MCBI to regain possession.

Visitor Services Relations Coordinator Cynthia Massey works at the Choctaw Cultural Center in Choctaw, Miss., to educate the public on Choctaw traditions, including the history of the Nanih Waiya mound. Photo by Heather Harrison

The Luke family sold the land to the Mississippi State Park Commission in 1959, and the site started accepting visitors in 1962. The U.S. government named Nanih Waiya in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. 

The Mississippi Legislature gave ownership of the land to the Luke family in 2006, then T.W. Luke designated the land in a deed to be the state’s property as a public park. In 2008, the Lukes updated the deed to give ownership of the mound to the MBCI. On Aug. 8, 2008, the U.S. passed the ownership of the land back to the MBCI through Misssissippi’s Senate Bill 2732. 

Isaac said he has forgiven the U.S. government for taking away the Choctaw people’s land and freedoms.

“True freedom only comes with forgiveness,” Isaac said.

‘Every Day Is Nanih Waiya Day’

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians celebrates its repossession of the Nanih Waiya Mound each year in Winston County on the second Thursday in August.

The MBCI gathers at the Nanih Waiya Mound in Winston County to celebrate the land returning to the tribe’s possession. 

“To us, every day is Nanih Waiya Day. And to us, every day is like Veteran’s Day. Every day is a holiday that we celebrate,” Isaac said, adding that Choctaw teachings honor holidays daily instead of once a year. 

The eight Mississippi tribal communities post their flag near the mound alongside the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, U.S. and Mississippi state flags on Aug. 8, 2024. Photo courtesy Fred Willis

To honor Nanih Waiya Day this year, members of MBCI sang the U.S. National Anthem and a Choctaw honor song in the Choctaw language as drummers played rhythmic beats. Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben gave a speech about the mound’s history and 2024-2025 Choctaw Indian Princess Leilani Elyse Allen was the mistress of ceremonies. The Bogue Chitto social dancers performed traditional Choctaw dances and closed with the Walk dance. 

The eight Mississippi tribal communities post their flag near the mound alongside the MBCI, U.S. and Mississippi state flags. The MBCI rests on Friday, and Choctaw public offices close out of gratitude and respect for the occasion.

“People can look back and kind of respect that day that has been given back to us,” Cynthia Massey said.

The celebration also means that the MBCI will never let the government take away its sacred mother mound again.

State Reporter Heather Harrison has won more than a dozen awards for her multi-media journalism work. At Mississippi State University, she studied public relations and broadcast journalism, earning her Communication degree in 2023. For three years, Heather worked at The Reflector student newspaper: first as a staff reporter, then as the news editor and finally, as the editor-in-chief. This is where her passion for politics and government reporting began.
Heather started working at the Mississippi Free Press three days after graduation in 2023. She also worked part time for Starkville Daily News after college covering the Board of Aldermen meetings.
In her free time, Heather likes to sit on the porch, read books and listen to Taylor Swift. A native of Hazlehurst, she now lives in Brandon with her wife and their Boston Terrier, Finley, and calico cat, Ravioli.