Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1981. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 466-475).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1981. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 466-475).

A chronology of Choctaw archaeological assemblages is presented in the form of six seriations. The assemblages come from sites in a contiguous region that includes the North American Coal survey area in Kemper and Lauderdale counties. The results are combined with other archaeological evidence to examine how Choctaw material culture changed. Acculturation began in the mid-18th century, as indicated by small numbers of European gunflints, beads, and glass scrapers found at Choctaw sites. The three divisions of the Choctaw confederacy used different decorations in the 17th and 18th centuries; combing became the main decorative treatment everywhere in the Choctaw homeland by ca. 1780.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-338).

Collective memories and how they are enacted through sensual experience of the material world play a key role in maintaining group identities. Material creations like art or social activities such as sports incorporate the social ideals of both the past as well as present; these creations can transform feelings of personhood into socialized objects. This thesis examines some of the creative expressions found within Oklahoma Choctaw revitalization practices to better understand how people maintain cultural sensory embodiments after they have experienced extreme social dislocation. Through the examination of the senses from an ethnographic approach a researcher can possibly identify those areas of culture that become embodied over time. I will be examining previously written research, oral histories pertaining to the Choctaw origin, and key material expressions of Choctaw identity alongside the contemporary practices associated with the current Choctaw revitalization efforts in Oklahoma.

Acculturation has become an integral part of scholarship about Native Americans in the Southeast. Recent studies have focused on trade the eighteenth century and Choctaw entry into the American market economy during the beginning of the nineteenth century. This study analyzes acculturation from 1801 to 1861, carrying the story about cultural change and persistence through the Removal era and to the American Civil War. It argues that while Choctaws acculturated to survive, prosper, and protect autonomy in a changing world, they continuously battled communal dissolution, which threatened to destroy their nation. Some individuals attempted to promote new methods of subsistence, worshiping, and dealing with the United States, and others feared that a loss of traditions would disrupt the bonds that bound together Choctaws as a people. Most Choctaws attempted to change certain elements of culture while maintaining others. New ideologies about behavior, political and social organization, and economic transformation highlighted the divisions between individuals and among social orders and classes. The threat of factionalism then determined how Choctaws, both elites and commoners, reacted to major nineteenth-century crises, which included the destruction of game, entrance into the American market economy, establishment and continuation of missionary education, Removal, the evolution of a national constitution, and decisions about Choctaw entry into the Civil War. By understanding the relationships between communal dissolution and acculturation in this way, this study portrays how Choctaws fought to balance cultural change and persistence while creating new bonds that held their society in tact through multiple tribulations throughout the nineteenth century.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-209).

Health disparities and substance misuse are increasingly prevalent, costly, and deadly in Indian Country. Although women historically held positions of influence in pre-colonial Tribal societies and shared in optimum health, their current health is relegated to some of the worst outcomes across all racial groups in the United States. Women of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) have some of the highest prevalence estimates in physical inactivity and excessive drinking in the United States. Building on the Indigenous Stress Coping model of indigenous health, "Our Vision of Health for Future Generations" explores the intersection of a historical event, the Trail of Tears, and its lasting impact on the contemporary health outcomes in tribal members. This inquiry is positioned within the Yappallí Choctaw Road to Health project that explores these broader issues. This culturally-centered study explores proximal and settings-based/intermediary motivations of twenty-three women who completed the Yappallí­ project, walked the Trail of Tears, and developed a holitobit ibbak fohki "sacred giving" community health event. Analysis was conducted using the Listening Guide method, that highlighted the contrapuntal voices of embodiment, motivation, challenges, and transformation. Participants shared stories in relation to both their individual health concerns (proximal), and deep love and commitment for the health of their family, community and for future generations (intermediary). This study provides another framework for the development of indigenized research, by using in-depth interviews, haklo "listen deeply" as a form of indigenous storywork that is centering of the experiences of marginalized people, and reflexivity as anukfilli "Deep Reflection."

Thesis (M.A.)--Central Connecticut State University, 1998. / Thesis advisor: Dr. Abner S. Baker. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts [in History]." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-107).

The purpose of this study was to explore the postsecondary education transition experiences of graduates of Choctaw Central High School (CCHS) who received support from the Tribal Scholarship Program (TSP) to better understand the barriers to successful postsecondary completion and the means to overcoming those barriers. Successful transitions are key for students to persist to academic completion. Studies show that American Indian students have low rates of college completion and experience a variety of factors attributed to withdrawal from college. This study provided insight into college success experienced by American Indian students and an understanding of the opportunities for a college education their scholarship program provides. Suggestions for improving the preparation of students and operation of the scholarship program are offered. The participants in this study were CCHS graduates who received support from the TSP for postsecondary education. A case study with a survey component research design was used in this study. Data from a cross-sectional survey, interviews, and observations were collected. A total of 87 past and present TSP supported students participated as survey respondents. Purposeful sampling in the form of maximum variation was used to select 6 respondents for researcher conducted interviews. The findings of this study documented four themes that characterized the transition experience of respondents to postsecondary education. Additionally, within these themes three general barriers to successful postsecondary completion were revealed. The general barriers included: (a) racial conflict with peers or faculty, (b) being overwhelmed academically, and (c) having to care for a legal dependent. The themes and barriers are discussed in the context of three primary factors related to postsecondary completion for American Indian students: sociocultural, academic, and personal factors. Recommendations included: (a) assessing and addressing the unique needs of nontraditional students in the Tribal Scholarship program, (b) arranging for an after hour study and tutoring facility for Tribal Scholarship Program students who commute from the reservation to college, (c) beginning orientation to the Tribal Scholarship Program with 9th graders, (d) providing on-campus mentoring opportunities for Tribal Scholarship Program participants, and (e) expanding this research to public school graduates who participate in the Tribal Scholarship Program.