Racial slavery was a critical element in the cultural development of the Choctaws and was a derivative of the peculiar institution in southern states. The idea of genial and hospitable slave owners can no more be conclusively demonstrated for the Choctaws than for the antebellum South. The participation of Choctaws in the Civil War and formal alliance with the Confederacy was dominantly influenced by the slaveholding and a connection with southern identity, but was also influenced by financial concerns and an inability to remain neutral than a protection of the peculiar institution. Had the Civil War not taken place, the rate of Choctaw slave ownership possibly would have reached the level of southern states and the Choctaws would be considered part of the South.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Instructional Systems, Leadership, and Workforce Development. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

The McCurtain Creek watershed was proposed for a large reservoir project resulting in the commissioning of this study to assess the site?s geology, hydrogeology, and surface hydrology to find whether or not the site was suitable. Data was collected from 57 geophysical logs from coal exploration boreholes to produce geologic and aquifer cross sections. A program to assess discharge identified surface hydrology characteristics of the stream at five locations. Twenty-seven geotechnical boreholes, 23 standpipe piezometers, and the data from the coal exploration were used to map the water table using ArcGIS 8.3 software. Eighteen piezometers at stream sites, used to measure discharge, assessed groundwater/surface water interactions of the basin. After careful analysis, the results of this study concluded that the geology and hydrology of the basin is sufficient to support the large reservoir although engineering design will be required to mitigate some highly permeable sands for the proposed levee.

In the United States, Indigenous language loss is the result of colonization and deliberate eradication by government policies. Many tribal communities engage in activities to curb language shift, including language reclamation or revitalization to restore the vitality of Indigenous languages. Schools for Indigenous children, once the setting for the destruction of their Indigenous identity and language, have increasingly become the medium for language reclamation. Numerous school-based programs have effectively renewed language use, including those in the Hawaiian, Yup’ik, and Navajo language communities (Holm & Holm, 1995; Wilson & Kamanā, 2011; Wyman et al., 2010). Though school-based programs may increase students’ vocabulary knowledge, many more factors affect their decisions to speak the language and bring it into use. This study investigated students’ experiences in a school-based Choctaw language restoration program and the factors that affected their decisions to speak Choctaw. This qualitative case study examined 21 third-grade students’ experiences through focus group interviews and further explored the data through classroom observations and teacher interviews. Two-cycle coding was used to identify patterns and themes. The data revealed characteristics of the language program based on student experiences. These characteristics were discussed through a conceptual framework of the commonalities of strong language reclamation programs. Additional findings included student descriptions of the factors affecting their decisions to speak Choctaw, both in and outside the school program. These findings echo the characteristics of strong language reclamation programs outlined in the conceptual framework. Specifically, those programs are characterized by the following: (a) acknowledgment of the important position of the language, (b) alignment with community values and goals, (c) dedicated time to immersing learners in the language, (d) attention to verbal and written literacy in the Native language, and (e) a focus on culture and pride in identifying with Native heritage. Additionally, student descriptions of their language choices revealed conditions that promoted or deterred their choices to speak the language. Further research is needed to better understand students’ motivation to speak the Indigenous language. This knowledge can inform school-based programs, allowing them to influence conditions for positive language choices.

This study elucidates the underlying relationships for the distribution of oak landcover on bedrock and soil orders in two counties in Texas and one in Oklahoma. ESRI's ArcGis and ArcMap was used to create surface maps for Denton and Coke Counties, Texas and Choctaw County, Oklahoma. Attribute tables generated in GIS were exported into a spreadsheet software program and frequency tables were created for every formation and soil order in the tri-county research area. The results were both a visual and numeric distribution of oaks in the transition area between the eastern hardwood forests and the Great Plains. Oak distributions are changing on this transition area of the South Central Plains. The sandy Woodbine and Antlers formations traditionally associated with the largest oak distribution are carrying oak coverage of approximately 31-32% in Choctaw and Denton Counties. The calcareous Blackland and Grand Prairies are traditionally associated with treeless grasslands, but are now carrying oak and other tree landcover up to 18.9%. Human intervention, including the establishment of artificial, political and social boundaries, urbanization, farming and fire control have altered the natural distribution of oaks and other landcover of this unique georegion.

This thesis aims to understand William Faulkner as an environmentally conscious author whose views on land abuse appear throughout his work. The goal is twofold: first, to examine how he criticizes ecological abuse; second, to discover which sources likely influenced him and helped him to form his perspectives on environmental issues.

This thesis aims to understand William Faulkner as an environmentally conscious author whose views on land abuse appear throughout his work. The goal is twofold: first, to examine how he criticizes ecological abuse; second, to discover which sources likely influenced him and helped him to form his perspectives on environmental issues.

No description available.

This project argues that by examining how non-indigenous individuals such as American scientists and Euro-American explorers thought and formulated ideas about indigenous mounds proves that their construction of racial identities is inextricable from their understanding of the landscape. The mounds proved to be “mysterious” man-made features to non-indigenous people who interacted with these places in the decades and centuries after they were constructed. The mystery behind the mounds stemmed from a general lack of written record about the mounds, giving non-indigenous individuals a “free hand” to offer theories about their original purpose. Each chapter of this project examines a window in time, beginning with early European exploration and continuing through the twentyirst century, which reveals the changing role the mounds played in understanding North America’s indigenous past. This project builds upon theories of landscape history and intellectual environmental history, demonstrating that the mounds challenge preconceived notions about regional definitions and the Euro-centric divide between what is labeled North American “pre-history” and “history.” For example, mounds exist in the American South, but they also exist in places such as Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Additionally, the presence of large American Indian urban centers built around mound structures that rivaled European cities at the time, challenging Euro-centric definitions about North American “pre-history.” Although this project is not an indigenous history, it is important to recognize the significance of mound structures for American Indian people overtime. By unpacking some of the history of important sites such as the Nanih Waiya mound near Philadelphia, Mississippi, and the Kituwah mound near Bryson City, North Carolina, this project acknowledges a long cultural connection to specific mound sites for some modern American Indian people. The fact that in 1996 the Eastern Band of Cherokee purchased the Kituwah mound, and in 2008 the state of Mississippi gave Nanih Waiya to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, dramatically alters the end of this story. Thus by tracing this story through the twentyirst century, this demonstrates the complexity of repatriation and contemporary issues of “who speaks for the tribe” remains, offering a different direction in which the story of American Indians is told.