Apukshunnubbee District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation ( Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

. Also called the Second District, it encompassed the southeastern one-third of the nation. The Apukshunnubbee District was named in honor of Chief Apukshunnubbee (also spelled

Apuckshunubbee Apuckshunubbee (c. 1740 – October 18, 1824) was one of three principal chiefs of the Choctaw Native American tribe in the early nineteenth century, from before 1800. He led the western or ''Okla Falaya'' ("Long People") District of the Choctaw ...

), a Choctaw warrior and statesman. He was district chief of the Okla Falaya ("Upper Towns") District in the original Choctaw Nation of the Southeast. Many Choctaw from that area referred to the Apukshunnubbee District as the Okla Falaya District. The other two districts were the

Moshulatubbee District Moshulatubbee District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the First District, it encompassed the northern one-third of the nation. In some historic records it is ...

and

Pushmataha District Pushmataha District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the Third District, it encompassed the southwestern one-third of the nation. The Pushmataha District was na ...

History

The districts were established when the Choctaw Nation relocated via the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

to the Indian Territory—present-day

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. They were originally intended to be homelands for settlers from the three major

clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

or divisions of the Choctaw comprising the nation. In practice, the clan affiliations and allegiances rapidly became less important after the Choctaw reached Indian Territory. The districts’ importance in the political life of the nation, which earlier had reflected geographic settlement and development, waned over time. The three district chiefs lost power and authority to the principal chief of the nation. Eventually the principal chief became, simply, the

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

. No longer a “first among equals”, he became the sole political leader. In judicial jurisdiction, the three districts and their seats of government retained their historic influence.

Crimes In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

and

criminals In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

not tried at the county level were bucked to the district level automatically. Court days were the busiest days of the year in the district seats of government. Apukshunnubbee District’s administrative seat of government was Alikchi, in

Nashoba County Nashoba County was a political subdivision of the Choctaw Nation of Indian Territory. The county formed part of the Nation’s Apukshunnubbee District, or Second District, one of three administrative super-regions in the Nation. This territory was ...

, Choctaw Nation. Alikchi is located east of present-day

Rattan, Oklahoma Rattan is a town in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 276 at the 2020 census. Geography Rattan is located in southern Pushmataha County at the intersection of Oklahoma routes 3 and 93. Rock Creek flows past just ...

and north of

Wright City, Oklahoma Wright City is a town in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Little River. The population was 762 at the 2010 census, a decline of slightly more than 10 percent from the figure of 848 recorded in 2000. Wright City hosts one of th ...

, in

McCurtain County McCurtain County is in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 33,151. Its county seat is Idabel. It was formed at statehood from part of the earlier Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory ...

. Included in the Apukshunnubbee District were the Choctaw Nation counties of Bok Tuklo,

Cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

, Nashoba, Red River,

Towson Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...

and

Wade Wade, WADE, or Wades may refer to: Places in the United States * Wade, California, a former settlement * Wade, Maine, a town * Wade, Mississippi, a census-designated place * Wade, North Carolina, a town * Wade, Ohio, an unincorporated communi ...

. As Oklahoma’s statehood loomed, the Apukshunnubbee District, and its constituent

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, slowly wound down their governmental functions. The United States courts in the Indian Territory usurped their powers. On November 16, 1907—Oklahoma’s Statehood Day—the district and its counties disappeared forever. The territory of the former Apukshunnubbee District is incorporated principally into the present-day Oklahoma counties of

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

, Le Flore, McCurtain, and

Pushmataha Pushmataha (c. 1764 – December 24, 1824; also spelled Pooshawattaha, Pooshamallaha, or Poosha Matthaw), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians cons ...

.John W. Morris, ''Historical Atlas of Oklahoma'', plate 38.

References

Choctaw Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma 1907 disestablishments in the United States