The Mississippi Choctaw Indian Federation is a now-defunct organization 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 ...
s and a former rival governing body of the
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
[
] They opposed
federal tribal recognition because of fears of dominance by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
(BIA) and were never federally recognized.
Nevertheless, they were considered a legitimate parallel government.
[Osborne, Katherine, M.B.]
In the Name of Justice and Fairness:The Mississippi Choctaw Indian Federation vs. the BIA, 1934
, in Cobb, Daniel M.,''Beyond Red Power:American Indian Politics and Activism Since 1900'', 2007, School for Advanced Research Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
,
History
The Federation was formed on September 27, 1934.
Reverend Ed Willis was installed as the first recognized chief.
[ The group represented 400 Choctaw and had a functioning, written constitution.]
References
{{Choctaw
Choctaw
Native American history of Mississippi
Unrecognized tribes in the United States