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The Creation of Choctaw Central High School and Its Transition to a Bureau of Indian Affairs Contract School: an Oral History

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The Creation of Choctaw Central High School and Its Transition to a Bureau of Indian Affairs Contract School: an Oral History University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2017 The Creation Of Choctaw Central High School And Its Transition To A Bureau Of Indian Affairs Contract School: An Oral History Fredrick L. Hickmon University of Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the Educational Administration and Supervision Commons Recommended Citation Hickmon, Fredrick L., "The Creation Of Choctaw Central High School And Its Transition To A Bureau Of Indian Affairs Contract School: An Oral History" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 498. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/498 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Creation of Choctaw Central High School and Its Transition to A Bureau of Indian Affairs Contract School: An Oral History Fredrick L. Hickmon A Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Leadership and Counselor Education The University of Mississippi by Fredrick L. Hickmon May 2017 Copyright © 2016 Fredrick L. Hickmon All rights reserved Abstract The members of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are the invisible heroes of Mississippi. Because of the limited attention placed on the Tribe in Mississippi high school social studies curriculum, and no course of study in any post-secondary institutions in the State, citizens who do not live in close proximity are oblivious to the Choctaws’ existence. Absent, is any thought on Mississippi Choctaws deep, rich, background, as the original defenders of the State, or their feelings and contributions toward education. As such this work explored the history of the Mississippi Choctaw with emphasis on education using data collected from Tribal member’s stories. The following study is a Native American Education History on the Creation of Choctaw Central High School, and its transition from a Bureau of Indian Affairs School to a school under local Tribal control. The lack of history written on the Mississippi Choctaw presents an opportunity to conduct quality research. Perceptions and ideas about these phenomena given by participants provide insight on the plight of the Mississippi Choctaws during their historical journey. Stories using oral history from in-depth interviews created a unique history that revealed important information about who the Mississippi Choctaw are, and their feelings about education. ii Dedication To my grandmother Nevary Scott Hickman, thank you for teaching me to carry my row. iii List of Abbreviations BIA ......................................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................ Bureau of Indian Affairs BIE ......................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................... Bureau of Indian Education MBCI ..................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians P.L. ......................................................................................................................................... ............................................................................................................................. Public Law UM ......................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................... University of Mississippi iv Table of Contents Chapter .......................................................................................................................... Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... iv 1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................1 Congressional Precedent .....................................................................................................1 Oral History ........................................................................................................................2 Statement of Purpose ..........................................................................................................6 Significance of the Study ....................................................................................................7 Central Phenomena and Research Questions ......................................................................8 Organization ........................................................................................................................9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................10 2. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................12 Education History .............................................................................................................12 American Indian Education History .................................................................................16 Oral History ......................................................................................................................21 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................25 v 3. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................27 Central Phenomenon and Research Question ...................................................................27 Oral History Methods .......................................................................................................28 In-depth Interview .............................................................................................................28 Purposeful Sampling .........................................................................................................30 Equipment and Transcription ............................................................................................31 Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................................................32 Triangulation .....................................................................................................................32 Step One: Internal Consistency .........................................................................................33 Step Two: Comparisons of In-Depth Interviews ..............................................................33 Step Three: Comparison with Contemporaneous Pupil Sources ......................................34 Step Four: Review of Contemporaneous Official Records ...............................................34 Step Five External Review ................................................................................................34 Reflexivity and Subjectivity .............................................................................................35 Transferability ...................................................................................................................35 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................36 4. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................37 Choctaw Origin .................................................................................................................37 European Contact ..............................................................................................................41 vi Choctaw Treaties before 1830 ..........................................................................................44 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek 1830 ..............................................................................47 From Choctaw Removal until Choctaw Central High School Creation and transfer to local Tribal control ...............................................................................................................................50 Choctaw Central High School Creation .............................................................................53 PL 93-638 and PL 100-297 ...............................................................................................54 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................55 5. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................56
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