Choctaw Writers and an Ancient Tradition

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How do you preserve history, culture, and values for generations when there is no written language? Through story. Storytelling is an old tradition for Choctaws as it is with many cultures throughout the world. Our ancestors knew the lives they lived and the lessons they learned were important enough to pass on. They did this by telling stories regularly to their children and grandchildren, who in turn matured and passed those stories, as well as their own, to the next generation. But a time came when these stories began to be forgotten. In boarding school, children were forbidden to tell them in their native language. They became the elders, and concealed the stories of their lives. It became a shameful thing to be Choctaw, and stories of life’s lessons were deemed foolish things for the civilized. 

However, in the midst of this loss, Choctaws still carried a little tradition, a little language, a little story into the next decade and the next. It flourished and grew to the third largest tribe in the United States. And our stories are still here.

As Choctaw tribal members, my mama, Lynda Kay Sawyer, and I researched and wrote a novella based on a manuscript written around the turn-of-the-century. The writer, a Choctaw named James Culberson, captured the story his father had told him of his experiences on the Trail of Tears. Their family’s removal story wafted between faith and tragedy, hope and despair. In the end, his father had chosen hope in the God his own father had trusted in. On January 28 2016, the day Tushpa died in 1884, we released Tushpa's Story (Touch My Tears: Tales from the Trail of Tears collection)

Tushpa's Story

How many stories have been lost, stories of everyday lives that we could learn from? Countless. But there are those Choctaw writers who are preserving the history. And our work goes far beyond preservation. It taps into the idea of sharing our stories with the world so they may learn the lessons God has taught us in life.

For my project with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, my mama produced a video to capture the project from beginning to end. During the interview process one of our culture experts, Olin Williams, said, “We need to get our stories down so we can tell others who we are.”

This brings to mind a Scripture verse, an admonition to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us. Always be ready to tell our story of what Jesus Christ has done in our lives: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony...” (Revelation 12:11 NKJV, emphasis mine)

One issue with writing a traditional Choctaw story is that by the time it's translated into English and then onto paper, much is lost of its original flavor. But still, we tell the stories. In our native language, in English, in writing. We tell of the Trail of Tears, the prejudices, the injustices. But we also tell of the faith. Of those who walked the trail, believing God would honor their sacrifices and effort to be a loving, peaceful people so that their children’s children would love and live in peace and service to the Creator of all.

Today, some Choctaws are Christians. Some are not. But in retracing the history, and where it has brought our tribe today, it’s clear where the hearts of many leaders can be found. Our very language was preserved through the church, the only public place it could be spoken without ridicule or punishment. A place where they could tell their stories, and the new stories they were living in Christ.

Storytelling finds its way into all Choctaw events, from the powwows and ceremonies, to family gatherings and the annual Labor Day festival. But today, it’s not enough to tell the stories we are living. Write them down. Write what God is teaching you through whatever crisis you are experiencing. We need to read it. Generations two hundred years from now need to read it. Overcome through telling your story.

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Focus: How I'm Tripling My Reading for 2015

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Last year, it was not uncommon for me to have five books I was reading through at any given time. I might have a writing craft book, Native studies, novel, Christian nonfiction or something I’d gotten to review or from a local author. The problem? When I had a chance to sit down and read, I had to make a choice which book to pick up. Did I want pure entertainment? Wasn’t it time I finished that one about marketing? Did I feel I could decipher my way through a history book?  

pool focus

 

Too many decisions, too many arguments, too many options.

What would I do? Pull up the Netflix app, of course, and watch part of an old movie or TV show.

Did I get much reading done last year? Yes. I read around 19 books. Not shabby, but not great for an author, either.

I was especially challenged by people who read 100 books a year. 200. Over 300. People exist who can read a book a day. How? There are a variety of ways and reasons, but I knew the answer for me. I needed focus.

I pulled out the three tomes I’d tried to read off and on for over a year. I started on one. Finished it. Took on the second one. Finished it. When I finished the third one, I wondered how I’d been able to accomplish in a month what I hadn’t in a year. The answer was simple.

Focus.

I didn’t have to decide which book to read. I didn’t spend precious time and energy and creative thought my brain tends to go into when making a simple decision. Once there was no decision to be made, I started being able to consume books in gulps instead of sips. I read nearly five books in January (plus daily Bible reading and reading my own novel for editing). Multiple that by 12, and I’ll have more than tripled my reading in 2016.

When I have a spare 15-20 minutes, I don’t have to decide what I’m going to do. I pick up the ONE book I’m currently reading.

If I have a spare five minutes, say standing in a long line or waiting for the car to warm up on a cold day, I try to not mindlessly open my Facebook app. Instead, I open Kindle on my phone and read a few pages on the ONE ebook I have going.

Yes, that’s two books total, plus the Bible, that I read on most every day. That’s much less cluttered than 5-7 vying for my attention.

Focus is one of my words for the year. Focus on publishing books and creating new content. Have enough going to keep me working, but not to distraction where I stay busy but really getting nothing done.

When my brother watched the professional billiard tournaments on TV, I’d catch bits of it. I remember one excellent player in a championship game. She was known as something like the black widow. She never missed a shot, and when your turn to break came, you’d better not miss a shot either.

In an intense moment as everyone surveyed the shots she had lined up, what remained on the table, what next four shots would get her to a win, she executed the basic shot at a side pocket, one I might have been able to make. Except she missed. A collective gasp went around the audience. She stayed bent for a moment, before her head dropped and whispered words came through the mic. “I’m thinking about too much.”

She lost focus of the simple task before her.

I’ve done the same. You probably have too. Missed the easy mark with the millions of distractions and things screaming for our attention each day. The opportunities. What will line us up for the next four shots? This? That? The other?

How about we focus on what is right in front of us? That one book. That one shot. That one next thing we need to do with our time.

Whether it’s reading or billiards or publishing books, focus helps us hit the mark…and take gulps instead of sips.

What are you focusing on?