Choctaw Clothes: A Stitch Between Past & Present 

Wow that's neat to know.

That answers another ? for me!That is where my fighting warrior spirit comes from..gratitude❤🖤

The Choctaw people are amazing. In the late 1840's when Irish people were starving. The Choctaw donated what would be around $3.5k in today's money to help poor Irish people buy food. This lead to a friendship between the two peoples that still stands strong.

Millenia before Europeans, Choctaw women produced clothing from two primary materials, they used Tvlhko (buckskin) & Nan Tvnna (cloth). Hide tanning is very labor intensive. It relies on traditional knowledge & skill to produce a clothing-grade piece of buckskin. Each hide takes approximately one week to process and more than ten hours of hands-on work before it is ready to be used for garments. Choctaw also produced cloth, ranging from coarse to very fine in texture. The fibers used to make it come from Yvnnvsh Hishi (buffalo wool), Bihi Hakshup (mulberry bark), Hvshtapohla (stinging nettle), Nuchi (milkweed) & dog bane. Choctaw artisans revitalizing traditional cloth gather plant fibers in fall & process them by soaking, pounding & peeling. The fibers are spun into yarn colored with vegetable dyes & twined by hand into fabric. Choctaw men wore a Yvnnvsh Hakshup (buffalo robe), Apokshiama (buckskin breechcloth), Iyubiha (buckskin leggings) & Tvlhko Shulush (buckskin pucker-toe moccasins). They would carry a Iti Shibata (bow) & Oksi Naki Aivlhto (quiver). Choctaw women wore a Vlhkuna (a type of wrap skirt made of buckskin or fabric) & Tvlhko Shulush (buckskin pucker-toe moccasins with long uppers). In cooler weather, or for special occasions, women augmented the Vlhkuna with a turkey feather mantle know as a Kasmo. If feathers were not available, women draped a long piece of fabric or buckskin over their upper body that wrapped around the left shoulder & tied under the right arm. During colder months, women also wore Yvnnvsh Hakshup (buffalo robes) similar to those worn by men. Iklonla Apakfopa (shell bead necklace) and Kishi (pack basket).

Lovely people. Around the time of your ancestors a famine was forced upon the people of Ireland (1850ish). Not many people helped Ireland, but the Choctaw sent over 170 dollars worth of stuff. It was everything they could spare. During covid a native American tribe was asking for 10,000 dollars for covid supplies. Irish people reached into their pockets and quickly hit 100,000. Then 500,000... 1,000,000, 1.5 million, 2 million, 2.5 million. and it kept going. There is a monument in Ireland to those kind people. Ireland set up funding systems to help education for them. They can apply for education and things of that nature in Ireland. Your ancestors were among the people who probably went without a meal, or a new dress, or new pair of trousers to try help the Irish. The monument in Ireland is very pretty, its several giant metal feathers sticking out of the ground. It wasn't just ireland they tried help, they try help everyone. Just really beautiful people.

I'm Cherokee, grew up in southern Ark in a mostly Cherokee community of a hundred or so people, houses spread out over thirty miles or so of forest. My mother & aunts saved flour sack & cornmeal sacks to make my clothing from. Back then (late '40s into 50s) the companies made the larger size sacks with prints on them, I guess to get people to buy their particular brand because the sacks had bright prints people liked. The sacks weren't large enough to make clothing for older kids, unless you wanted to make a patchwork. I hadn't realized chicken feed sacks were also like this, but we all kept a few chickens for eggs so we must have used those feed sacks for clothing too. Most of the sacks were of fairly rough cotton, not the kind of cotton you bought to make clothing. It was sort of thick, rather loosely woven fabric, but it softened after several washings. I still have one of the sacks my mother had saved, given to us by her elder sister. I have another flour sack a friend gave me about twenty years ago, but it's from Africa. It's covered with beautiful designs of elephants in rows, of rows of turquoise ducks like the ducks in ancient Egyptian murals, as well as various lines of abstract African designs. It was obviously designed for sale in Africa, probably in the 1940s-'50s, and is very different in color & design from the sacks we had here, but the fabric & size is the same as what we had. Guess people in Africa used these for clothing too. I recall a few of the sacks used for my clothing had designs with things like tipis, arrows, & had colors in turquoise & red & deep yellow, I guess designed to appeal to Indians. My favorite had ponies printed on it....Mother made me a swim suit from that one, really just baggy shorts & a baggy halter top but good enough for swimming in the river. Thanks for your channel. I really enjoy it. I have a lot of Choctaw friends down here (New Orleans), who've taught me some of your language.

Choctaw cultural center

Majority of Choctaw were dark skinned don't be surprised if she's three quarters or full blood

My great grandmother was a descent of Choctaw and from Mississippi and moved to Chattanooga too!! Omg Halito possible cousin!

I’m still discovering so much about my family too! I pray we can connect with their culture and honor our ancestors! Thank you for sharing your story!

@@jakiahamilton1410 Visit Choctaw cultural center.

Bless you love 💕 I’m s just so grateful for all the photos that my family has kept of our Choctaw women in our family