Okhvta Chito Okhoatali: Choctaw and French Transatlantic Legacies
For the Choctaw, first contact with Europeans came in 1528, when Spanish conquistadores attempted to conquer us. At great cost, our ancestors repelled them, and Europeans did not return to the region until the late 17th century. When French explorers arrived in Choctaw homelands in 1699, the French and the Choctaw were two nations in need of an ally. We found it in each other. Our alliance lasted for 64 years, with its ups and downs. France and the Choctaw Nation shared commerce, culture, knowledge, language, and family ties.
The Choctaw phrase okhvta chito okhoatali directly translates as “to cross the ocean.” This applies to travel and the physical movement of trade goods during the 18th century, but it also refers to the modern-day connection between two sovereign nations. This exhibit was a collaboration between the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac in France and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
We were honored to have displayed several Native American cultural objects from the Musée du quai Branly’s collection that were traded and gifted from Native nations to French traders in the 18th century. Due to the style and design of the objects and the fact that Choctaws were France’s largest Native trading partner, most of these objects are likely Choctaw in origin, but some may have come from other tribes. Archaeological items on loan from the University of South Alabama, provide a richer understanding of the alliance between the two nations through the trading activities that occurred at Old Mobile.
Exhibition produced with the generous collaboration of the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac.
In this panel discussion, representatives from the Choctaw Cultural Center and the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac explain the history and implications of the relationship between the Choctaw and French people through the exhibition of Choctaw artifacts.