Information about the Great Seal of the
Choctaw Nation
of Oklahoma
An unstrung bow, encompassing three arrows
and a smoking pipe-hatchet, symbolizes history and tradition of
the Choctaw Indians. Peaceable by nature, the Choctaws smoked
their pipe-hatchets as they sat in deliberation around council
files. The three arrows symbolize the three great Choctaw Chiefs
- Apukshunnubbee, Pushmataha, and Mosholatubbee - who signed the
treaty of Doaks Stand, by which the United States assigned the
tribe a vast domain west (all of Southern Oklahoma) for a part
of the Choctaw land in Mississippi. Ten years later, when the
Choctaws gave up all the rest of their home country in Mississippi
and moved west, they dived the new land into three districts,
and each district was named for one of these great chiefs. Though
peace-loving, the Choctaws speedily would string their bows and
staunchly set forth to defend themselves if they were provoked.
Pushmataha embodied the nature of the tribe. He was the tribal
hero and statesman who, when challenged, became the tribal leader
in war. Provisions were made for this seal at the noted Choctaw
convention in Doaksville in 1860.
References: Muriel H. Wright, "The
Great Seal of the Choctaw Nation, "The Chronicle of Higher
Education 33 (Winter 1955-56).