The Choctaw Capitol Building ( cho, Chuka Hanta Chahta) is a historic building built in 1884 that housed the government of the

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United St ...

from 1884 to 1907. The building is located in

Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Pushmataha County is a county in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,572. Its county seat is Antlers. The county was created at statehood from part of the former territory of the ...

, two miles north of Tuskahoma. The site also includes the Choctaw Nation Council House and the Old Town Cemetery of Tuskahoma.

History

A United States Post Office operated here as Council House, Indian Territory from February 6, 1872, to June 30, 1880. Postal operations were later carried on at nearby Lyceum, site of the Choctaw girls’ academy, and Tuskahoma. During the days of the

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

the Council House was located in Wade County, Choctaw Nation. After several decades of constitutional experimentation, during which the Choctaw Indians moved their national capital among several locations, the National Council in 1883 authorized construction of a permanent seat of government at Tushka Homma. The name means “home of the red warrior” in the

Choctaw language The Choctaw language (Choctaw: ), spoken by the Choctaw, an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, is part of the Muskogean language family. Chickasaw is separate but closely related language to Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahom ...

, and its spelling has since been standardized as Tuskahoma. The Capitol was completed in September 1884, built of red native brick, sandstone, and nearby timber for $30,000. It is 72'-11" long by 62'-4" feet wide, and stands 54'-2" tall to the chimneys. It consists of two stories and a mansard roof attic. In the fall of 1884 the ''Indian Journal'' at Muskogee, Indian Territory wrote, “The capitol building is the finest structure in the Territory…” Inside the Capitol were rooms for the Senate, House of Representatives, Principal Chief, Supreme Court, and constitutional officers, including the National Attorney and National Auditor. The Capitol was in use from 1884 until 1907, when the Choctaw Nation was abolished and Oklahoma became a state. After statehood the building fell into disuse and disrepair.

Present Day

The Capitol has achieved new life as the national

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

of the successfully reconstituted

Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United St ...

, whose executive offices are now located in Durant, Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation holds its annual Labor Day festival there, which attracts nationally known

country-western Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old- ...

singers and bands, and draws in excess of 100,000 attendees. A Choctaw war veterans' memorial is on the Capitol grounds. It includes a special section in tribute to the famous

Choctaw Code Talkers The Choctaw code talkers were a group of Choctaw Indians from Oklahoma who pioneered the use of Native American languages as military code during World War I. The government of the Choctaw Nation maintains that the men were the first America ...

, who pioneered the use of Native American languages as military code. Their initial exploits were during World War I, and were repeated by Choctaws and additional tribes during World War II. The Capitol is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. More information on the Capitol, Tuskahoma and the Choctaw Nation may be found in the Pushmataha County Historical Society.

References

External links

Choctaw Nation Museum
- Travel OK {{NRHP in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Museums in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Native American museums in Oklahoma Government buildings completed in 1884