The Choctaw Indian Fair is an annual festival celebrating traditional

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

heritage.

History

For centuries the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Choctaws have gathered at the ripening of the first

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

. This gathering was called "The New Corn Ceremony" or " Green Corn Festival." The present day "Choctaw Indian Fair" has roots in this ancient celebration. The Fair has long been a time for Choctaws to gather and pay homage to their traditions and heritage but it has also emerged as an opportunity for the Tribe to welcome visitors to the reservation and share their way of life. Even though the Fair has been around for many years, the Mississippi Choctaw say that the fair began to evolve into the Annual Fair it has become in 1949. The Choctaw Princess Pageant was not added to the fair until 1955 when Patsy Sam (Buffington) was crowned as the first Choctaw Princess. Nashville-style country music became part of the Choctaw Indian Fair in the 1960s when Nashville stars such as Chet Atkins, Connie Smith, Lester Flatt, Mac Wiseman, Jerry Reed, Johnny Gimble, Pig Robbins, and Merle Travis noticed what the Choctaws were doing with their Annual Fair. Each of these performers performed for free at the fair as a tribute to the Choctaw Nation and in support of the fair. In the 1970s, paid performers were added to the Fair and now the last three nights of the Fair include paid country music performers. Another important element of the annual fair has been a reemergence of the traditional dances of the Choctaw. In the 1970s, an effort began to revive many of the traditional dances of the Choctaw that were no longer being danced. Because of the renewed interest in traditional dance brought about by the Annual Fair, each morning and afternoon dance groups from different communities perform for fairgoers. Many of the dance groups now make paid appearances outside the reservation. The Choctaw dance performed at the Annual Fair is seen as an authentic expression of the ancient Choctaw traditional culture and gives people who attend the fair a glimpse into that culture. Along with music and dance, many Choctaw artists display their bead work, baskets, drums, and other art during the Fair. At many of the artists' tables, fairgoers will see the skills of the artist being passed down traditionally as there will be two or three generations of the same family working on projects. The 2021 Choctaw Indian Fair took place 14–17 July, as the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

caused 2020's cancellation.

External links

Choctaw Indian Fair
Choctaw culture Annual fairs Fairs in the United States {{US-festival-stub