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In the early 1700's, the king of France sent explorers into the Mobile Bay area of Alabama. A close relationship developed between Choctaw and Frenchman. The explorers traded items with the local villages which were along the Mobile River in Choctaw county. Articles the French obtained were taken back to France to become part of the French Royal Collection of North America to be housed in the Musee du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac and after the French revolution the collection was moved to Versailles Municipal Library in Versailles.
The collection visited the Oklahoma Choctaw Cultural Center in 2024. It included Items such as a tanned deer skin that told a pictorial story using graphics of suns, turkey, and native Americans on horseback using bow and arrows to hunt buffalo. Another item was a pair of bear skin moccasins that Choctaw Scouts would wear to travel into hostile territory disguising their footprints as bear tracks. They also had a Choctaw gar skin quiver with dogbane cordage along with river cane darts with thistle seed fluff. The darts had been heat treated and twisted while they were hot. This was an amazing collection which allowed us to look into the past at some of the actual articles our ancestral Choctaw family made and used in their everyday lives.
PHOTO BY MUSEE DU QUAI BRANLY-JACQUES CHIRAC
Visitors to the exhibit can expect to see exceptional pieces that will be on display in Choctaw Country for the first time in three centuries. A trio of clay bowls, made by Edmon Perkins, are etched with traditional designs and show the beauty of Choctaw artistry in everyday utensils. These and artifacts from the 1700's will be displayed in the exhibit "Okhvta Chito Okhoatali Choctaw and French Transatlantic Legacies" opening at the Choctaw Cultural Center on July 6, 2024.
This is a facsimile I made of an 18th century Choctaw gar skin quiver. There's a small deer skin basket on the inside to hold the darts at the prefered depth. The basket is hung by cordage made from dogbane fibers. The river cane darts were heat treated and twisted while they were hot. This collection of items was in the Musee du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac's French royal collection of North America, which was on exhibit in the Choctaw Cultural Center in 2024.
This project was a collaboration of the French Musee du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Alabama University, and the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation Historic Preservation. Much of the previous text was gleaned from information they jointly provided to the public forum.
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