How do Chickasaw Indian children live, and what did they do in the past?
They do the same things all children do–play with each other, go to school and help around the house. Many Chickasaw children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Indian kids had more chores and less time to play, just like colonial children. But they did have beaded dolls, toys and games to play with. Toli, a stickball game related to the Iroquois game of lacrosse, was also a popular sport among teenage boys as it was among adult men. Chickasaw mothers, like many Native Americans, traditionally carried their babies in cradleboards on their backs–a custom which many American parents have adopted now. What were men and women’s roles in the Chickasaw tribe? Chickasaw men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Chickasaw women were farmers and also did most of the child care and cooking. Both genders could succeed at storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. In the past, Chickasaw chiefs were always men, but today a C
