How do Choctaw 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 Choctaw 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 games and toys to play with. Toli, a lacrosse-like stickball game, was a popular sport among teenage boys as it was among adult men. Here is an online museum exhibit about Choctaw stickball. Choctaw girls enjoyed guessing games and playing with beaded dolls. Chunkey, football, swimming, and footraces were also popular pastimes among Choctaw kids. Choctaw mothers, like many Native Americans, 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 Choctaw tribe? Choctaw men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Choctaw women were farmers and also did most of the child care and cooking. Bot
