The Choctaw Civil War: Justice and Sovereignty on the Franco-Choctaw Frontier (Indians and Southern History)

The Choctaw Civil War: Justice and Sovereignty on the Franco-Choctaw Frontier reexamines the geopolitical landscape of the lower Mississippi River Valley in 1740s, recentering Choctaw perspectives during this fluid period. In particular, this book corrects inaccuracies about power dynamics between Choctaw and the French and English colonizers and other Indigenous peoples neighboring Choctaw lands during the 1740s. Sparacio incorporates gender theory and ethnohistory plus inference from neighboring groups. Overall, this book illuminates Choctaw debates about justice, kinship, and responsibility. Sparacio notes that crime and punishment must be seen in the context of Choctaw’s understanding of sovereignty. They expressed sovereignty through culturally infused politics and economies of reciprocity. This work is intended for scholars interested in the Native South, Native American Studies, historians of Colonial America, gender in early America, and military and medical history more generally.