Many Makers: Collaborative Renewal of Chahta Nan Tvnna (Choctaw Textiles)

Abstract

Using an Indigenous research model of relationality to community and to land, this paper presents the production of a 1700s-style skirt in bison and dogbane fiber by a group of Chahta (Choctaw) nan tvnna (textile artisans). By translating existing archaeological and textual resources into newly-produced garments, these practices communicate the research to the Chahta community in an accessible and inspiring format. Textiles discussed in this paper are made with twining and oblique interlacing techniques using dogbane, bison, and nettle yarns decorated with natural dyes, pigments, or shells. The production of this series of textiles ushers in a new phase in the reawakening of Chahta nan tvnna (Choctaw textiles), a project coordinated through the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Historic Preservation Office. By bringing information from the archaeological and textual resources forward in an accessible way and building a community of interested textile artisans, members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma revitalized a traditional art that had been sleeping for over two hundred years. Grounded in Indigenous theory and Southeastern North American archaeological textile collections and literature, the Chahta nan tvnna project uses a collaborative research methodology. Working alongside Indigenous artisans, primary source material from the archaeological record was used in the production of nan tvnna materials. As demonstrated in this paper, projects that tie community members to the natural resources of their local environment through the sharing of traditional knowledge can re-twine relationships with land and resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaborative community research
• indigenous archaeology
• arts revitalization
• textiles and fibers
• indigenous studies

Acknowledgements

I want to thank the Chahta textile workshop group who made this project a joy and a reality. Thank you also to the Choctaw Nation Cultural Services Department, especially Sue Folsom, Ian Thompson, Misty Madbull, Ryan Spring, and Megan Baker for your support of this project over the years. My thanks go to Lindsay Montgomery at the University of Arizona for her invaluable feedback on drafts of this paper. Finally, thank you to my anonymous reviewers for their generous feedback on this paper.

Notes

1 In the case of a proper or legal name, the term “Choctaw” is used. Otherwise, an effort has been made in this paper to use “Chahta,” the Choctaw name for themselves as a people. The terms refer to the same people group.

2 The term perishable is used in the archaeological sense for materials like textiles and basketry that have poor preservation in the archaeological record.

3 As we discovered over the course of the project, these numbers were an underestimate of the final material needs for the project partly due to improved material processing skills over the course of the project. As a result, we continued to make yarn throughout all stages of the project to supplement the resources on hand.

4 Due to the nature of the group size and the spontaneous nature of the task, the task hours are an estimate.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Byram

Jennifer Byram is a Research Associate in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Historic Preservation Office and a PhD student of Archaeology in the University of Arizona School of Anthropology. [email protected]