Nanih Waiya as a Monument

At the dawn of time, the ancestors of the Choctaw people lived in a land far to the west amongst many other peoples. The ancestors of the Choctaw grew restless and left this land.

Leading them were two brothers, Chata and Chickasa, who were guided by a sacred pole. Each night the brothers would plant the pole in the ground and each morning the pole would be leaning toward the east. So the journey continued eastward through strange lands and across a great river until one morning the pole remained upright.

Those people led by Chata took this as a sign that their journey was at an end while those led by Chickasa continued a little farther and became the Chickasaw people.

To celebrate their arrival the Choctaw people then constructed great earthen mounds, the largest of which is Nanih Waiya.

This myth was taken from the book by Baird: The Choctaw People (1973): Library of Congress Catalog #: 73-80708.