History Comes Home

The Chikasha Inchokka' (“Chickasaw house”) Traditional Village is a fascinating recreation of a historical Native American village. It features a Council House, two summer houses, two winter houses, a replica mound, a corn crib, a stickball field and a stockade fence. As you make your way through the village, you can partake in a number of interactive activities, lessons and events to give you a taste of life as a Chickasaw, including: village tours, blowgun and archery demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, language lessons, storytelling, cultural classes, cultural demonstrations, stomp dance demonstrations, hands-on activities like stickball, chunkey and marbles games and food festivals.

Traditional Village

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Spiral Garden

Located just behind the Traditional Village walls is our unique Spiral Garden. The garden is planted according to the "Three Sisters" method, an ancient technique that uses intercropping to grow squash, corn and beans in unison. In the Three Sisters legend, corn represents the eldest sister, standing tall and strong in the center of the garden; squash is the middle sister, guarding and protecting her siblings; and beans are the third sister, leaning on her family while also encouraging them to grow. The tale states that each crop helps those around it flourish – corn needs to grow in a community, beans are able to wind up the corn’s stalk for strength while providing vital nitrogen and squash shelters the soil to retain moisture. The Spiral Garden provides fresh produce for the Aaimpa' Café.

Living Village

Throughout the year guests can experience the living village, which features cultural demonstrators illustrating 18th-century Chickasaw life. The living village includes traditional regalia, stickball games, stomp dances, hide scraping and other activities that were common in the 1750s.

Traditional Village Events