Chaloklowa Chickasaw

The Chaloklowa Chickasaw are headquartered in Indiantown, South Carolina with members living within the counties of Florence, Marion, and Williamsburg.{{cite news |title=Chaloklowa Chickasaws gain state recognition|newspaper=The State |date=June 11, 2005 |page=8C}} The organization was originally founded and led by the late Vernon M. Tanner and his son, Joe Tanner. The Chaloklowa Chickasaw is a nonprofit educational organization.[http://www.nonprofitfacts.com/SC/Chaloklowa-Chickasaw-Indian-People.html#overview_a "Chaloklowa Chickasaw Indian People in Hemingway, South Carolina (SC)."] NonProfitFacts. 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012. Tanner stated that one of the Chaloklowa Chickasaws missions is to bring educational programs to schools or other activities with adults to share the true aspects of Native American life and to dispel other commonly believed myths about indigenous people.{{cite web |title=Mingo Big Bear Claw shares tribal history with children - SCNow.com |url=http://www2.scnow.com/news/2010/jul/22/mingo_big_bear_claw_shares_tribal_history_with_chi-ar-624726/ |website=archive.ph |access-date=8 September 2022 |date=1 February 2013 |archive-date=1 February 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201224211/http://www2.scnow.com/news/2010/jul/22/mingo_big_bear_claw_shares_tribal_history_with_chi-ar-624726/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}

The Chaloklowa Chickasaw organized as a 501(c)(3) public charity in 2002.[https://archive.today/20130416012141/http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/orgs/profile/571081738?popup=1 "Chaloklowa Chickasaw Indian People."] Retrieved 17 September 2012. The organization was awarded $100,147.00 that same year by the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) for Social and Economic Development Strategies.{{cite web |title=Grants Archive FY 2002 |url=https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ana/grant-funding/grants-archive-fy-2002 |website=www.acf.hhs.gov |access-date=8 September 2022 |language=en}}

South Carolina recognizes "Tribes", "Groups", and "Special Interest Organizations". "State Recognized Groups" are defined by South Carolina law as meaning "a number of individuals assembled together, which have different characteristics, interests and behaviors that do not denote a separate ethnic and cultural heritage today, as they once did. This group is composed of both Native American Indians and other ethnic races. They are not all related to one another by blood. A tribal council and governmental authority unique to Native American Indians govern them".[https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:OI9Go90fsYsJ:www.scstatehouse.gov/getfile.php%3FTYPE%3DCODEOFREGS%26CHAPTER%3D139+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi8828RBgkZwBeH1WWQrXOrUYHlZ68gjpEfUlq1wgUe2owy9PuTpz6OLJKcIsWWAcuWgjhwjSimxczwt7eLscV2KBcjPTjhRK-IW_tjV9_PVNFV0noodqyMciyL0k0nZ9x0VF_7&sig=AHIEtbRKYpobcoKu-2obtxvUruRCJv9dXg "139102. Definitions."] Chapter 139. Commission for Minority Affairs. Article I. State Recognition of Native American Indian Entities. (Statutory Authority: S. C. Code Section 13140(A)(10)). Page 2. Retrieved 17 September 2012. The Chaloklowa Chickasaw initially applied for recognition as a "Tribe" in February 2005 but its application was rejected because the organization could not meet South Carolina's standards for proving historical basis due to a lack of genealogical records.{{cite news |title=Tribes|newspaper=The State |date=February 18, 2005 |page=A12}} The organization immediately reapplied for recognition as a "Group" and achieved this official designation a few months later, in June 2005. Vice-Chief Joe Tanner stated that it was the intention of the organization to reapply for recognition as a "Tribe" within September of that same year. The South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs continues to list the Chaloklowa Chickasaw Indian People as one of its "State Recognized Groups and Special Interest Organizations" and not as a state recognized tribe.{{cite web |title=South Carolina's Recognized Native American Indian Entities |url=https://cma.sc.gov/minority-population-initiatives/native-american-affairs/south-carolinas-recognized-native-american-indian-entities |website=South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs Search |accessdate=24 September 2020}}

In 2003, the Chaloklowas petitioned the US Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs to try to receive federal recognition as an Indian tribe.[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2003-03-20/html/03-6659.htm "Receipt of Petitions for Federal Acknowledgment of Existence as an Indian Tribe."] Federal Register. Volume 68, Number 54. 20 March 2003. Retrieved 17 September 2012.

After receiving several letters of complaint concerning the Chaloklowa Chickasaw's second petition for recognition as a State Recognized tribe in October 2005, the Commission of Minority Affairs review committee, upon rereview, found that the indigenous ancestry being claimed by the group was incorrect.{{cite news |last1=Pounds |first1=Keith A. |title=Seeking state recognition |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/346192672/ |access-date=27 December 2022 |work=The Times and Democrat |agency=Newspapers.com |date=30 October 2005 |language=en}} This announcement came as a surprise to the CMA as the petition had previously been called "a model" for others to follow by CMA director, Janie Davis. The news was controversial throughout indigenous communities in South Carolina, as just weeks before, the group's then leader, Vernon Tanner, was appointed by the state Senate as the first ever "Native American Commissioner to the Board of the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs". Members of at least one indigenous community publicly expressed a lack of trust in South Carolina's recognition process as the result of the CMA's previous oversight and other alleged inequities. The Chaloklowa Chickasaw today remain recognized as a “Group” in South Carolina, a status obtained several months prior to the controversy.

On August 30, 2002, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission invited the Chaloklowa Chickasaw, along with members of seven other indigenous communities in the Carolinas, to participate in the scoping process for the H. B. Robinson Nuclear Generating Station.{{cite book |title=Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2 - Final Report (NUREG-1437, Supplement 13) |date=December 2003 |publisher=Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=2-41, C-3 |url=https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement13/index.html}}

The organization participates in events throughout the year held at Lynches River in Johnsonville, South Carolina in order to provide information about the role of the Chickasaw in local history.{{cite web |title=City History |url=https://www.cityofjohnsonville.com/city_history/index.php |website=www.cityofjohnsonville.com |access-date=27 December 2022}}

Chief Tanner, also referred to as "Mingo Big Bear Claw", formerly gave educational presentations to elementary and middle school students.{{cite news |title=Native American Chief Visits LMA|newspaper=The State |date=September 23, 2014 |page=A10}} He also gave presentations to civic groups, churches, scout troops, YMCA groups, and local libraries.{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Robert Joseph |title=Mingo Tanner featured speaker at First Baptist luncheon |url=https://manninglive.com/stories/mingo-tanner-featured-speaker-at-first-baptist-luncheon,26495 |website=Manning Live |access-date=27 December 2022 |language=en}} Each year, students from Johnsonville Elementary School take a field trip to Tanner Farms to learn about Chickasaw life from the Tanners and take part in traditional cooking methods, receive hands-on experience with live animals, and sit inside of a tipi.{{cite web |last1=McColl |first1=Matt |title=Johnsonville elementary students go native at Indiantown |url=https://scnow.com/observer/news/johnsonville-elementary-students-go-native-at-indiantown/article_f3dce922-29d9-11e2-bcb6-001a4bcf6878.html |website=SCNow |access-date=27 December 2022 |language=en}} Vernon Tanner publicly claimed to be the last traditional medicine man in South Carolina and sometimes explained forms of indigenous spirituality within his educational presentations. The group maintains that Indiantown Presbyterian Church, where Tanner served as a lay speaker and church elder, is a sacred site to the Chickasaw.

• Vernon M. Tanner
• Cherokee heritage groups
• Chickasaw
• Plastic Shaman
• Pretendian

{{Reflist|2}}

• Baca, Keith A. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MgNgEVvsaZcC&dq=Chaloklowa%20Chickasaw&pg=PA42 Native American Place Names in Mississippi.] University Press of Mississippi, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1578069552}}.
• Lippert, Dorothy, Stephen J. Spignesi, and Phil Konstantin. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jvf2Zj_czhIC&dq=Chaloklowa%20Chickasaw&pg=PA102 Native American History For Dummies.] For Dummies, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0470148419}}.

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Category:Chickasaw heritage groups

Category:Non-profit organizations based in South Carolina

Category:Unrecognized tribes in the United States