Hakha Aiola – Where the Canada Goose Cries

On your last trip to the Choctaw Nation Headquarters, you may have encountered what Choctaw people call Hakha or the Canada Goose.

The Canada Goose is a migratory species native to North America that likes open grassy areas near water. They have adapted to modern urban and suburban landscaping and can be commonly seen at parks and ponds where manicured lawns offer them the perfect environment for food and nesting year-round.

Like the Choctaw Nation Headquarters, the pre-removal Choctaw Village site of Hakha Aiola, Where the Canada Goose Cries, also had this park-like landscape that was a very popular spot for waterfowl.

This month, Iti Fabvssa would like to share a glimpse into what this Choctaw village site looked like.

Hakha Aiola was located on a flat-topped ridge between two creeks in what is today Kemper County, Mississippi. The village was spread out across several hundred acres atop the ridge.

Households were spaced out, with each located a couple hundred yards from its neighbors.

Often, the families occupying adjacent households were related to each other through the female line. Family members would work together to accomplish tasks and cook together. The households of extended families were clustered to form hamlets.

Each household had a summer and winter home, a garden, and arbors where they did their daily cooking and activities. Families positioned their hamlets near springs for fresh water. Families living at Hakha Aiola had access to plum and peach orchards that were located between hamlets.

Despite living distant from each other, the community was still closely knit. Each family did their share in planting, growing, and harvesting the communal fields. They grew corn, beans, and squash located down the ridge, nearer the streams of Pawticfaw and Blackwater Creeks. Pawtikfa Creek, or Poa Atikafa in the Choctaw language, means “where wild animals shed their hair.”

This likely refers to an area where bison wool was collected after the animals shed their hair in the spring.

A nearby small stream called Reedy Break tells us that Rivercane grew near the village.

At Hakha Aiola, the chief’s home overlooked a beautiful 7-acre pond that was very popular with wild geese, ducks, and other waterfowl.

The sounds made by Canada Geese that lived here are what gave the village its name.

In some places, the pond reached 12 feet in depth and was surrounded by an oak forest. Choctaw people commonly used fire to manage the land; this would have caused the area around the pond to look park-like and the perfect spot for Canada Geese to call home.

Hakha Aiola can be seen on historic French Maps dating back to 1733. It had likely been located there for at least several decades previous to that.

In 1830, Chief Anumpulitubbee was recorded as the Miko or Village Chief. However, he and his people were forced to leave during the Trail of Tears.

In 1852, the pond was drained, and the trees were cut down by an American settler who had gained ownership of the land. Maybe one day, the cries of wild geese will be heard there again.

Note: The information provided in this article is from Halbert, Henry S. – ca. 1915 Unpublished manuscript on Choctaw history and culture. On file at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery Box 4, Folder 13 & 14.