Architectural History of the Choctaw Nation Capitol Buildings, 1834-1883

Long before the arrival of European people, our Choctaw ancestors had an advanced knowledge of architecture.

From hurricane-resistant traditional homes to monumental earthwork mounds as high as seven floors, our Choctaw ancestors have shown themselves to be an advanced society of architects.

Even after removal to what is the Choctaw Nation today, Choctaw people continued this tradition of building functional and architecturally beautiful places for the community to gather.

This month Iti Fabvssa looks at the architectural history of our capitol buildings from 1834 to 1883.

Nvnih Waiya (1834 – 1839)

Decades before removal, Choctaw people traveled on winter hunts to what is now today’s eastern Oklahoma. Choctaw families hunted and camped on this land before we were forced to move here. After the signing of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830, Choctaw leaders traveled to this region to identify locations where Choctaw people could resettle their communities and choose a location that would be the next seat for the Choctaw government.

It was later named Nvnih Waiya, after our Mother Mound in Mississippi. Located today between the Kiamichi River and Lake Nanih Waiya, the site is 1.5 miles west of present-day Tvshkahoma, Pushmataha County.

In 1834, Choctaw leaders met at Nvnih Waiya and reestablished our tribal government by adopting the second Constitution of the Choctaw Nation. Using funds set aside from our removal, the first council house was built close by in 1838 and was formally named Nvnih Waiya during the initial General Council meeting in the autumn of that year.

It was a tall, one-room building of logs notched together at the corners and rested on stacked stone piers. The gable roof was sheathed in wood shingles, and a large masonry chimney was located at the rear. Photographic evidence shows at least two very large windows, a set of double doors in the front, and a side door. The structure was approximately 36 feet x 50 feet and much larger than most log homes in the area. The walls were approximately 20 feet high and required great effort and skill to hew, notch, hoist, and assemble the enormous logs to that height. The gable roof peak was approximately 30 feet high, and the large interior space and high ceilings would have felt grand and important.

The Nvnih Waiya building represented a rebuilding of a sovereign Choctaw government after removal and created national permanence, stability and dignity in the new land. Any money used to build this structure came directly from funds set aside for resettlement from the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.

In 1843, the General Council amended the constitution to establish a two-house legislature, much like U.S. Congress today. The Choctaw Senate occupied Nvnih Waiya, and the Choctaw House of Representatives building was constructed nearby. Both buildings were used through 1849. Neither building remains at the Nvnih Waiya site today.

Doaksville, Skullyville, Mayhew, Boggy Depot (1850-1863)

Intermittently between 1850-1858, the seat of the Choctaw government gathered at Doaksville because it had grown to be the largest community in Choctaw Nation and was adjacent to Fort Towson (1824-1854). Leaders also met in Skullyville in 1857, Mayhew in 1859  and Boggy Depot for various meetings between 1858 and 1861. At this time, we do not know which buildings were utilized by the Choctaw government when they met for official business. It is possible they met at a district courthouse, the Skullyville agency, stage houses and churches.

Pre-Civil War buildings in Oklahoma would have been constructed of hewn logs, stone, milled wood, and brick. A few may have been designed in an architectural style, but most would have been practical, of local materials, and in a modest size. For the safety of Choctaw leaders during the Civil War, Doaksville was used as the regular meeting place between 1860-1863. From 1863 to 1883, leaders met at the town of Chahta Tamaha in the Armstrong Academy for Boys.

Armstrong Academy (1863-1883)

Armstrong Academy was established in 1845. By 1863, the Armstrong Academy’s first log building (1845-46) had been replaced with a two-story brick structure constructed from 1858-59. The academy was built in a mix of Georgian and Adamesque Colonial styles, the most recent and popular styles of their time.

The building featured a later brick addition in a simplified Italianate style, visible on the southwest or left side. It was likely constructed between 1875 and 1880. The buildings faced southeast, with two-story sleeping quarters and open porches at the rear.

The projecting, two-story front porch was typical of the Georgian style, as were the double-width brick walls laid in an English-bond pattern that switched back and forth between rows of brick ends and sides.

The building’s Adamesque style features were its tall, narrow building proportions, slightly arched window openings with multiple glass panes, rounded arches on the open porch entrance, and the round carved medallion visible in the gable peak. The southwest addition’s Italianate features include rounded tops on its long, narrow windows, a very tall one-story porch with a decorative rail above, and decorative brick chimneys.

The Choctaw Nation Council, Supreme Court, and legislative houses met in the main hall for 30 years. During the Civil War, the academy operated as a headquarters and a hospital.

In 1883, when the capital was moved to Tvshkahoma, the building returned to Academy use and operated until January of 1920, when it burned.

Click to learn more about the Armstrong Academy.

Sprinkled into this article are the architectural histories and brief descriptions of each of the Choctaw capitols.

This history is gathered and archived at the Historic Preservation Department for Choctaw Nation as part of our staff’s mission.

Buildings that demonstrate the historical significance and look original to their construction may qualify for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Register began in 1966 and continues today, along with its sister, the National Historic Landmark program.

There are tens of thousands of buildings and archeological sites across the United States listed in the National Register. The National Historic Landmark program tallies approximately 2,500 properties.

In order for a property to be listed, the owner nominates it in a format similar to a high school term paper. The Historic Preservation Department staff assists with research ideas, edits, building descriptions, maps and photographs.

Ideally, the owner will present the nomination to the Professional Review Board for consideration. The Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C., makes the final listing decision.

The Historic Preservation Department is happy to report that the Capitol Museum was listed in 1970 and the archeological remains of Armstrong Academy in 1972. The National Register nominations were used in writing this article.

For additional information about the National Register, what properties may qualify, and the implications of listing, please contact the Choctaw Historic Preservation Department Architectural Historian Rolene Schliesman 580-642-2024, or Tribal Archeologist Kim Hinson 580-642-8619.

Photo by Oklahoma Historical Society<br>Public Council House at Nvnih Waiya n.d. (1189, Czarina Conlan Collection, OHS). Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Nvnih Waya.

Photo by Armstrong Academy<br>Armstrong Academy, c. 1860.

Photo by Oklahoma Historical Society<br>: Armstrong Academy, Oklahoma Historical Society photo, c. 1880.