Choctaw talkin'

BOB MARTINSON/Frontiersman reporter

Tim Tingle, a Choctaw Indian and author who is a descendant of ancestors who survived the "Trail of Tears," came to Alaska to share his book, "Walking The Choctaw Road," and to share stories from his people and his life, mostly with young people in schools around the state.

Tingle was at Goose Bay Elementary School performing the 11th school on his statewide tour. He started in Juneau and ended his tour in Bethel. Tingle was brought up from his home in Canyon Lake, Texas, as part of a project organized by Carolyn Grabowski, the coordinator for Alaska Reads.

The group started from a smaller group called "Alaska Sisters in Crime," a group that promotes literacy and the advancement of female mystery writers. Alaska Reads got its start four years ago.

"The premise of Alaska Reads is to have all Alaskans reading the same book at the same time. They can discuss the book and maybe if people can learn to talk about things like a book, then they can learn to start to discuss the bigger issues in their lives, and we feel that with all the diversity in Alaska, it's great to find a book that we feel that everyone can understand what is going on much better, to capture the culture. This year we were looking for a Native American author and I asked for some recommendations and guess who they recommended? Tim Tingle," Grabowski said. Tingle's book was chosen by Alaska Reads, as this year's book.

Grabowski told Tingle they had more schools that wanted him than he could ever accommodate, and that they had scheduled a couple of days off just for sightseeing. Tingle was really happy to be visiting Alaska and to teach his lessons to the kids he said.

"They told me that they had scheduled a couple of days into my schedule for sightseeing and I told them to just go ahead and book me into a few more schools during those days, because I figure I'm getting my sightseeing in by just driving around and flying in this beautiful state, I mean just coming out here from Anchorage to the Valley, what a beautiful drive, every trip I take is a sightseeing tour, I'll probably see about a thousand kids today," Tingle exclaimed.

Tingle's great-great grandfather survived the Trail of Tears and his mother did not.

"Every Oklahoma Choctaw is a direct descendant of someone who survived the Trail of Tears, that's by definition, and in the same way, every Oklahoma Cherokee are direct descendants of Cherokee that survived the Trail of Tears from North Carolina. So far every place I've gone, I've met Choctaw people, even the security guard at the airport was Choctaw," he said. "The Choctaw's were the first to leave, we left our homeland in 1830, the Cherokee's I think in 1834, and our homeland was originally in Mississippi where there is this huge mound called Menawya and that is still our sacred site, and that is still where we all want to get back to."

Tingle was raised in an isolated group of about 50 Choctaws on the Southeastern Gulf Coast of Texas. Tingle played a wooden flute beautifully and also beat his traditional Choctaw drums and sang some Native American songs amongst his storytelling; the children at Goose Bay were captivated by his exciting presentation.

Tingle has a master's degree in Native American studies from the University of Oklahoma, and wants to return for more storytelling in the future.