Choctaw Echoes of Creation & Babel

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; ...Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:4,9

It is documented that the Choctaw Indians of  Bayou Lacombe believed the following about Creation and Allusions to Babel BEFORE their Christianization by Adrien Roquette (*see Roquette sidenote).

 

"Thunder and lightning are to the Choctaw two great birds - Thunder (Heloha), the female; Lightning (Mala'tha), the male. 

Many generations ago Aba, the good spirit above, created many

men, all Choctaw, who spoke the language of the Choctaw, and understood one another. 

These came from the bosom of the earth, being formed of yellow clay, and no men had ever lived before them. 

One day all came together and, looking upward, wondered what the clouds and the blue expanse above might be. They continued to wonder and talk among themselves and at last determined to endeavor to reach the sky. 

So they brought many rocks and began building a mound that was to have touched the heavens. That night, however, the wind blew strong from above and the rocks fell from the mound. The second morning they again began work on the mound, but as the men slept that night the rocks were again scattered by the winds. Once more, on the third morning, the builders set to their task. But once more, as the men lay near the mound that night, wrapped in slumber, the winds came with so great force that the rocks were hurled down on them. 

The men were not killed, but when daylight came and they made their way from beneath the rocks and began to speak to one another, all were astounded as well as alarmed - they spoke various languages and could not understand one another. 

Some continued thenceforward to speak the original tongue, the language of the Choctaw, and from these sprung the Choctaw tribe. The others, who could not understand this language, began to fight among themselves. Finally they separated. The Choctaw remained the original people; the others scattered, some going north, some east, and others west, and formed various tribes." 

THE CHOCTAW OF BAYOU LACOMB By David I. Bushnell, Jr.

 

* Roquette Sidenote-  Adrien Rouquette (1813-1887) was the priest who converted the Choctaw of Bayou Lacombe around Lacombe, Louisiana.

---His father was a French immigrant from Bordeaux, France and served at the Battle of New Orleans under Andrew Jackson. Four years later he committed suicide by jumping off a cliff into the Mississippi River when his wine store when bankrupt.

---His mother, Louise Cousin, was the sister of my g-g-g-g-grandfather, Jean François Cousin Jr.

---When his mother died he was raised by his uncle Jean (himself had fathered children by a Choctaw, Rose Aimee, of whom he had my g-g-g-grandfather). 

---Adrien was sent to College in Nantes France, Kentucky and

The Great Oak Tree

Philadelphia. He earned degrees in Law & Medicine. Then decided to become a priest instead in New Orleans. He also gave the keynote speech for the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans in the city at one time. He authored many books, including a translation of the Choctaw Language.

---One day he upped and moved across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans to Lacombe (where his uncle Jean owned much of the land at the time) to be a missionary to the Choctaw. He lived among them and began to teach around a great oak tree, which still stands.

---He was given the name Chahta-Ima by the Choctaw, which means

"to be like a Choctaw". From that time on he always signed his name as that. He spent nearly a quarter of a century living among them and dressing like them.

---His last year of his life he had to be cared for by nuns in New Orleans because of bouts of dementia. He was unaware of where he was and thought he was in his old boyhood home, yet would talk of his poetry, religion and his his mission work. He was also fond of various Protestant denominations. While being cared for, he grew a white beard and was visited by Choctaw children who would bring him dainties.

---His death came 3 days after he had regained strength to get out of bed. The nuns rejoiced of his recovery but one night was too weak to get out of bed. His probation closed while in his sleep that night.

---When he died, his funeral procession through the streets of New Orleans drew thousands and his wagon was followed by Choctaw children with wreaths and flowers. At his grave, when Chahta-Ima's casket was lowered, the children gathered around it and wept.