Mississippi Choctaw History from Prehistory to Removal

Searching for the Bright Path is a historical text by James Taylor Carson, published by the University of Nebraska Press in 1999. The book provides a history of the Choctaw people from before European contact through the removal period, spanning approximately 1500 to the mid-1800s. It relies on archaeological evidence and ethnohistorical readings of Euro-American documents to analyze cultural continuity and change.

Use Cases

• Historical timeline analysis based on the chronological organization of the book.
• Study of cultural persistence and change based on themes of continuity in beliefs and institutions.
• Analysis of political structures based on the tripartite division of the Choctaw Nation.
• Research on gendered labor division based on descriptions of economic transformation.

Strengths

• Authored by a recognized historian and published by an academic press.
• Integrates multiple sources of evidence, including archaeology and documentary records.
• Part of a formal academic series edited by established scholars.

Limitations

• The dataset is a closed-license book, not an open data file.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred from the text.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

James Taylor Carson / University of Nebraska Press

Collection Method

Academic research and publication.

Time Range

Prehistory to mid-19th century (removal period).

Geography

Mississippi region, Southeastern United States.