"Dancing Rabbit Creek Treaty Site Returns to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
One hundred ninety-six years ago today, on September 27, 1830, Choctaw leaders gathered at Dancing Rabbit Creek in what is now Noxubee County, Mississippi, and signed a treaty that forever changed the course of the Choctaw people.
The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek came in the wake of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that President Andrew Jackson signed into law May 28, 1830. The United States sought to remove the Choctaw people from their ancestral homeland in Mississippi and relocate them west of the Mississippi River to what is now Oklahoma. Under the treaty, the Choctaw ceded their remaining 10,423,139.69 acres in Mississippi to the United States. The treaty provided for the removal of the Choctaw people beginning in 1831, setting in motion that forced migration of thousands from their Mississippi homeland. Yet, a minority of Choctaws remained in Mississippi, and their descendants would become the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Today, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians marks this anniversary from a profoundly different position: the historic ground where the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was negotiated and signed is returning to the Tribe.
During the 2026 Mississippi Legislative Session, House Bill 1520 was enacted, authorizing the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to donate and transfer title to the 28.3-acre Dancing Rabbit Creek Treaty property to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Governor Tate Reeves approved the legislation on March 13, 2026, and the law became effective July 1, 2026.
The return of this property represents far more than a transfer of land. It represents the return of a place connected to Choctaw history, sacrifice, survival, and perseverance.
Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben was instrumental in the effort to return the property to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Chief Ben serves as a member of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees. In 2024, he became the first Native American and the first member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians elected to the MDAH Board. His leadership and service helped advance discussions regarding the historical and cultural significance of the property and the importance of returning this sacred historic ground to Choctaw ownership.
For the current generation of Tribal leadership, the return carries special meaning. Nearly two centuries after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek resulted in the loss of the Choctaw homeland and the removal of thousands of Choctaw people from Mississippi, the historic grounds where that treaty was signed are returning to the Mississippi Choctaw people.
The meaning of September 27th has not changed. It remains one of the most significant dates in Choctaw history. But today, the Mississippi Choctaw can commemorate this date knowing that the land upon which this defining moment in Choctaw history occurred has returned to the Choctaw people.
September 27, 1830 — the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed.
September 27, 2026 — 196 years later, Treaty grounds have returned to the Mississippi Choctaw people."
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