The fair was established in 1949, coming out of gatherings that the tribe had held for years.
"Initially it started a green corn festival where we lived off the land and we the tribe, we as a people, we would gather and while the crop is green, until harvest time," said Choctaw Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben "Back in the day was not cities, municipalities or counties, and we would live abroad and so, it would be a moment to come together."
Part of the festivities include choosing a new Choctaw Indian Princess each year.
This year’s new princess is Lexi Alaysia Flint of Redwater. To her, preserving U.S. history, especially during its 250th anniversary, means recognizing and celebrating the resilience of her tribe.
"We have built our way from the ground up, from when we had literally nothing to becoming self-reliant, to having our own tribal government and workforce, to having that self-resilience to endorse our own tribal workforce and Choctaws tribal schools," Flint said.
The Choctaw is Mississippi's only federallyrecognized tribe. The Choctaw people live across the U.S., with three federally recognized bands in Mississippi, Oklahoma and the Jena Band of Louisiana.
The Mississippi band's ancestors were Choctaw who stayed in their native land, resisting the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that led to the death of thousands of indigenous people on the Trail of Tears.
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, now a sovereign nation with more than 11,000 tribal members, has over 35,000 acres of fee and trust lands in Mississippi and Tennessee.
Stacey Biloy works with the tribe’s cultural affairs office. For him, the fair is especially an opportunity for the younger generation to be immersed in their heritage.
"We have some Choctaw kids that never shot a blowgun before: we get them to try that; the rabbit stick throw, all of these activities," Biloy said. "Some of them are not exposed to it. This is a good way, just a little glimpse, for them to come try it out."
Just earlier this month, he was in Jackson for the city's Independence Day celebration of America at 250. Sharing his culture in the capital was exciting for Biloy, but he also emphasized the need to recognize the tribe's deep roots in Mississippi.
"It is America's 250, but we'd like to say we we've been here a little bit longer than that," said Biloy. "But we're a part of Mississippi, or Mississippi's a part us, however you want to look at that and we're glad to share the experience."
Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben echoed those sentiments, saying that Choctaw heritage is best remembered as part of American history through remembering the tribe's resilience in the face of things like the Indian Removal Act.
"We're still in the red clay hills of East Central Mississippi, we're part of community where," Ben said. "With America 250, we were here before America was ever founded, but we're a part of that, and our history of culture is a part of that story."
