Duane Champagne: Choctaw growth credited to Chief Martin

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians have a remarkable story of economic development. Some Choctaw refused to remove to Indian country during the 1830s, and were left to fend for themselves in the backwaters of one of the poorest states in the United States.

Before the 1960s, most Choctaw families barely earned a living working as tenant farmers. In more recent decades, the Mississippi Choctaw have made great progress in hosting industrial manufacturing plants and managing successful gaming enterprises.

The Mississippi Choctaw government acts as a holding company that oversees a variety of manufacturing, services, and gaming businesses. Their model is one of tribal control and management of economic industry, and has proven resilient and productive. Most people give credit to the late and long time Chief Phillip Martin.