Read an excerpt from the introduction as well as the story "Trail of Tears" here.

In this four-CD companion to his book Walking the Choctaw Road , Tim Tingle reaches far back into tribal memory to offer a deeply personal collection of stories woven from the supernatural, mythical, historical and oral accounts of Choctaw people living today.

“Oklahoma” comes from the Choctaw word “Okla Homma,” meaning “Red People.” In this, his first collection of stories, acclaimed storyteller and folklorist Tim Tingle tells the stories of his people, the Choctaw People, the Okla Homma. For years Tim has collected the stories of the old folks, weaving those tales into his own stories, mixing traditional lore with stories from everyday life. Thus, Walking the Choctaw Road has a mixture of contemporary stories of Choctaw people living their lives right now, historical accounts passed down from generation to generation, and stories arising from beliefs and myths.

In one of the eleven stories, Tim tells how audiences are always wanting to hear stories about the Indian Wars, so he tells about his own Indian War, which he calls “Archie’s War,” the 20-year war between his father and him which ended in hard-won respect and love for them both. In another he lets a five-year-old boy tell us a magical, tragic tale about “The Trail of Tears” when the U.S. government forcibly removed the Choctaw people from their homeland to Oklahoma. And in another a Choctaw preacher tells about his grandmother, a healing woman, who has a beyond-death relationship with her protector dog, Shob.

Stories in Walking the Choctaw Road include:

• Crossing Bok Chitto
  
• The Beating of Wings
  
• Trail of Tears
  
• Bones on the Brazos
  
• Caleb
  
• The Choctaw Way
  
• Brothers
  
• Lizbeth and the Madstone
  
• Tony Byars
  
• Archie's War
  
• Saltypie
  
• We Are a People of Miracles

Joseph Bruchac, storyteller and author:

"Walking the Choctaw Road, like one of those old Choctaw chants that kept the people's feet going along the long journey, will stay with you and lend you some of its strength. Delivered in Tim's quiet, down-home Indian voice, they're the sort of lesson stories that stick to you like a burr. Cross the river with these stories—they'll give you safe passage."

Teachers: Walking the Choctaw Road is perfect for the classroom as a supplemental resource and here's a teacher's guide to help. This guide was created by the Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma folks after Walking the Choctaw Road won the Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma Statewide Literary Book Contest for 2005!