Chahta Anumpa Aiikhvna School of Choctaw Language
Senior Director, Jim Parrish
800-522-6170 ext. 2250 www.choctawschool.com
School of Choctaw Language, Chahta Anumpa Aiikhvna, was established to promote and preserve the language, history and culture of the Chahta people. The Language Program has grown from offering one class via satellite at the University of Oklahoma in 1998, to currently employing 21 teachers and serving approximately 3,000 people per week through the website, community classes, public schools, colleges, online Internet classes, early childhood and elementary classes.
Our website www.choctawschool.com serves as a language database connection to provide information about our school and the various opportunities available to learn Chahta language and culture. Curricula on the website include vocabulary words, simple phrases, chapter lessons and evaluations to engage language learners. MP3 sound clips, PowerPoint formatted lessons, and PDF files are accessible to allow the user to download the lessons to their personal files so they can learn at their own pace. The website also features Chahta hymns, stories from elders and Chahta history articles. Also, featured on the website is a word search to help you search for Chahta words and phrases.
Chahta language is taught by distance learning which allows the language instructor and students to interact in real-time. Currently, an estimated 1300 students are taught Choctaw language on a daily basis through the 14 Head Start centers, 2 elementary classrooms, and 43 Oklahoma public high schools that are served within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation. If you have children or grandchildren attending one of the 43 High Schools in the Chahta Nation they will have an opportunity to take the Chahta Language classes. Please check with your school about the offering of Chahta in your district.
Choctaw language is offered to college students enrolled at Carl Albert State College in Poteau and Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant.
A special feature of the Chahta Language Department is our on-line classes. The Language Department uses the AvaCast system in order to offer these classes to any Chahta all over the world. Please refer to our website to obtain more information about this wonderful opportunity to learn the Chahta Language.
Another avenue to learn Chahta language is through community classes. At this time, 30 sites are available for learners to attend a classroom-style setting to learn the language. The location of these sites are both within the Chahta Nation boundaries, as well as outside the boundaries. Community classes are free of charge and are available to the general public. Please visit our website to view the locations and instructors for the community classes.
The heart of a nation rests in its language. It is through this unique language gifted to us by our Creator that we communicate with Him. From this Chahta Anumpa, Choctaw Language, our very sovereignty is derived through our government of laws, and deep-rooted culture and history.
Historian, Curtis Billy states, “The language sets us apart from other tribes; we don’t want to lose our unique sounds and our emphasis. We want to be good stewards of our language to pass on to the next generation. The language is used to pass on our traditions and oral stories.”
For more information about the School of Choctaw Language please go to www.choctawschool.com or call toll free 1-800-522-6170.
Learn more at www.choctawschool.com
Toll Free: 1-800-522-6170 ext. 2179
Direct: (580) 924-8280 ext. 2179
Jim Parrish, Executive Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2250 jparrish@choctawnation.com
Teri Billy, Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2102 tbilly@choctawnation.com
Liz Lee, Executive Administrative Assistant . . . . . . ext.2340 elee@choctawnation.com
JT Wallace, Technology Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 5163 jtwallace@choctawnation.com
Junior Myers, Technology Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 4021 wmyers@choctawnation.com
Colina Hickman, Reception/Teacher Assistant . . . . .ext. 2179 chickman@choctawnation.com
Translation Specialist
Dora Wickson, Translation Specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2180 dwickson@choctawnation.com
Robert Baker, Translation Specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2936 rbaker@choctawnation.com
Language Instructors
Angie Williston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2422 awilliston@choctawnation.com
Bernie Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2106 bdavis@choctawnation.com
Betty Ward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2270 bward@choctawnation.com
Beverly Nelson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2486 banelson@choctawnation.com
Caleb Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2412 ctaylor@choctawnation.com
Casey Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2382 cdbaker@choctawnation.com
Chantelle Standefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2717 cstandefer@choctawnation.com
Curtis Billy, History & Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2103 cbilly@choctawnation.com
Elsie Hicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2352 ehicks@choctawnation.com
Hailey Cusher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2697 hcusher@choctawnation.com
Hannah Bryan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 5152 hbryan@choctawnation.com
Joyce Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2616 jebaker@choctawnation.com
Kandace Folsom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2660 kfolsom@choctawnation.com
Kris Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2685 kward@choctawnation.com
Leigh Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2686 leigh.ward@choctawnation.com
Lillie Roberts Internet Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2101 lmroberts@choctawnation.com
Lincie Billy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 5148 lbattiest@choctawnation.com
Lola John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2104 ljohn@choctawnation.com
Mike Davis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2458 mdavis@choctawnation.com
Nicholas Charelston. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ext. 2691 ncharleston@choctawnation.com
Virginia Espinoza. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2662 vespinoza@choctawnation.com
Interlocal Prinipal
Justin Fite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Interlocal (580) 931-3881 jfite@choctawnation.com
Scholarship Students
Dustin Bohanan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 2952 dbohanan@choctawnation.com