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Epilogue After the Yamasee War, the Chickasaws, as well as the other Southern Indians , segued from trading in Indian slaves to trading in skins, mostly those of the white-­tailed deer. Throughout the slaving era, skins and furs had been a part of the trade system, but they took second place to the more highly valued Indian slaves. After the Yamasee War, when slaving was proving to be more difficult, Indian men and women throughout the South increased the amount of skins they were trading, until the deerskin trade came to be one of the most profitable eras in southern history for the English colonies. The deerskin-­trade era had its own disruptions and violence, but relative to the earlier slaving era, general stability settled over much of the region, and especially over the large coalescent societies in the interior. Maps from this time period would look quite different from the maps presented in this book. The Chickasaws, already strategically located for the trade, took full advantage of their English connections and geography to flourish during the deerskin-­trade era. Archaeological evidence points to a marked increase in trade goods flowing into Chickasaw country, and recent investigations hint at large prosperity for them by the mid-­eighteenth century. The deerskin trade, however, began to decline after the American Revolution . The Chickasaws and other Southern Indians once again cast about for new commodities for the market, and they began to experiment in ranching and commercial farming. Of the two, ranching at first proved especially promising. During this time, many people moved out of their nucleated towns into widely dispersed farms, fanning across the landscape for good access to grasses and other browse for their free-­range livestock. At the same  256 Epilogue time, the United States began its program of development among Native peoples, attempting to remake them into American yeoman farmers. The government promoted cattle and hog ranching, and the Chickasaws once again proved to be in a good location for the enterprise. The Black Prairie was perfect for free-­range ranching, and the Chickasaws adapted well to the changing economic situation. As cotton began to rule the southern economy, however, southern politicians, land speculators, and planters cast their eye over Chickasaw country and, indeed, over all of Indian country in the South. The result was the forced removal of the majority of the Southern Indians to Oklahoma. The historical trauma of Indian Removal was deep for the Southern Indians , and life in their new lands was difficult for most, as it required much reconfiguring of their economic system, social system, political system, and even what it meant to be Indian. Throughout the nineteenth century, the southern coalescent societies began the long process of nation building in the hopes of standing equal with the United States. However, the Civil War and the Dawes Act of 1887 undermined these efforts and once again left the Indian nations as colonial subjects of the United States. In the postcolonial, late twentieth century, Southern Indian nations experienced a resurgence, and they again embarked on the difficult task of nation building. Indian nations today, after centuries of the shattering effects of colonialism, still have a difficult task ahead of them, as they battle problems such as unemployment , lack of educational opportunities, poverty, and diabetes among their people. What these modern efforts will produce has yet to be seen, but today hundreds of Indian scholars, social workers, teachers, medical professionals, politicians, artists, writers, students, journalists, filmmakers, laborers, elderly people, and others are making their voices heard and laboring hard to improve Indian life across America. To say that an early twenty-­first-­century renaissance among American Indians is in the making would not be an overstatement , and the Chickasaw Nation, along with many others, are making it happen. ...

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