Crossing Bok Chitto

"As long as our stories are told, We can be Choctaw forever." Tim Tingle

Bibliography

Tingle, Tim. 2006. Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom. Ill. By Jeanne Rorex Bridges. El Paso: Cinco Puntos Press. ISBN 9780938317777

Plot Summary

In this Choctaw tale, Martha Tom, a young Choctaw girl, ventured across Bok Chitto, the river that separated Choctaw land from the plantation owners, to pick blackberries. She uses the hidden stone path that only the Choctaw people knew about. After crossing Bok Chitto, she happens upon a forbidden slave church service where she meets a young boy named Little Mo. Little Mo’s father encourages him to help Martha Tom find her way back to the river. One night Little Mo learns that his mother is going to be sold to another plantation owner. He begs his father to take the family and escape so they can stay together. The plantation owner and the Choctaw have an agreed upon law that states that once a slave was across Bok Chitto he is free and the slave owner could not follow. Mo quietly runs to Martha Tom’s home and requests help for his family. Martha Tom, her mother and the village women help his family escape across the river.

Critical Analysis

Crossing Bok Chitto, written by Tim Tingle, is a great book to learn about the Choctaws and their relationship with African American slaves and plantation owners. It also allows readers to see the Choctaw perspective of slavery and how they often helped slaves to freedom.

This book did not portray stereotypes of the Choctaws or African American people represented in the story. The Choctaw and African American slaves are seen as wise, caring individuals. The illustrations, done by Jeanne Rorex Bridges are beautifully done and capture the essence of both African American slaves and the Choctaw Nation.

This story is filled with cultural markers that represent both Native American and African American culture. Martha Tom learns about the music and religion of the African American slaves by developing a friendship with Little Mo and attending the forbidden church services. “We are bound for the Promised Land!” The man began to preach and the slaves began to sing. Martha Tom was moved by the music because she had never heard anything like it before. Other cultural markers for the African American slaves were included: such as slaves learning to walk among the plantation owners to become “invisible” and not draw attention to themselves in order to stay safe. In turn, when Little Mo helps Martha Tom return to her side of the river, he learns of her culture. When Little Mo and Martha Tom crossed over to the Choctaw side the first time, Little Mo heard chanting, something he had never heard before. “He thought it must be the heartbeat of the earth itself.” This was the sound of men calling all of the Choctaw to the wedding. Tingle also includes other cultural details such as the way the Choctaw women wear their hair and the way they dress for the special wedding ceremony.

Tim Tingle is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. All of his ideas come from stories told and passed down by his ancestors. At the end of the book, Tingle gives the reader information on the contemporary Choctaw Nation and also describes Choctaw Storytelling. Based on stories told to the author on a trip to Bok Chitto, this tale uniquely captures the spirit of Choctaw Indian life and honors their customs.

Review Excerpts

Booklist
"Set "in the days before the War Between the States, in the days before the Trail of Tears," and told in the lulling rhythms of oral history, the tale opens with a Mississippi Choctaw girl who strays across the Bok Chitto River into the world of Southern plantations, where she befriends a slave boy and his family. When trouble comes, the desperate runaways flee to freedom, helped by their own fierce desire (which renders them invisible to their pursuers) and by the Choctaws' secret route across the river. In her first paintings for a picture book, Bridges conveys the humanity and resilience of both peoples in forceful acrylics, frequently centering on dignified figures standing erect before moody landscapes. Sophisticated endnotes about Choctaw history and storytelling traditions don't clarify whether Tingle's tale is original or retold, but this oversight won't affect the story's powerful impact on young readers."

School Library Journal “Dramatic, quiet, and warming, this is a story of friendship across cultures in 1800s Mississippi. Tingle is a performing storyteller, and his text has the rhythm and grace of that oral tradition. It will be easily and effectively read aloud. The paintings are dark and solemn, and the artist has done a wonderful job of depicting all of the characters as individuals, with many of them looking out of the page right at readers.”

Connections

Use Crossing Bok Chitto as an introduction to a unit on the 'Trail of Tears' or as a precursor to kick off African-American history month

http://www.cincopuntos.com/pdf/crossing_bok_chitto_guide.pdf

http://suzyred.com/2008crossingbokchitto.html

Jeanne Rorex Bridges: http://www.rorex-art.com/

Tim Tingle: www.choctawstoryteller.com/