Chunkey

Season 5 • Episode 13

Chickasaw Culture Keepers

The game of chunkey was a regular part of life for Chickasaw ancestors, including Isaac Kemp's, and today he's helping to preserve the tradition by sharing its history. While there isn't an exact date for when Chickasaws and other southeastern tribes began playing the game, it's known that "chunkey goes back to prehistoric times ... [Chickasaws] just kind of have been playing it forever," Isaac says. Two warriors, two spears and one stone make up the game and the goal is to land your spear tip as close to the stone as possible. Chunkey requires stamina, and "the people that played it back then would have been on the same level as Olympic athletes, because that's how hard it would have been."

Chunkey games were large, important events and when warriors from various villages would challenge each other, people came from near and far to trade, make bets, support their village and watch from the sidelines as the competitive game was played indefinitely. Today, sharing the history of chunkey and teaching others how to play is important to both Isaac and the Chickasaw Nation. "[Chunkey] is something that we've had for years, something that was almost taken away from us, and to be able to have this today and to show not just other people in our community but people all around the world what this game is, is very very important to us. And to me personally."

EPISODES

3m 30s

Chunkey

EPISODES

Pottery

Stickball Sticks

Beading

Regalia

Metalsmithing

Shell Carving

Weaving

Horticulture

Baskets

Traditional Foods

Quilting

Flutes

Beaded Collars

Drum Making

Storytelling

Bow Making

Brent Greenwood Art

Beaded Jewelry

Flint Knapping

Stomp Dancing

Beadwork

Turkey Calls

Traditional Stories: How Day and Night Were Divided

Woodturning

Bead Artisan

Textile Art

Quilt Making

Jewelry

The Legacy of Bow Making

Bead Artistry

Painting

Woven Mats

Metalworking

Photography

Pashofa

Deer Toe Shakers

Stickball Sticks

Shell Carving

Medicine Bags

Natural Dyes

Twinning

Bladesmithing

Fish Nets

Porcupine Quillwork

Pottery Burnishing

Shell Carving

Duck Decoys

Traditional Arrows

Fine Gourd Art

Traditional Flutes

Turtle Pottery

Turtle Shell Shakers

Pucker Toe Moccasins

Chunkey

Tattoos and War Paint

Leggings and Breechcloths

Hide Brain Tanning

River Cane Harvesting, Splitting and Peeling

Stories of Kullihoma

History of Beads