Paleo-Indian Period

During the Paleo-Indian period, the climate was wetter and colder than today. Glaciers covered the northern land. Paleo-Indians roamed the country, hunting herds of Pleistocene megafauanal, giant animals, like mastodons and giant bison.

Point spears were used to hunt. The Clovis spears were first discovered in what is now Clovis, New Mexico. They were made of flint or chert from what is now northern Alabama and middle Tennessee, the Chickasaws' historic homeland. The Folsom points were used as projectiles and knives.

As Native Americans, we broadly trace our roots back to these migratory Paleo-Indians. Legend has it that the Chickasaws migrated for generations from "the place in the West" to settle in what is now the Southeast.