Reviving Chickasaw Government and Culture

In 1963, the Chickasaws began to pressure the federal programs to provide social and economic services to tribal members. With Representative Carl Albert's support, clinics were introduced. Realizing that the Chickasaw language could disappear, Overton James approached his mother, Vinnie May Humes, about creating a Chickasaw dictionary. She and her husband began a work that took them two and half years to complete. Jesse Humes died as the initial draft was done; the Governor's mother continued his work. The Capitol Building in Tishomingo was designated a national historic site and saved from the wrecking ball.