1. MS FOLK CULTURES

2. CHOCTAW

3. Choctaw Culture Work hard to preserve their culture. Most speak the Choctaw language Traditional concepts of relationships, nature, arts, dance, & music Choctaw Indian Fair – 1 st week in July –At reservation in Neshoba County near Philadelphia –Recreates the Festival of the Green Corn Special dances, play stickball, & display crafts Influence on Southern cuisine (food customs) especially corn (hominy, grits, corn meal, etc.)

4. AFRICAN - AMERICANS

5. African-American Culture Favor improvisation and innovation always searching for new ideas within familiar ways passed down from earlier generations First came to MS as slaves and free blacks –Slaves: mostly on plantations and farms –Free blacks: Natchez and along Gulf Coast Rich African heritage with borrowed European and Native American traits

6. Influence on Southern Culture Language – words like boogie, gumbo, jazz, & okra Folklore – tales of trickster animals & spirits Music & Performance – blues, dramatic speechmaking, lively preaching & banjo

7. Food – yams, okra, spicy ingredients, deep-fried chicken & fish, peas & greens boiled with pork, barbeque, and gumbo Crafts - baskets & colorful quilts Afterworld Beliefs - placing personal items on graves to ward off evil spirits & assure the peaceful rest of deceased

8. EUROPEAN - AMERICANS

9. Contributions to Southern Culture Country Music Basket making Boat building Quilting Storytelling

10. European-American Cultures Largest group from British Isles –Celtic tradition: square & clog dancing –Building styles, music, & cuisine French & Spanish arrived on the Gulf Coast. –Brought Mardi Gras –Designed the Biloxi schooner and catboat ideally suited for the shallow waters of MS.

11. Other groups: –Italians (Shaw, Greenville, Gulf Coast) brought language, food, & recreation. –Greeks (Jackson & Gulf Coast) –Lebanese (Vicksburg) –Jews (Natchez) –Slavonians (Biloxi)

12. ASIAN - AMERICANS

13. Asian-American Cultures Strong identity with ancestors & ancient customs of loyalty & religious practices Largest group from China –Settled the Delta in the late 1800s Vietnamese arrived in the 1980s. –Settled on the Gulf Coast –Worked in the seafood industry

14. Contributions to Southern Culture Cuisine Holidays –Chinese New Year – private family celebrations –parade in Clarksdale –Vietnamese Tet – Celebrates the New Year, national independence, and religious holiday for Buddhists (temple in Biloxi for food and prayers) Arts, literature, & music