CIF Shares Vision of CHC with Mississippi Leaders

On a warm, sunny day in mid-December, the Chickasaw Inkana Foundation provided a daylong heritage tourism and economic development tour for Mississippi State Senator Chad McMahon and the Community Development Foundation (CDF), as well as, a number of state senate committee chairpersons and other elected officials. The tour included recently initiated construction projects, and the future site of the Chickasaw Heritage Center (CHC) along with many important historical and cultural locations of the Chickasaw people. The Chickasaw Inkana Foundation (CIF) has received $6 million in bond authorizations for the construction of the CHC and is seeking an additional $10 million in funding from the State of Mississippi. The goal of the tour was to share the foundation’s and the Chickasaw Nation’s vision of the CHC and the positive impact it will have on the Tupelo, Mississippi heritage tourism and the region’s economy. “We are fortunate to have sparked the interest of key elected officials in our state and successfully shared the vision and importance of this project to the Chickasaw people and the State of Mississippi,” said CIF CEO Brady Davis. The final stop of the tour was the Chickasaw Village Site on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Chickasaw Village Site was a pre-Removal Chickasaw settlement with a commanding view of the Blackland Prairie and Kings Creek, a tributary of the Tombigbee River. The site is home to one of the largest publically accessible preserved sections of the Blackland prairie, an endangered ecosystem that was prominent in the historic Chickasaw Homeland prior to Removal. Adjacent to the Chickasaw Village Site lies the future home of the Chickasaw Heritage Center, which will have direct access from the Natchez Trace Parkway.