Jena Band of Choctaw Reservation (Indian reservation (Native American reservation))
Coordinates:
Lat: 31 26 17 N degrees minutes
Lat: 31.4370 decimal degrees
Long: 092 29 54 W degrees minutes
Long: -92.4980 decimal degrees
Note: This is a federally-recognized reservation stewarded by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, one of three federally-recognized Choctaw Tribes. The reservation is located near the town of Jena in Grant and LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. After the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, signed on September 27, 1830, the Choctaw Tribe was forcibly removed from their ancestral lands via the Trail of Tears. This forced migration resulted in the splintering of the Choctaw peoples throughout Louisiana. Members of the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians have built communities near the present-day town of Jena since the 1880s and local officials near Jena created the Penick Indian School near the present-day reservation boundaries in 1932. However, it was not until 1974 that the Louisiana legislature passed a formal resolution recognizing both the tribe and the reservation. In an effort to uplift the epistemic authority of Indigenous knowledge systems and engage with Indigenous peoples' Right of Reply, ethical collaboration with the tribal chairperson's office and/or cultural center is highly encouraged for the most authoritative information about tribal reservations.