Try free for 30 days

  • Living in the Land of Death

  • The Choctaw Nation, 1830-1860
  • By: Donna L. Akers
  • Narrated by: Sally Martin
  • Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Living in the Land of Death cover art

Living in the Land of Death

By: Donna L. Akers
Narrated by: Sally Martin
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Choctaw people began their journey over the Trail of Tears from their homelands in Mississippi to the new lands of the Choctaw Nation. Suffering a death rate of nearly 20 percent due to exposure, disease, mismanagement, and fraud, they limped into Indian Territory, or, as they knew it, the Land of the Dead (the route taken by the souls of Choctaw people after death on their way to the Choctaw afterlife). Their first few years in the new nation affirmed their name for the land, as hundreds more died from whooping cough, floods, starvation, cholera, and smallpox.

Living in the Land of Death depicts the story of Choctaw survival, and the evolution of the Choctaw people in their new environment. Culturally, over time, their adaptation was one of homesteads and agriculture, eventually making them self-sufficient in the rich new lands of Indian territory. Along the Red River and other major waterways, several Choctaw families of mixed heritage built plantations, and imported large crews of slave labor to work cotton fields. They developed a sub-economy based on interaction with the world market. However, the vast majority of Choctaws continued with their traditional subsistence economy that was easily adapted to their new environment.

The immigrant Choctaws did not, however, move into land that was vacant. The U.S. government, through many questionable and some outright corrupt extralegal maneuvers, chose to believe it had gained title through negotiations with some of the peoples whose homelands and hunting grounds formed Indian Territory. Many of these indigenous peoples reacted furiously to the incursion of the Choctaws onto their rightful lands. They threatened and attacked the Choctaws and other immigrant Indian Nations for years.

©2004 Donna L. Akers (P)2016 Redwood Audiobooks
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic Reviews

"With graceful writing, Akers beautifully seamlessly incorporates Choctaw language and worldview into her analysis and announces herself as an important new indigenous voice in historical scholarship." (Journal of Indigenous Nations Studies)
"Akers, a member of the Choctaw Nation, clearly posits that she is providing an "insider's" perspective and intends to show that Choctaw culture survived the juggernaut of assimiliation… She achieved her objective in a commendable fashion… a balanced and readable account." (Journal of the West)

What listeners say about Living in the Land of Death

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.