ABSTRACT
By the 1760s, trade relations with Europeans affected Choctaw social stability directly. Since at least Mississippian times, southeastern Indian leaders maintained a level of non-coercive power and authority necessary to the preservation of social order by redistributing high-prestige items to their families and followers. French trade with the Choctaws occurred once a year at Mobile, at which time Choctaw chiefs gave deerskins to French officials and French governors reciprocated with ample gifts of their own. Choctaw leaders realized that peace was impossible as long as their destiny was so inextricably tied to British goals. Choctaw elites shifted their strategy after the peace failed; eastern division leaders abandoned the peace efforts, whereas chiefs of the western division preserved an open line of communication through the Chickasaws to the Creek Upper Towns. Changed economic relations brought about by British occupation of the Floridas destabilized Choctaw political and social norms.
