A Chickasaw Dictionary

Chickasaw Press offers a limited-edition re-issue of the historic work by Jesse Humes and Vinnie May (James) Humes, in hardcover. The re-issue is the first edition of the groundbreaking dictionary to be published under the Chickasaw Press imprint, and is presented as a companion volume to A Concise Chickasaw Dictionary, a new title for this publishing year. The Humes work, first published in 1971, was compiled and completed after Overton James, governor of the Chickasaw Nation at the time, persuaded his mother and stepfather, Vinnie May and Jesse, of the critical importance of preservation of the tribe s language, which even in those days faced peril of imminent disappearance. For several months the Humeses worked on the dictionary, and although Mr. Humes passed away before its completion, it achieved a place in the Native literary and historical canon as an important and foundational work.