Founded in February 2014, the Chickasaw Inkana Foundation, a 501(c)(3) Mississippi based non-profit corporation was first envisioned by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby in 2011. Governor Anoatubby’s vision was to form a grass roots, independent non-profit organization in the Chickasaw Homeland with the goal to foster enduring partnerships with governments and organizations in order to enco
urage the preservation and protection of Chickasaw heritage sites as well as accurately interpret Chickasaw history and culture in the region from the Chickasaw perspective. The Chickasaw Homeland constitutes not only its epicenter in the Tupelo, Mississippi area but all of North Mississippi, West Tennessee, Northwest Alabama, and Southwestern Kentucky. Since its inception, the Foundation’s mission to preserve, protect and interpret Chickasaw history and culture in the historic Chickasaw Homeland has been personified through historical and cultural preservation, archaeology, education and public programming. The Foundation, in partnership with the Chickasaw Nation, hosts annual celebrations of Chickasaw history and culture throughout the historic Homeland and more importantly preserves endangered cultural and sacred sites significant to the Chickasaw people. In addition, the Foundation, in partnership with the Chickasaw Nation, State of Mississippi, the National Park Service and the City of Tupelo is tasked with the fundraising, development, construction and operation of a new state-of-the-art Chickasaw Heritage Center to be located in Tupelo, Mississippi, the heart of the historic Chickasaw Homeland.
