The MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians
The MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians has lived in southern Alabama for centuries. The tribe takes its name from the two counties that make up its homeland, Mobile and Washington, where its communities lie between Citronelle, Mount Vernon, and McIntosh. When the forced removals of the 1830s displaced tens of thousands of Choctaw and other Native people along the Trail of Tears, the MOWA ancestors remained, taking refuge in the swamps and pine barrens of Alabama and holding onto their land, kinship, and identity through more than a century of hardship.
The State of Alabama formally recognized the MOWA Band as a Native American tribe in 1979. Today roughly 3,600 MOWA Choctaw live in the traditional homeland, and the tribe keeps its heritage alive through its annual Pow Wow, traditional dance and dress, and stories passed from elders to children. Headquartered in Mount Vernon, the tribe operates housing, education, and community programs, and formed MOWA Choctaw Services so that business earnings flow back into those programs and into opportunity for tribal members.
The MOWA Band is state-recognized and is not federally recognized. SBA's definition of an Indian tribe includes state-recognized tribes, so MCS's 8(a) status applies in full. How eligibility works.