Celebrating Chief Phillip Martin -- "The Moses Of The Choctaws"
Hailed as "The Moses of the Choctaws" and "The Indians' Lee Iaccoca," Phillip Martin led the Choctaw Nation of Mississippi into printing and manufacturing of auto parts and electronics at the Mississippi reservation once called "the worst poverty pocket in the poorest state of the Union." Mr. Martin, who died Thursday at age 83, became chairman in 1959, and then elective chief until 2007.
By the 1990s, the Mississippi Choctaws had moved so far up the wage scale that they moved some of their lower-paid industrial jobs to Mexico. The Nation then concentrated on higher-margin businesses, including golf courses, a water park and two casinos. Revenue from the various businesses was spent on medical care, housing and primary education. Tribe members were granted scholarships to attend any U.S. university.
While Chief Martin was in office, the Nation introduced Choctaw language and cultural affairs preservation programs. As Choctaw chairman in the late 1960s, Mr. Martin used federal money to create a construction company employing Native workers. He convinced the nearby city of Philadelphia, Mississippi to underwrite a bond issue that financed an industrial park, and convinced General Motors to manufacture there and the American Greetings Corporation to print cards there. The Nation, which is one of the biggest employers in Mississippi, has said its business assets are worth over $1 billion. In the two decades ending in 1999, household income on the reservation, home now to about 9,000 people, jumped to $24,100 from $2,500, while unemployment fell from over 75% to about 2%.
