The educational system developed by the Choctaw Nation during the nineteenth century began with annuity funding from early treaties which ceded Choctaw land to the U.S. and ended with Choctaw loss of control over their schools in 1899 to the U.S. government. Starting in 1818, missionaries from American Protestant denominations became an important factor in Indian education, establishing early mission schools in Choctaw lands in Mississippi and Alabama which promoted "agriculture, homemaking, Christianity, and citizenship". With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, mission schools were uprooted to follow Choctaws to their new Oklahoma home. The 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (continuing previous support for education, instituting the "Forty Youth Fund" which financed college education for Choctaws) and the Public School Act of 1842 (funds for seven boarding schools--two for boys, five for girls) were landmark decisions. Largely administered by missionary groups, schools were under Choctaw support. While boarding academies and seminaries were the backbone of the school system, neighborhood and Sunday schools (including weekend adult education) were also underway. Interrupted by the Civil War, Choctaw education efforts resumed in 1866 with boarding schools, neighborhood schools, and support for higher education. Federal control of the Choctaw school system resulted from the Curtis Act in 1898. (RS)