The tribes growing business enterprises have allowed it to work to improve the lives of tribal members who have a rich tradition of serving in the military (see Code Talkers) serving their community and the State of Oklahoma. Tribal members have overcome adversity to grow to nearly 200,000 strong, the countrys third largest tribe. until the federal government forcibly removed most tribal members in 1830 to Southeastern Oklahoma in what became known as the Trail of Tears. For hundreds of years before Europeans came to the United States, the Choctaw Nation was a tribe of farmers who lived in what is now the southeastern U.S.
