The Choctaw Code by Brent Ashabranner and Russell G. Davis is
historical fiction set in the Choctaw Nation in the 1890s. The
Baxter family is newly arrived in Indian territory where Tom’s
father will be the new railroad station master in Atoka, and Tom
will help his mother to set up housekeeping. Tom befriends Jim
Moshulatubee, a quiet Choctaw Indian who teaches him how to hunt
and fish and respect that land that they explore together. More
important than forest survival skills, however, Tom begins to
learn life lessons from Jim about the heavy consequences of a
man’s actions. Jim acknowledges his own crime without excuse, he
lives honorably in the time that remains for him, and he
squarely faces the penalty required by the Choctaw Code. The
Choctaw Code was the 1995 recipient of the Oklahoma Book Award
in the children/young adult category for fiction with an
Oklahoma-based theme.