The Choctaw (In the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally occupying what is now the Southeastern United States (modern-day Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana).
 Their Choctaw language belongs to the Muskogean language family group.
This is a list of notable Native Americans from peoples indigenous to the contemporary United States, including Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Americans in the United States.
 Native American identity is a complex and contested issue.
 The Bureau of Indian Affairs defines Native American as having American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry.
 Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a federally recognized tribe or Alaskan village.
 Ethnologically, factors such as culture, history, language, religion, and familial kinships can influence Native American identity.
 All individuals on this list should have Native American ancestry.
 Historical figures might predate tribal enrollment practices and would be included based on ethnological tribal membership,
The United States was the first jurisdiction to acknowledge the common law doctrine of aboriginal title (also known as "original Indian title" or "Indian right of occupancy").
 Native American tribes and nations establish aboriginal title by actual, continuous, and exclusive use and occupancy for a "long time."
 Individuals may also establish aboriginal title, if their ancestors held title as individuals.
 Unlike other jurisdictions, the content of aboriginal title is not limited to historical or traditional land uses.
 Aboriginal title may not be alienated, except to the federal government or with the approval of Congress.
 Aboriginal title is distinct from the lands Native Americans own in fee simple and occupy under federal trust.
Impacts of Native American gaming can be positive or negative, depending on the tribe and its location.
 In the 1970s, various Native American tribes took unprecedented action to initiate Native gaming enterprises.
 In doing so, they created not only a series of legal struggles between the federal, state, and tribal governments but also a groundbreaking way to revitalize the Native American economy.
 Native American gaming has grown from bingo parlors to high-stakes gaming and is surrounded by controversy on many different levels.
 There are disputes concerning tribal sovereignty, negative effects of gaming, and a loss of Native American culture.
 In the United States the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed in 1988 in order to secure collaboration between the states and tribes and also in order for the federal government to oversee gaming operations.
 Native American gaming has proven to be extremely lucrative for several tribes, but it has also been unsuccessful in some instances.
 Native American gaming is contingent upon and only beneficial to its respective reservation.
Cajun French (French: "français cadien/français cadjin" ) (commonly called Louisiana Regional French, and related to but distinct from the historical Colonial, or Plantation Society, French) is a variety of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern parishes, though substantial minorities exist in southeast Texas as well.
 The Cajuns assimilated the Colonial Louisiana French dialect, but many mistakenly label the latter dialect as "Cajun French".
 Significant populations of Louisianians, descended from European, African, and Native American ancestors, continue to speak those varieties of French.
 Parishes in which these dialects are still found include but are not limited to Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Cameron, Evangeline, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, Pointe Coupée, Vermillion, and other parishes of Southern Louisiana.
The Native American Music Awards (also known as the NAMAs or "Nammys") are an awards program presented annually by Elbel Productions, Inc., The Native American Music Awards Inc., and The Native American Music Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in 1998, which recognizes outstanding musical achievement in styles associated with Native Americans, predominantly in the United States and Canada.
 While Native American performers in a variety of genres are also recognized, nominees do not have to be Native American themselves.
 The awards were created in 1998 to offer Native American musicians greater recognition from the American music industry and to create opportunities for international exposure and recognition.
The use of terms and images referring to Native Americans/First Nations as the name or mascot for a sports team is a topic of public controversy in the United States and in Canada, arising as part of the Native American/First Nations civil rights movements.
 Since the 1960s, there have been a number of protests and other actions by Native Americans and others targeting the more prominent use of such names and images by professional franchises such as the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins.
 However, the greatest change has occurred in the trend by school and college teams that have retired Native American names and mascots at an increasing rate in recent decades.
 The analysis of a database in 2013 indicates that there are currently more than 2,000 secondary schools with mascots that reference Native American culture, compared to around 3,000 fifty years ago.
 Many of these changes have been voluntary as the issue has been discussed at a local level.
 Statewide laws or school board decisions mandating change have been passed in states with significant Native American populations.
 Other states have official policies that encourage change in accordance with principles of establishing a proper environment for education.
 However, there has also been resistance and backlash.
This is a list of Native American musicians and singers.
 They are notable musicians and singers, who are from Peoples indigenous to the contemporary United States, including Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Americans in the United States.
 Native American identity is a complex and contested issue.
 The Bureau of Indian Affairs defines Native American as having American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry.
 Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a federally recognized tribe or Alaskan village.
 Ethnologically, factors such as culture, history, language, religion, and familial kinships can influence Native American identity.
Jim Weaver McKown Barnes (born 1933), of Choctaw and Welsh descent, was born near Summerfield, Oklahoma (in LeFlore County).
 He received his BA from Southeastern State University and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas.
 He taught at Truman State University from 1970 to 2003, where he was Professor of Comparative Literature and Writer-in-Residence.
 After retiring from Truman State, he was Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at Brigham Young University until 2006.
 On January 15, 2009, Barnes was named Oklahoma Poet Laureate for 2009-2010.
This is a list of Native American actors in the United States, including Alaskan Natives and American Indians. Native American identity is a complex and contested issue rooted in political sovereignty that pre-dates the creation of colonial nation states like the U.S. and Canada and persists into the 21st century recognized under international law by treaty.
 The Bureau of Indian Affairs defines Native American as having American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry.
 Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a federally recognized tribe or Alaskan village.
 Ethnologically, factors such as culture, history, language, religion, and familial kinships can influence Native American identity.
 All individuals on this list should have Native American ancestry.
 Historical figures might predate tribal enrollment practices and would be included based on ethnological tribal membership, while any contemporary individuals should either be enrolled members of federally recognized tribes or have cited Native American ancestry and be recognized as being Native American by their respective tribes(s).
 Contemporary unenrolled individuals are listed as being of descent from a tribe.

Question: In which part of the United States did the native American ancestors of Jim Barnes occupy?
Answer: Southeastern United States