Nanih Waiyah Lake in the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma was named for Nanih Waiyah, the first capital of the Choctaw Nation which are the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United State with 223,279 members.
It is in the Ouachita Mountains, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of Tuskahoma, Oklahoma, and 16.3 miles (26.2 km) from Talihina, Oklahoma. It was named for Nanih Waiya, the first capital of the Choctaw Nation after its removal during the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, which is nearby. It is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States and the second-largest Indian reservation in area after the Navajo. As of 2011, the tribe has 223,279 enrolled members, of whom 84,670 live within the state of Oklahoma and 41,616 live within the Choctaw Nation's jurisdiction. 
