Seminole
The
Seminole are a
Native American people originally of
Florida, and now residing in that state and in
Oklahoma. The Seminole nation came into existence in the
18th century and was composed of Indians from
Georgia,
Mississippi,
Alabama, and
Florida, most significantly the
Creek Nation, as well as
African Americans who escaped from
slavery in
South Carolina and Georgia (see
Black Seminoles). While roughly 3000 Seminoles were forced west of the
Mississippi River, including the Seminole Nation of
Oklahoma, who picked up new members along their way, approximately 300-500 Seminoles stayed and fought in and around the
Everglades of Florida. In a series of wars against the Seminoles in Florida, about 1,500 U.S. soldiers died, but no formal peace treaty was ever forced on them and they never surrendered to the U.S. government, hence, the Seminoles of Florida call themselves the "Unconquered People."
Today, they have sovereignty over their tribal lands, and an economy based on tobacco, tourism and gambling. "Seminoles" is also the nickname of the athletic teams of
Florida State University. In response to the
NCAA's proclamation that Native American names and logos will not be permitted by its member institutions unless the namesake tribe concurs, both the 3,100-member Seminole Tribe of Florida and the 6,000-member Seminole Nation of Oklahoma have officially approved the relationship and the details of the images used.
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The Flag of the Seminoles of Florida, adopted in 1979 |
After the
Spanish conquest in the
16th century, the
indigenous people of
Florida were decimated by disease, and it is believed that the few survivors were evacuated by the Spanish to
Cuba when Florida fell under
British rule in 1763.
In the early
18th century, members of the Lower
Creek Nation began migrating into Florida to remove themselves from the dominance of the Upper Creeks, and intermingled with the few remaining indigenous people there, including the
Yuchi,
Yamasee, and others. They went on to be called "Seminole", a derivative of "cimarrón" which means "wild" (in their case, "wild men") in Spanish. The Seminole were a heterogenous tribe made up of mostly
Lower Creeks from
Georgia,
Mikasuki-speaking Central
Muskogees, and escaped
African American slaves, and to a lesser extent
white Americans and Indians from other tribes. The unified Seminole spoke two languages, Creek and Mikasuki (a modern dialect of
Hitchiti), two different members of the Muskogean
Native American languages family, a language group that also includes
Choctaw and
Chickasaw. It is largely on linguistic grounds that the modern
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida maintain their separate identity today.
The Seminole were apparently on good terms with both the Spanish and the British. In 1784, the treaty ending the
American Revolutionary War returned all of Florida to Spanish control. However, the
Spanish Empire's decline allowed the Seminole to settle deeper into Florida.
After attacks by Spanish settlers on Indian towns, Indians based in Florida began raiding Georgia settlements, purportedly at the behest of the Spanish. The
U.S. Army led increasingly frequent incursions into Spanish territory to recapture escaped slaves, including the 1817–1818 campaign against the Seminole Indians by
Andrew Jackson that became known as the
First Seminole War. Following the war, the United States effectively controlled East Florida.
The
Adams-Onís Treaty [
1] was signed between the United States and Spain in 1819 and took effect in 1821. According to the terms of the treaty, the United States acquired Florida and, in exchange, renounced all claims to
Texas.
Andrew Jackson was named military governor of Florida. As American settlement increased after the treaty, pressure grew on the Federal government to remove the Indians from their lands in Florida. Many Indian tribes harbored runaway black slaves, and the settlers wanted access to Indian lands. Georgian slaveowners also wanted the
maroons and fugitive slaves living among the Seminoles, known today as
Black Seminoles, returned to slavery.
In 1832, the United States government signed the
Treaty of Paynes Landing with a few of the Seminole chiefs, promising them lands west of the
Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida voluntarily. The remaining Seminole prepared for war. White settlers pressured the government to remove all of the Indians, by force if necessary. In
1835, the U.S. Army arrived to enforce the treaty. Seminole leader
Osceola led the vastly outnumbered resistance during the
Second Seminole War. Drawing on a population of about 4,000 Seminole Indians and 800 allied
Black Seminoles, the Seminoles mustered at most 1,400 warriors (Andrew Jackson estimated they had only 900) to counter combined U.S. Army and militia forces that ranged from 6,000 troops at the outset to 9,000 at the peak of deployment, in 1837. To survive, the Seminole allies employed hit-and-run guerrilla tactics with devastating effect against U.S. forces. Osceola was arrested when he came under a flag of truce to negotiations in 1837. He died in jail less than a year later.
Other warchiefs such as
Halleck Tustenuggee continued the Seminole resistance against the army. The war only ended after a full decade of fighting, in 1842. The U.S. government is estimated to have spent about $20,000,000 on the war, at the time an astronomical sum. Many Indians were forcibly exiled to
Creek lands west of the Mississippi; others retreated into the
Everglades. In the end, the government gave up trying to subjugate the Seminole in their Everglades redoubts and left the remaining Seminole in peace. About 1,500 American soldiers in federal uniform and an unrecorded number of militiamen had died, but no formal peace treaty had been forced on the independent Seminole who never surrendered to the U.S. government.
In the
United States 2000 Census, 12,431 people reported themselves racially solely as Native Americans with only a Seminole tribal affiliation. An additional 15,000 people identified themselves as Seminoles in combination with some other tribal affiliation or race. [
2]
The
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma has about 6,000 enrolled members, who are divided into fourteen bands. Two are called "Freedmen Bands" (also
black seminole) because they count their descent from escaped slaves. Band membership is matrilineal: children are members of their mother's band. The group is ruled by an elected council, with two members from each band. The capital is at
Wewoka, Oklahoma. The
Seminole Tribe of Florida and the
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida entered into agreements with the US government in 1957 and 1962, respectively, confirming their sovereignty over tribal lands and agreeing to compensation for seized territory. Since then, the tribes have developed an economy based largely on sales of duty-free tobacco, tourism and gambling. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida was formed in the 1960s by members of the Florida Seminole community who were unsatisfied with the Seminole Tribe of Florida; they were largely
Mikasuki-speaking descendants of the Central
Muskogee, as opposed to the majority of Seminoles who spoke
Creek. [
3] The Miccosukee Tribe set up a 33-acre reservation on the northern border of Everglades National Park, about 45 miles west of Miami.
"When South Florida tourism boomed in the 1920's, Seminoles capitalized by wrestling alligators for money. In 1979, the Seminoles opened the first casino on Indian land, ushering in what has become a multibillion-dollar industry operated by numerous tribes nationwide." [
4] In more recent years, the Miccosukee Tribe has sustained itself by owning and operating a
casino,
resort, a
golf club, several
Museum, attractions, and the "Indian Village". At the "Indian Village", Seminoles demonstrate traditional pre-colombian lifestyles to educate people of their culture. The use of "Seminole" as a namesake is common in Florida, with one county named after them,
Seminole County, Florida, and another named after Seminole leader
Osceola,
Osceola County, Florida. There is also a city named for them in Pinellas County, FL -
Seminole, Florida.
The image and name of the Seminole chief, Osceola, serves as a symbol for
Florida State University and several high school athletic programs in the state, use the nickname, "Seminoles" as well.
According to
The New York Times article "Florida State Can Keep Its Seminoles", [
5] the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) prohibition of Native American logos, signs in stadiums, cheerleader and band uniforms, and mascots as presumed "hostile and abusive" did not apply to FSU and the Seminoles, and would be considered on a case by case basis elsewhere. FSU was exempt as both the 3,100-member Seminole Tribe of Florida and the 6,000-member Seminole Nation of Oklahoma officially approved the relationship and the details of the images used. The article states: "The Seminoles are the only American Indian tribe never to sign a formal peace treaty with the United States. To celebrate this status, Florida State erected
Unconquered, a statue of the Chief Osceola mascot, outside its football stadium."
However, the Miccosukee tribe of Seminoles have remained silent on this issue and it was only the tribal councils of the other two tribes that approved the relationship and did not necessarily reflect the feelings of all or even most members of the two tribes.
*
History of Florida*
Seminole Tribe of Florida official site*
Seminole Clothing Patchwork *
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida official site*
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma official site*
The sovereign Miccosukee Seminole Nation official site*
Hitchiti-Mikasuki Creation Story*
Aponke Resources for the study of Hitchiti and Mikasuki*
History of the Seminole People of Florida by Patricia R. Wickman, Ph.D.*
Seminole Portraits Hand colored lithographs of some of the major Seminole leaders of the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). From the State Library & Archives of Florida.
*
Seminole Doll MakingSeminole doll maker Mary B. Billie. Interview in Seminole and English with photos. From the State Library & Archives of Florida.
*
Alligator Dance Audio of Seminole elder Billy Bowlegs III performing traditional dance and song in 1954. (Track 16 of CD.) From the State Library & Archives of Florida.
*[
6]
*
John Horse and the Black Seminoles, First Black Rebels to Beat American Slavery
