I'm Sophia Martin and you are watching the Seminole Report.
In this report, you will learn about the history, customs, and culture of the Seminoles.
You will also confront the tragedy of how the Seminoles were brutally mistreated, slaughtered,
and driven away from their land by the United States government.
The Seminoles were originally members of the Creek and other tribes located in Georgia
and Florida.
Around 1710, some who eventually became Seminoles left Georgia for Florida.
In fact, the name Seminole, or Simanoli, means runaway in Muskogee, the language of creeks
and Seminoles.
At first, the Seminoles lived in North Florida, and over the next century, gradually settled
Central Florida.
Creek and Seminole societies were destroyed, starting in 1814, beginning with a civil war
among creeks, which escalated when some of them attacked white settlers.
Soon, U.S. soldiers, led by Andrew Jackson, routed the creeks and forced them onto reservations.
Later he expanded his attack to include the Seminoles, who had the bad luck to be living
in land wanted by the U.S. government, but controlled by the British and Spanish.
Jackson ordered his troops to destroy Seminole farms and villages, and many of them escaped
to lower Florida.
Both the Americans and the Indians engaged in attacks and reprisals.
Jackson was made governor of the Florida Territory and refused to sign peace treaties with the
Indians.
The Seminole and settlers had years of conflict before the Second and Worst Seminole War in
1835.
The Seminole enraged some by assisting runaway black slaves.
The Second War virtually destroyed Seminole culture and led to the tribe's relocation
west of the Mississippi.
While the Seminole were not blameless in the conflicts, it was their land and culture that
were endangered by the white settlers.
Historians often include Andrew Jackson among the 10 best presidents, yet he signed the
Indian Removal Act that forcibly relocated the Seminole, Cherokee, Shakhtar, Creek, and
Chickasaw along the Trail of Tears.
Thousands of Indians died of starvation, exposure, and disease.
Critics of Jackson's brutality toward the tribes have accused him of ethnic cleansing.
General William Sherman, who is famous for the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War,
demanded the destruction of the Seminole.
General Philip Sheridan told his soldiers to let war against the Indians be total, let
it be a campaign of annihilation, obliteration, and complete destruction, Sheridan said.
In a letter to General Sherman, he wrote, did we cease to throw shells into Vicksburg
or Atlanta because women and children were there?
The Seminole survived on animals they captured and farmed and vegetables they grew.
Corn was a staple of the Seminole diet.
They ate squash, including pumpkins, which were much different from what we call pumpkin
today, and bananas.
They also ate corn, beans, and sugarcane, which they farmed.
They made flour from a plant they called Kunti, and which we call arrowroot.
Soft-key made of roasted corn was the favorite Seminole drink.
It was also eaten as a porridge with meat added.
Hunting was important for the tribes' diet and economy.
They ate bear, raccoon, deer, turkey, alligator, and beaver.
Some became cattle farmers in the custom of the white settlers.
Living near water, the Seminoles were often expert fishermen and fishing even became a
commercial industry.
From their canoes, they harpooned manatees and shot and speared alligators.
When the Seminole lived in cooler North Florida, they built two-story log houses.
As they were pursued south by the U.S. military, they created the chickie, which could be made
in a hurry.
A chickie is made of cypress logs and has a roof of palmetto leaves.
It was raised above the ground to protect the inhabitants from alligators.
Generally, a chickie has no walls.
Both Seminole men and women were known for their colorful and stylish clothes.
The Seminole used cotton and wool to make clothing, including shirts, skirts, and moccasins.
The women wore many beads.
Two popular bead styles were the daisy and the spiderweb.
Beads were often made of glass and metal.
Seminole women wore their skirts with glasses or capetops.
The men wore belted shirts and turbans.
They decorated the turbans with feathers.
The clothing featured patchwork designs.
Blacks became an important part of Seminole culture when the chiefs bought slaves.
Seminole slaves had much more independence than the ones owned by whites and gradually
became free and relatively prosperous.
Over time, many blacks and Seminole's intermarried and created what is called black Seminole's.
The Seminole suffered a bitter fate and one that could have been prevented through tolerance
and respect.
I'm Sophia Martin.
Thank you for watching.
