Marcia Abramson
Those early inhabitants migrated from Georgia and Alabama in the 1700s into what was then Spanish territory. "Creeks" was the name given to these Native Americans by the European Settlers who went to war with them in 1814. However, just six years later, there were more than 5,000 Native Americans living in Florida. "Seminole" was the name given to these indigenous people because it meant "runaway." Then, the Americans started the First Seminole War in 1817 led by an American General (and later President) Andrew Jackson. He came with his army to Florida to fight the Seminoles for alleged trespasses against settlers along the Georgia border. Spain had enough of the Seminoles and ceded Florida with the troublesome Indians to the United States. The Seminoles were then forced to move further south. But the settlers were obviously not willing to share the sunshine with the Indians, and lobbied Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Negotiations were started to remove the Seminoles from Florida to other territory west of the Mississippi River. This resulted in the Second Seminole War that lasted for seven years from 1835 to 1842 (the longest and costliest Indian war in U.S. history) when most of the Seminoles had been captured and sent to Oklahoma. After 1845, the remaining Seminoles found refuge in the South Florida swamps and the Everglades. Their population had decreased to less than 200 after a Third Seminole War and little was seen or heard from them, until a new trading post came to South Florida in the latter part of the 1800s. Finally, the Secretary of the Interior approved a charter and constitution for the Florida Seminole tribe and in 1957, and a majority of the tribal members voted to establish the Seminole Tribe of Florida. My airboat tour through the marshy snake and alligator waters included a show of a Seminole wrestling a huge alligator. On dry land after surveying the waters, I was treated to a wrestling match between the Seminole and a full grown huge alligator. The Seminole wrestler succeeded in putting his arms under the alligator's jaws and holding it rigid for a few moments before releasing it. Quite frankly, I was happier seeing the alligator in the water or snoozing on the shore. I also learned that the eastern edge of today's Big Cypress Reservation was originally part of the Everglades. Actually, in 1901, there was a trading post frequented by the Seminoles. They would pole their canoes up to the post, where they traded alligator hides, otter skins, and egret feathers for grits, flour, sugar, beads, hardware and cloth. Later, efforts to drain the Everglades resulted in increasing the size of the Big Cypress Swamp to more than 2,400 square miles. There is no longer the trading post, but there is the Seminole Big Cypress Reservation,( the largest of six reservations) and home to over 500 Seminoles as well as the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, the Billie Swamp Safari wildlife park and the Big Cypress Campground tourist attractions. Of particular interest to me on display at the museum was the exhibit of the Green Corn Dance. This is a part of the Seminole culture that has existed for hundreds of years and ensures the well being of the Seminole Tribe for the next year. Its name comes from the practice of prohibiting the eating of the year's new crop until the medicine man has performed the annual ritual. The Green Corn Dance is a religious ritual and outsiders are not permitted to attend, so this exhibit at the museum does give you and me a unique glimpse into this sacred ceremony. Today's Seminole Tribe have replaced their dugout canoes with modern tribal jets and helicopters, as well as their open-sided chickee huts with modern homes. Gaming has become one of their major means of a livelihood, replacing arts and crafts and working at tourist camps. Their Hollywood Reservation led the American Indian tribes with the first jackpot gaming facility in1979 and into 1980 and 1990. The Seminole Tribe is also known to be one of the state of Florida's largest cattle ranchers, with over 8,000 on the Brighton and Big Cypress Reservations. Additionally, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos are in the cards for Hollywood and Tampa. The 2,800 descendants of the survivors of the Three Seminole Wars are proud to be known as "The Unconquered" Seminole Tribe of Florida and are a fascinating people.
© Copyright by Marcia AbramsonE-mail: mascribe@verizon.net
