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76-753: Hollywood Reservation , formerly known as the Dania Reservation , is one of six Seminole Indian reservations governed by the federally recognized Seminole Tribe of Florida , located near Hollywood, Florida . The reservation is bordered by the communities of Hollywood and Davie , in Broward County . The reservation is 497 acres (2.01 km) in size. Other Seminole Tribe of Florida reservations are: 26°02′32″N 80°12′45″W  /  26.04222°N 80.21250°W  / 26.04222; -80.21250 Seminole Old crafts and traditions were revived in both Florida and Oklahoma in

152-687: A first fruits rite in which the community would sacrifice the first of the green corn to ensure the rest of the crop would be successful. These Green Corn festivals were practiced widely throughout southern North America by many tribes evidenced in the Mississippian people and throughout the Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere . Green Corn festivals are still held today by many different Southeastern Woodland tribes . The Green Corn Ceremony typically occurs in late June or July, determined locally by

228-632: A billion dollars to construct. The word "Seminole" may be derived from the Creek word simanó-li . This has been variously translated as "frontiersman", "outcast", "runaway", "separatist", and similar words. The Creek word may be derived from the Spanish word cimarrón , meaning "runaway" or "wild one", historically used for certain Native American groups in Florida. The name "Seminole" likely

304-664: A company in the field, this letter shows how the Confederacy attempted to use Seminole warriors against the Union. Other leaders, such as Halleck Tustenuggee and Sonuk Mikko (Billy Bowlegs), refused to sign, withdrew from Florida, and joined with the Union. After the war, the United States government declared void all prior treaties with the Seminoles of Indian Country because of the "disloyalty" of some in allying with

380-469: A halt to international fashion trade), all contributed to a major decline in the demand for Seminole goods. In 1930, they received 5,000 acres (20 km ) of reservation lands. Few Seminoles moved to these reservations until the 1940s. They reorganized their government and received federal recognition in 1957 as the Seminole Tribe of Florida . During this process, the more traditional people near

456-547: A heterogeneous tribe made up of mostly Lower Creeks from Georgia, who by the time of the Creek War (1813–1814) numbered about 4,000 in Florida. At that time, numerous refugees of the Red Sticks migrated south, adding about 2,000 people to the population. They were Creek-speaking Muscogee, and were the ancestors of most of the later Creek-speaking Seminole. In addition, a few hundred escaped African-American slaves (known as

532-647: A high-stakes bingo game on their reservation in the late 1970s, winning court challenges to initiate Native American gaming , which many tribes have adopted to generate revenues for welfare, education, and development. After removal, the Seminoles in Oklahoma and Florida had little official contact until well into the 20th century. They developed along similar lines as the groups strove to maintain their culture while struggling economically. Most Seminoles in Indian Territory lived on tribal lands centered in what

608-421: A medicine referred to as assi , also referred to as the "White Drink." (English traders referred to it as the "Black Drink" due to its dark liquid which froths white when shaken before drinking). This White Drink, known to strangers as Carolina Tea, is a caffeine-laden mixture of seven to fourteen different herbs, the main ingredient being assi-luputski , Creek for "small leaves" of Yaupon Holly . This medicine

684-562: A single Stomp Dance before retiring to their home camps for a feast. During this time, the participants in the medicine rites are not allowed to sleep, as part of their fast. At midnight a Stomp Dance ceremony is held, which includes feasting and continues on through the night. The fourth day has friendship dances at dawn, games, and people later pack up and return home with their feelings of purification and forgiveness. Fasting from alcohol, sexual activity, and open water will continue for another four days. Puskita , commonly referred to as

760-475: A society based on a matrilineal kinship system of descent and inheritance: children are born into their mother's band and derive their status from her people. To the end of the nineteenth century, they spoke mostly Mikasuki and Creek. Two of the fourteen are "Freedmen Bands," composed of members descended from Black Seminoles, who were legally freed by the U.S. and tribal nations after the Civil War. They have

836-399: A special medicine by the medicine man or " Heleshayv" hilis-hi-ya ) will be kept alive until the following year's Green Corn Ceremony. In traditional times, the women would sweep out their cook-fires and the rest of their homes and collect the filth from this, as well as any old clothing and furniture to be burnt and replaced with new items for the new year. The women then bring the coals of

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912-554: A syncretic Christianity that has absorbed some tribal traditions. In 1946, the Department of Interior established the Indian Claims Commission , to consider compensation for tribes that claimed their lands were seized by the federal government during times of conflict. Tribes seeking settlements had to file claims by August 1961, and both the Oklahoma and Florida Seminoles did so. After combining their claims,

988-747: A syncretic indigenous-Western practice. For example, Seminole hymns sung in the indigenous (Muscogee) language are inclusive of key Muscogee language terms (for example, the Muscogee term "mekko" or chief conflates with "Jesus"). Also, hymns are frequently led by a song leader (a traditional indigenous song practice). In the 1950s, federal projects in Florida encouraged the tribe's reorganization. They created organizations within tribal governance to promote modernization. As Christian pastors began preaching on reservations, Green Corn Ceremony attendance decreased. This created tension between religiously traditional Seminoles and those who began adopting Christianity. In

1064-469: A thriving trade business with white merchants during this period, selling alligator hides, bird plumes, and other items sourced from the Everglades. Then, in 1906, Governor Napoleon B. Broward began an effort to drain the Everglades in attempt to convert the wetlands into farmland. The plan to drain the Everglades, new federal and state laws ending the plume trade, and the start of World War I (which put

1140-560: A tradition of accepting escaped slaves from Southern plantations , infuriating planters in the American South by providing a route for their slaves to escape bondage. After the United States achieved independence, the U.S. Army and local militia groups made increasingly frequent incursions into Spanish Florida to recapture escaped slaves living among the Seminole. American general Andrew Jackson 's 1817–1818 campaign against

1216-483: A tradition of extended patriarchal families in close communities. While the elite interacted with the Seminoles, most of the Freedmen were involved most closely with other Freedmen. They maintained their own culture, religion and social relationships. At the turn of the 20th century, they still spoke mostly Afro-Seminole Creole , a language developed in Florida related to other African-based Creole languages. The Nation

1292-538: A village known as Red Bays on Andros. Under colonists' pressure, the U.S. government made the 1823 Treaty of Camp Moultrie with the Seminoles, seizing 24 million acres in northern Florida. They offered the Seminoles a much smaller reservation in the Everglades , of about 100,000-acre (400 km ). They and the Black Seminoles moved into central and southern Florida. In 1832, the U.S. government signed

1368-665: Is a dialect. This is the primary traditional language spoken today by the Miccosukee in Florida. Joining them were several bands of Choctaw , many of whom were native to western Florida. Some Chickasaw had also left Georgia due to conflicts with colonists and their Native American allies. Also fleeing to Florida were African Americans who had escaped from slavery in the Southern Colonies . The new arrivals moved into virtually uninhabited lands that had once been peopled by several cultures indigenous to Florida, such as

1444-518: Is an annual ceremony practiced among various Native American peoples associated with the beginning of the yearly corn harvest. Busk is a term given to the ceremony by white traders, the word being a corruption of the Creek word puskita (pusketv) for "a fast". These ceremonies have been documented ethnographically throughout the North American Eastern Woodlands and Southeastern tribes . Historically, it involved

1520-500: Is derived from the Spanish cimarones , meaning "wild or untamed", as opposed to the christianized natives who had previously lived in the mission villages of Spanish Florida (In the 17th century the Spanish in Florida used cimaron to refer to christianized natives who had left their mission villages to live "wild" in the woods. ). Some of the Hitchiti - or Mikasukee -speakers who had settled in Florida identified themselves to

1596-485: Is expressed through the stomp dance and the Green Corn Ceremony held at their ceremonial grounds. Indigenous peoples have practiced Green Corn rituals for centuries. Contemporary southeastern Native American tribes, such as the Seminole and Muscogee Creek , still practice these ceremonies. As converted Christian Seminoles established their own churches, they incorporated their traditions and beliefs into

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1672-472: Is now Seminole County of the state of Oklahoma. The implementation of the Dawes Rolls in the late 1890s parceled out tribal lands in preparation for the admission of Oklahoma as a state, reducing most Seminoles to subsistence farming on small individual homesteads. While some tribe members left the territory to seek better opportunities, most remained. Today, residents of the reservation are enrolled in

1748-489: Is now restricted to Florida, where it was the native language of 1,600 people as of 2000, primarily the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida . The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is working to revive the use of Creek among its people, as it had been the dominant language of politics and social discourse. Muscogee is spoken by some Oklahoma Seminoles and about 200 older Florida Seminoles. The youngest native speaker

1824-570: Is ruled by an elected council, with two members from each of the fourteen bands, including the Freedmen's bands. The capital is at Wewoka, Oklahoma . The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma has had tribal citizenship disputes related to the Seminole Freedmen, both in terms of their sharing in a judgment trust awarded in settlement of a land claim suit, and their membership in the Nation. Green Corn Dance The Green Corn Ceremony (Busk)

1900-486: Is the celebration of the New Year. In modern tribal towns and Stomp Dance societies only the ceremonial fire, the cook fires and certain other ceremonial objects will be replaced. Everyone usually begins gathering by the weekend prior to the ceremony, working, praying, dancing and fasting off and on until the big day. The whole festival tends to last seven-eight days, including the historical preparation involved (without

1976-559: The American Civil War , the Confederate government of Florida offered aid to keep the Seminoles from fighting on the side of the Union. The Florida House of Representatives established a Committee on Indian Affairs in 1862 but, aside from appointing a representative to negotiate with the Seminole tribe, failed to follow its promises of aid. The lack of aid, along with the growing number of Federal troops and pro-unionists in

2052-477: The Apalachee , Timucua , Calusa and others. The native population had been devastated by infectious diseases brought by Spanish explorers in the 1500s and later colonization by additional European settlers. Later, raids by Carolina and Native American slavers destroyed the string of Spanish missions across northern Florida . Most of the survivors left for Cuba when the Spanish withdrew, after ceding Florida to

2128-707: The Black Seminoles ) had settled near the Seminole towns and, to a lesser extent, Native Americans from other tribes, and some white Americans. The unified Seminole spoke two languages: Creek and Mikasuki (mutually intelligible with its dialect Hitchiti ), two among the Muskogean languages family. Creek became the dominant language for political and social discourse, so Mikasuki speakers learned it if participating in high-level negotiations. The Muskogean language group includes Choctaw and Chickasaw , associated with two other major Southeastern tribes. In part due to

2204-519: The Everglades to land that was not desired by settlers. They were finally left alone and they never surrendered. Several treaties seem to bear the mark of representatives of the Seminole tribe, including the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and the Treaty of Payne's Landing . The Florida Seminoles say they are the only tribe in America never to have signed a peace treaty with the U.S. government. During

2280-473: The Muscogee and Southeastern cultures. Before dawn on the second day, four brush-covered arbors are set up on the edges of the ceremonial grounds, one in each of the sacred directions. For the first dance of the day, the women of the community participate in a Ribbon or Ladies Dance, which involves fastening rattles and shells to their legs perform a purifying dance with special ribbon-clad sticks to prepare

2356-547: The Second Seminole War . Drawing on a population of about 4,000 Seminoles and 800 allied Black Seminoles, he mustered at most 1,400 warriors (President Andrew Jackson estimated they had only 900). They countered 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 guerrilla tactics with devastating effect against U.S. forces, as they knew how to move within

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2432-731: The Seminole tribe, 12-year-old boys are declared men at the Green Corn Ceremony, and given new names by the chief as a mark of their maturity. Several tribes still participate in these ceremonies each year, but tribes who have historic tradition within the ceremony include the Yuchi , Iroquois , Cherokee , Creek , Choctaw , Natchez , Chickasaw , Shawnee , Miccosukee , Alabama , Hitchiti , Coushatta , Taskigi and Seminole tribes. Each of those tribes may have its own variations of celebration, dances and traditions but performs

2508-669: The Seminole Tribe of Florida in 1957. The more traditional people living near the Tamiami Trail received federal recognition as the Miccosukee Tribe in 1962. The Seminoles were organized around itálwa , the basis of their social, political and ritual systems, and roughly equivalent to towns or bands in English. They had a matrilineal kinship system, in which children are considered born into their mother's family and clan, and property and hereditary roles pass through

2584-592: The Tamiami Trail defined themselves as independent. They received federal recognition as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians in Florida in 1962. During World War II , roughly sixty-five Seminoles fled into the Everglades to avoid registering for the draft. The superintendent of the Seminole Indian agency in Dania was able to convince all but two of the group to eventually register. In the 1950s,

2660-484: The Treaty of Payne's Landing with a few of the Seminole chiefs. They promised lands west of the Mississippi River if the chiefs agreed to leave Florida voluntarily with their people. The Seminoles who remained prepared for war. White colonists continued to press for their removal. In 1835, the U.S. Army arrived to enforce the treaty. The Seminole leader Osceola led the vastly outnumbered resistance during

2736-541: The U.S. government , including the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and the Treaty of Paynes Landing . Seminole culture is largely derived from that of the Creek. One of the more significant holdovers from the Creek was the Green Corn Dance ceremony. Other notable traditions include use of the black drink and ritual tobacco . As the Seminoles adapted to Florida environs , they developed local traditions, such as

2812-729: The Yamasee War in South Carolina, migrated into Spanish Florida in the early 18th century. More arrived in the second half of the 18th century, as the Lower Creeks , part of the Muscogee people, began to migrate from several of their towns into Florida to evade the dominance of the Upper Creeks and pressure from encroaching colonists from the Province of Carolina . They spoke primarily Hitchiti , of which Mikasuki

2888-401: The "Green Corn Ceremony" or "Busk," is the central and most festive holiday of the traditional Muscogee people. It represents not only the renewal of the annual cycle, but of the spirit and traditions of the Muscogee. This is representative of the return of summer, the ripening of the new corn, and the common Native American traditions of environmental and agricultural renewal. Historically in

2964-455: The 1700s, the various new arrivals intermingled with each other and with the few remaining indigenous people. In a process of ethnogenesis , they constructed a new culture which they called "Seminole", a derivative of the Mvskoke' (a Creek language ) word simano-li , an adaptation of the Spanish cimarrón which means "wild" (in their case, "wild men"), or "runaway" [men]. The Seminole were

3040-614: The 18th century by Cowkeeper . Beginning in 1825, Micanopy was the principal chief of the unified Seminole, until his death in 1849, after removal to Indian Territory. This chiefly dynasty lasted past Removal, when the US forced the majority of Seminole to move from Florida to the Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma) after the Second Seminole War . Micanopy's sister's son, John Jumper , succeeded him in 1849 and, after his death in 1853, his brother Jim Jumper became principal chief. He

3116-720: The 1960s and 1970s, some tribal members on reservations, such as the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida, viewed organized Christianity as a threat to their traditions. By the 1980s, Seminole communities were even more concerned about loss of language and tradition. Many tribal members began to revive the observance of traditional Green Corn Dance ceremonies, and some shifted away from Christian observance. By 2000, religious tension between Green Corn Dance attendees and Christians (particularly Baptists) decreased. Some Seminole families participate in both religions; these practitioners have developed

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3192-644: The American Civil War, the members and leaders split over their loyalties, with John Chupco refusing to sign a treaty with the Confederacy . From 1861 to 1866, he led as chief of the Seminole who supported the Union and fought in the Indian Brigade. The split among the Seminoles lasted until 1872. After the war, the United States government negotiated only with the loyal Seminole, requiring

3268-552: The Black Seminoles also owned or controlled land that was seized in this cession, they were not acknowledged in the treaty. In 1976, the groups struggled on allocation of funds among the Oklahoma and Florida tribes. Based on early 20th century population records, at which time most of the people were full-blood, the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma was to receive three-quarters of the judgment and the Florida peoples one-quarter. The Miccosukee and allied Traditionals filed suit against

3344-689: The British as "cimallon" ( Muskogean languages have no "r" sound, replacing it with "l"). The British wrote the name as "Semallone", later "Seminole". The use of "cimallon" by bands in Florida to describe themselves may have been intended to distinguish themselves from the primarily Muskogee -speakers of the Upper Towns of the Muscogee Confederacy (called the "Creek Confederacy" by the British). After 1763, when they took over Florida from

3420-563: The British in 1763, following Britain's victory in the French and Indian War . While John Swanton stated in the mid-20th century that the Seminole encountered and absorbed the Calusa who had remained in southwest Florida after the Spanish withdrew, more recent scholarship since the turn of the 21st century holds that there is no documentary evidence of that assertion. As they established themselves in northern and peninsular Florida throughout

3496-568: The Commission awarded the Seminole a total of $ 16 million in April 1976. It had established that, at the time of the 1823 Treaty of Moultrie Creek , the Seminole exclusively occupied and used 24 million acres in Florida, which they ceded under the treaty. Assuming that most blacks in Florida were escaped slaves, the United States did not recognize the Black Seminoles as legally members of the tribe, nor as free in Florida under Spanish rule. Although

3572-546: The Confederacy. They required new peace treaties, establishing such conditions as reducing the power of tribal councils, providing freedom or tribal membership for Black Seminoles (at the same time that enslaved African Americans were being emancipated in the South), and forced concessions of tribal land for railroads and other development. The 1868 Florida Constitution , developed by the Reconstruction legislature, gave

3648-503: The Everglades and use this area for their protection. Osceola was arrested (in a breach of honor) when he came under a flag of truce to negotiations with the US in 1837. He died in jail less than a year later. He was decapitated, his body buried without his head. Other war chiefs, such as Halleck Tustenuggee and John Jumper, and the Black Seminoles Abraham and John Horse , continued the Seminole resistance against

3724-425: The Oklahoma and Florida Seminole tribes filed land claim suits, claiming they had not received adequate compensation for their lands. Their suits were combined in the government's settlement of 1976. The Seminole tribes and Traditionals took until 1990 to negotiate an agreement as to division of the settlement, a judgment trust against which members can draw for education and other benefits. The Florida Seminoles founded

3800-586: The Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma and one-quarter to the Seminoles of Florida, including the Miccosukee. By that time the total settlement was worth $ 40 million. The tribes have set up judgment trusts, which fund programs to benefit their people, such as education and health. As a result of the Second Seminole War (1835–1842), about 3,800 Seminoles and Black Seminoles were forcibly removed to Indian Territory (the modern state of Oklahoma ). During

3876-669: The Seminoles became known as the First Seminole War . Though Spain decried the incursions into its territory, the United States effectively controlled the Florida panhandle after the war. In 1819, the United States and Spain signed the Adams-Onís Treaty , which took effect in 1821. According to its terms, the United States acquired Florida and, in exchange, renounced all claims to Texas . President James Monroe appointed Andrew Jackson as military governor of Florida. As European American colonization increased after

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3952-485: The Seminoles one seat in the house and one seat in the senate of the state legislature. The Seminoles never filled the positions. After white Democrats regained control over the legislature, they removed this provision from the post-Reconstruction constitution they ratified in 1885. In the early 20th century, the Florida Seminoles re-established limited relations with the U.S. government. The Seminoles maintained

4028-593: The Spanish, the British called all natives living in Florida "Seminoles", "Creeks", or "Seminole-Creeks". The people who constituted the nucleus of this Florida group either chose to leave their tribe or were banished. At one time, the terms "renegade" and "outcast" were used to describe this status, but the terms have fallen into disuse due to their negative connotations. The Seminole identify as yat'siminoli or "free people" because for centuries their ancestors had successfully resisted efforts to subdue or convert them to Roman Catholicism . They signed several treaties with

4104-478: The U.S. of Florida in 1821, many American slaves and Black Seminoles frequently escaped from Cape Florida to the British colony of the Bahamas , settling mostly on Andros Island . Contemporary accounts noted a group of 120 migrating in 1821, and a much larger group of 300 enslaved African Americans escaping in 1823. The latter were picked up by Bahamians in 27 sloops and also by travelers in canoes. They developed

4180-566: The army. After a full decade of fighting, the war ended in 1842. Scholars estimate the U.S. government spent about $ 40,000,000 on the war, at the time a huge sum. An estimated 3,000 Seminoles and 800 Black Seminoles were forcibly exiled to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi, where they were settled on the Creek reservation. After later skirmishes in the Third Seminole War (1855–1858), perhaps 200 survivors retreated deep into

4256-675: The arrival of Native Americans from other cultures, the Seminole became increasingly independent of other Creek groups and established their own identity through ethnogenesis . They developed a thriving trade network by the time of the British and second Spanish periods (roughly 1767–1821). The tribe expanded considerably during this time, and was further supplemented from the late 18th century by escaped slaves from Southern plantations who settled near and paid tribute to Seminole towns. The latter became known as Black Seminoles , although they kept many facets of their own Gullah culture. During

4332-491: The ceremonial ground for the renewal ceremony. The ceremonial fire is set in the middle of four logs laid crosswise, so as to point to the four directions. The Mico "Mekko" (Chief of Ceremonial Grounds or Tribal Town ) takes out a little of each of the new crops (not just corn, but beans, squash, wild plants, and others) rubbed with bear oil, and it is offered together with some meat as "first-fruits" and an atonement for all sins. The fire (which has been re-lit and nurtured with

4408-611: The colonial years, the Seminole were on relatively good terms with both the Spanish and the British . In 1784, after the American Revolutionary War , Britain came to a settlement with Spain and transferred East and West Florida to it. The Spanish Empire 's decline enabled the Seminole to settle more deeply into Florida. They were led by a dynasty of chiefs of the Alachua chiefdom, founded in eastern Florida in

4484-460: The construction of open-air, thatched-roof houses known as chickees . Historically the Seminoles spoke Mikasuki and Creek , both Muskogean languages . Florida had been the home of several indigenous cultures prior to the arrival of European explorers in the early 1500s. However, the introduction of Eurasian infectious diseases, along with conflict with Spanish colonists, led to a drastic decline of Florida's original native population. By

4560-488: The developing of the corn crops. The ceremony is marked with dancing , feasting , fasting and religious observations. The Green Corn Ceremony is a celebration of many types, representing new beginnings. Also referred to as the Great Peace Ceremony, it is a celebration of thanksgiving to Hesaketvmese (The Breath Maker) for the first fruits of the harvest, and a New Year festival as well. The Busk

4636-412: The early 1700s, much of La Florida was uninhabited apart from Spanish colonial towns at St. Augustine and Pensacola . A stream of mainly Muscogee Creek began moving into the territory at that time to escape conflict with English colonists to the north and established their own towns, mainly in the Florida panhandle. Native American refugees from northern wars, such as the Yuchi and Yamasee after

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4712-407: The federally recognized Seminole Nation of Oklahoma , while others belong to unorganized groups. The Florida Seminole re-established limited relations with the U.S. government in the early 1900s and were officially granted 5,000 acres (20 km ) of reservation land in south Florida in 1930. Members gradually moved to the land, and they reorganized their government and received federal recognition as

4788-427: The fire into their homes, to rekindle their home fires. They can then bake the new fruits of the year over this fire (also to be eaten with bear oil). Many Creeks also practice the sapi or ceremonial scratches, a type of bloodletting in the mid morning, and in many tribes the men and women might rub corn milk, ash, white clay, or analogous mixtures over themselves and bathe as a form of purification. They also drink

4864-475: The late 20th century, the Seminole Tribe of Florida has been particularly successful with gambling establishments, attracting many of the numerous tourists to the state. In 2007 it purchased the Hard Rock Café and has rebranded or opened several casinos and gaming resorts under that name. These include two large resorts on its Tampa and Hollywood reservations; together these projects cost more than

4940-494: The maternal line. Males held the leading political and social positions. Each itálwa had civil, military and religious leaders; they were self-governing throughout the nineteenth century, but would cooperate for mutual defense. The itálwa continued to be the basis of Seminole society in Oklahoma into the 21st century. Historically, the various groups of Seminoles spoke two mutually unintelligible Muskogean languages : Mikasuki (and its dialect, Hitchiti) and Muscogee . Mikasuki

5016-471: The mid-20th century as the Seminole began seeking revenue from tourists traveling along the new interstate highway system . In the 1970s, Seminole tribes began to run small bingo games on their reservations to raise revenue. They won court challenges to initiate Indian gaming on their sovereign land. Many U.S. tribes have likewise adopted this practice where state laws have gambling, in order to generate revenues for welfare, education, and development. Since

5092-421: The preparation, it lasts about four days). The first day of the ceremony, people set up their campsites on one of the square ceremonial grounds. Following this, there is a feast of the remains of last year's crop, after which all the men of the community begin fasting (historically, the women were limited in their participation of this part of the ceremony ). That night there is a social stomp dance , unique to

5168-483: The second day, men of the community perform the Feather Dance to heal the community. The fasting usually ends by supper-time after the word is given by the women that the food is prepared, at which time the men march in single-file formation down to a body of water, typically a flowing creek or river for a ceremonial dip in the water and private men's meeting. They then return to the ceremonial square and perform

5244-401: The settlement in 1976 to refuse the money; they did not want to give up their claim for return of lands in Florida. The federal government put the settlement in trust until the court cases could be decided. The Oklahoma and Florida tribes entered negotiations, which was their first sustained contact in the more than a century since removal. In 1990, the settlement was awarded: three-quarters to

5320-418: The state, led the Seminoles to remain officially neutral throughout the war. In July 1864, Secretary of War James A. Seddon received word that a man named A. McBride had raised a company of sixty-five Seminole who had volunteered to fight for the Confederacy. McBride claimed to have an understanding of Florida because of the time he had spent there fighting during the Seminole wars. While McBride never put such

5396-401: The treaty, colonists pressured the federal government to remove Natives from Florida. Slaveholders resented that tribes harbored runaway black slaves, and more colonists wanted access to desirable lands held by Native Americans. Georgian slaveholders wanted the " maroons " and fugitive slaves living among the Seminoles, known today as Black Seminoles , returned to slavery. After acquisition by

5472-410: The tribe to make a new peace treaty to cover those who allied with the Confederacy, to emancipate the slaves , and to extend tribal citizenship to those freedmen who chose to stay in Seminole territory. The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma now has about 16,000 enrolled members, who are divided into a total of fourteen bands; for the Seminole members, these are similar to tribal clans . The Seminole have

5548-552: Was born in 1960. Today, English is the predominant language among both Oklahoma and Florida Seminoles, particularly the younger generations. Most Mikasuki speakers are bilingual. The Seminole use the spines of Cirsium horridulum (also called bristly thistle) to make blowgun darts. During the Seminole Wars, the Seminole people began to divide among themselves due to the conflict and differences in ideology. The Seminole population had also been growing significantly, though it

5624-691: Was diminished by the wars. With the division of the Seminole population between Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and Florida, they still maintained some common traditions, such as powwow trails and ceremonies. In general, the cultures grew apart in their markedly different circumstances, and had little contact for a century. The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma , and the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida , described below, are federally recognized, independent nations that operate in their own spheres. Seminole tribes generally follow Christianity, both Protestantism and Catholicism . They also observe their traditional Native religion , which

5700-405: Was in power through the American Civil War, after which the U.S. government began to interfere with tribal government, supporting its own candidate for chief. After raids by Anglo-American colonists on Seminole settlements in the mid-18th century, the Seminole retaliated by raiding the Southern Colonies (primarily Georgia ), purportedly at the behest of the Spanish. The Seminoles also maintained

5776-404: Was intended to help receive purification, as it is a purgative when consumed in mass amounts. (Historically, only men drank enough of the liquid to throw up.) The purgative was consumed to clean the dietary tract of last year's crop and to truly renew oneself for the new year. While the second day tends to focus on the women's dance, the third is focused on the men's. After the purification of

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