Seminole
The Seminole are a group of Native American people from Florida in the Southeastern Woodlands. Today, many Seminole people live in different groups across Florida and Oklahoma. Their tribes are the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Seminole Tribe of Florida, and Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.
yat'siminoli | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| est. 18,600 Seminole Nation of Oklahoma 15,572 enrolled Seminole Tribe of Florida 4,000 enrolled Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida 400 enrolled | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
United States ( Oklahoma and  Florida) | |
| Languages | |
| English, Mikasuki, Creek | |
| Religion | |
| Protestant, Catholic, Green Corn Ceremony | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Miccosukee, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), Mascogos |
History
The Seminole Nation began in the 18th century, when many groups of Native Americans came together in Florida. Much of Seminole culture comes from the Muscogee (Creek) people from Georgia and Alabama, who made up a large part of the Seminole Nation when it was formed. The name "Seminole" comes the word for "runaway" in the Muscogee language, which many Seminole people spoke.
The Seminole developed an independent identity over a period of time in the 18th and 19th Centuries. During this time they traded with British and Spanish colonists who were living in Florida. Many free blacks and escaped slaves settled near Seminole land and paid tributes to the Seminole tribe. These people later became known as "Black Seminoles."
After the American Revolutionary War, many Americans tried to move into Seminole land. This created conflict leading to the Seminole Wars (1818-1858).
Seminole Media
A group of Seminole people dancing around a fire in 1928.
Coeehajo, Chief, 1837, Smithsonian American Art Museum
A sign at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park commemorating hundreds of enslaved African Americans who in the early 1820s escaped from this area with the help of British boat captains to freedom in the Bahamas.
Seminole woman, painted by George Catlin, 1834
The Seminole family of tribal elder, Cypress Tiger, at their camp near Kendall, Florida, 1916. Photo taken by botanist, John Kunkel Small
Seminole patchwork shawl made by Susie Cypress from Big Cypress Indian Reservation, ca. 1980s
Seminoles' Thanksgiving meal mid-1950s
A Seminole spearing a garfish from a dugout, Florida, 1930
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