The Seminole tribe lives primarily in Oklahoma and Florida. They separated from the Creeks, migrating into northern Florida beginning in the early 1700s and establishing full autonomy by 1800. The Seminoles spoke Muskogee and Hichiti, languages belonging to the Muskogean family. Their name derives from the Spanish word cimarrón, meaning "wild" or "runaway." The name "Seminole" originally designated only one group near Gainesville, but Europeans applied it to all Florida Indians by the late 1700s.
The earliest Seminole settlers came from the Lower Creek towns on the middle Chattahoochee River and included previously incorporated groups. From the 1770s, the Seminoles adopted escaped slaves, who lived in separate towns. Upper Creek refugees also joined the Seminoles following the Red Stick War (also called the Creek War) of 1813–1814.
The Seminoles organized their towns into chiefdoms—one around Tallahassee and Lake Miccosukee and one south of Gainesville—ruled by paramount chiefs. Around 1800, Creek towns in the forks of the Apalachicola River also formed a separate chiefdom, later assimilated into the Seminoles. These chiefdoms were known as the Talahassi or Mikkosuki, the Alachua or Seminole, and the Apalachicola.
Seminole, Florida Red Stick, and Lower Creek settlements on the Flint River engaged in mutual raiding with American border settlements from 1790 to 1818. General Andrew Jackson took advantage of this situation to invade Florida, destroying a few Indian and black towns and conquering the Spanish posts at St. Marks and Pensacola.
Spain ceded Florida to the United States through the Adams-Ónis Treaty (1819), bringing the Seminoles under American rule. The Treaty of Moultrie Creek (1823) relocated most Seminoles to a reservation in central Florida. A separate agreement allowed five chiefs to remain on the Apalachicola and lower Chattahoochee Rivers. Most western Seminoles moved in 1825 and a unified Seminole government formed at that time.
Under the Treaty of Payne's Landing (1832), the Seminoles agreed to consider emigration to Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. The Seminoles overwhelmingly rejected emigration, and mounting tensions culminated in the Second Seminole War (1835–1842). A few Seminoles voluntarily emigrated to Indian Territory in 1838, but most were sent west as prisoners of war. By the end of the war, 3,612 Seminoles lived in Indian Territory, while about 350 to 500 Seminoles remained in Florida.
The removed Seminoles reestablished their communities and their government, living as they had before. They relocated their settlements several times and experienced considerable hardships, as well as conflicts with the Creeks. Some Seminoles rejoined the Creeks, while others under Kowakochi (Wildcat) and John Horse (Gopher John) emigrated to northern Mexico in 1849.
The removed Seminoles signed a treaty with the Confederacy in August 1861, after the Union abandoned Indian Territory. Dissident leaders fled to Kansas and allied with the Union that autumn. Both Seminole factions fought in the Civil War (1861–1865) and the Seminole Nation was laid to waste. By the punitive Seminole Treaty of 1866, they relinquished their existing lands for a tract one-tenth the size purchased from the Creeks.
The Seminoles reestablished their lives on the new reservation and a written constitution was adopted in 1871. By 1880, the number of towns declined from 24 to 14 (including two black towns). Christian missionaries had opened schools and missions in 1848, but met little success during the nineteenth century.
In 1898, the Seminoles signed an agreement with the United States, dividing their lands among the 3,000 tribal members and formally dissolving the tribal government, although the latter operated administratively until 1915. The Seminoles became citizens of the United States in 1901 and six years later, became citizens of Oklahoma. Federal protections for allottees proved inadequate and the Seminoles lost 80 percent of their lands by 1920, retaining less than 10 percent at the end of the twentieth century. The tribal government was reestablished in 1935 and reorganized in 1970.
After allotment, earlier settlements broke up and many Seminoles left the area in the early twentieth century. Most Oklahoma Seminoles also converted to Christianity, primarily Baptist sects, and many ceased speaking their native language. About one quarter of Oklahoma Seminoles still follow the native religion and at least 20 percent speak Muskogee. As of 2002, Oklahoma Seminoles numbered almost 15,000, including over two thousand Freedmen or black Seminoles. Educational and income levels remain low and economic development projects have met little success, though the tribe's Class II gaming operations have generated considerable revenues since the late 1990s. The tribe also has a multimillion-dollar trust fund, from the land claims settlement for the loss of Florida.
After removal, the Florida Seminoles scattered to small settlements south of their former territory, generally avoiding Americans. Foraging became more important in their economy, owing to a lack of suitable farmlands. Since most chiefs were removed during the Second Seminole War, leadership shifted to the priests (hilishaya) and war leaders (tastanaki) and ritual unity and informal lead-ership by religious leaders replaced political unity and formal government.
Because American officials had little success removing the remaining Florida Seminoles, Executive Order 1379 (1911) created reservations at Brighton, Big Cypress, and Dania. Other Seminoles lived off-reservation along the Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) and south in the Everglades. The Seminole Tribe of Florida organized in 1957 and the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida incorporated separately in 1965. About 2,600 Seminoles and Miccosukees lived in Florida at the end of the twentieth century. Economic development on the Florida reservations generally has met little success, except for high-stakes bingo at the Hollywood (Dania) reservation, which has made the Florida Seminoles a successful gaming tribe.
Bibliography
Fairbanks, Charles H. Ethnohistorical Report on the Florida Indians. New York: Garland Publishing, 1974.
Kersey, Harry A., Jr. Pelts, Plumes, and Hides: White Traders among the Seminole Indians, 1870–1930. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1975.
Mahon, John K. History of the Second Seminole War, 1835–1842. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1967.
McReynolds, Edwin C. The Seminoles. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.
