Native Americans Seminole SS 4H1: The students will describe how early native American cultures developed in North America

Where did the Seminole Live? The Seminole Indians are original people of Georgia and Florida. Banded together to fight the Europeans. Moved to the Florida Everglades. In Florida, there is a huge area of 9-million-acres of wet, swampy land, covered with tall saw grass. There are many slow moving streams of water and stretches of quicksand. Many animals live in the Florida Everglades including poisonous snakes, panthers, bobcats, alligators, deer, otter, turtles, fish, birds. There are beautiful flowering plants. http://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/southeast/seminole.html#Everglades

How did the Seminole Survive Seminole men were good hunters. Fish were speared from canoes. They caught otter, raccoon, bobcats, alligator, turtle, and birds. To catch deer, they would burn a patch of grass. When the new grass grew in, the deer came to feast, and the Seminole caught the deer. Villagers planted crops but they did not tend their crops. They did not weed or fertilize or irrigate. Wild plants mingled with the ones they had planted. The land teemed with food like wild pineapples, mangos, guava, oranges, and mulberry trees. The Seminole planted pumpkins, pawpaws, and corn. Corn was the main crop. They used corn to make corn flour, corn bread, corn pancakes, and even a corn soft drink called sofkee. Sofkee is still a popular soft drink among the Seminoles on reservations today.

What were the Seminole homes like? Each family had their own home. Homes were called chickees. Chickees were platform houses, made of logs. The bottom floor was about 3 feet off the ground for protection from flooding and animals. The roof was slanted. Certain times of the year, people hung canvas curtains (walls) to keep out the rain and cold weather. When walls were not needed, the Seminole rolled up their canvas curtains and hung them from the rafters to keep them safe and dry. They hung many things from the rafters of their homes - cooking utensils, a baby swing, perhaps a wheel. You had to keep things off the wet ground if you wanted to keep them safe.

Chickee

Village Life Seminole villages were very small. The entire village might be 2 homes (chickees), 1 eating house, and 1 storage house. A large village might have 10-12 homes (chickees). Their homes were built in a circle around a central open area used as a protected play area for their children and their central campfire. Campfires were always built in the same way. Logs were arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Seminoles did not stay in their village year around. They were often on the move, camping near harvest areas or off hunting. If someone came by and found a village deserted, they were welcome to spend the night. There were no locks. There were no walls. The Seminole might not return to a specific village for some time, but wherever they went, they either built a new camp, or stayed at an old one that they had built in the past. Each Seminole family had many homes.

What type of transportation did the Seminole use? Canoes: They traveled by canoe. Canoes were decorated with family colors. A favorite design was the diamond shape. Canoes were made in different size. The largest one could carry a family. The smallest was used for spear fishing. On Foot, Following Animal Trails: There were trails made by animals through the Everglades. The Seminole were experts at following animals trails.

What did the Seminole wear? The Seminole made patchwork clothes, carefully hand sewn. Some had applique and embroidery. Some had silver jewelry sewn on them. Clothes were bright and cheery. Babies wore dresses. At 3-years-old, the boys continued to wear a knee length one piece garment. The girls moved to a 2 piece garment - a blouse with puffy sleeves and a wide long skirt. As a girl grew older, she had to wear three long skirts at the same time.

What did the Seminole wear? The Seminole loved beads. At age 3, the boys switched to a scarf. Girls continued to receive new bead necklaces, to add to the ones they already wore. By age 5, the beaded necklace a girl wore would have grown to about 36 inches. Adult women wore beaded necklaces that were about 60 inches long, and women did wear more than one necklace. These necklaces did not hang down. The women wrapped them around and around their neck until you could not see their neck at all. All you could see were beads. The beads were heavy.

What did the Seminole wear?

Thinking Question….

Based on how the Seminole survived and lived… Do you think the Seminole had permanent villages or did they have to move to find food?