Early 1700s - The Formation of The Seminoles
In the early 1700s, as the Indigenous tribes of Florida were being killed off by war and disease, various other groups of Native Americans began migrating south to the land of Florida.
These groups were mainly composed of theMaskókî [Muscogee] people (erroneously called Creeks by the English) who lived north of present-day Florida.
The Creek migrants also included:
Hitchiti
and Mikasuki speakers.
There were also some non-Creek peoples:
the Yamasee
and Yuchi.
These groups began to merge to form what became the new Seminole Tribe.
Also included amongst the Seminoles were free blacks and runaway slaves who married into the tribe.
It is believed that the Seminoles were named by the Creeks, but the derivation of the word Seminole is uncertain:
The name is a possibly a corruption of the Creek ishti semoli, which means 'wild men', an epithet applied by the Creeks.
Some have suggested that the term Seminole is a Native corruption of the Spanish word Cimarron, which could mean wild or unruly.
Another, more likely, belief is that the Natives who constituted the nucleus of this Florida group refered to themselves as yat'siminoli or "free people," because for centuries their ancestors had resisted the attempts of the Spaniards to conquer and convert them, as well as the attempts of the British to take their lands and use them as military allies.
Soon, the European Americans would begin to call all of the Natives in Florida by that name: "Seminoles."
The Upper Creeks refered to them as Aulockawan in recognition of their place of residence .
The Florida Tribes, indigenous and immigrant (Seminole), continued being annihilated in Florida by disease, by the Europeans, or by their own kind.
The Seminoles shared the Florida Keys with the Creeks until around 1770.
In 1771 the Florida Creeks and their associates began to be referred to as Seminoles.
1816-1858 - Three Seminole Wars
A series of threeSeminole Wars with the United States resulted in the removal of most of these Natives to what is now Oklahoma and the remainder merged, by ethnogenesis, into the currentSeminole and Miccosukee tribes of Florida.
During the First Seminole Indian War, the Seminoles attacked the early settlements.
Forts were built throughout the east coast, then known as Mosquito County, to defend the settlers against the Seminoles.
Later, the Maskókî tribes in Alabama (whom English speakers erroneously called "Creeks") rose up against the white settlers in the Creek War of 1813-14.
This was followed by the brutal repression and disastrous treaty forced upon them by General Andrew Jackson.
This caused thousands of the most determined warriors and their families to migrate southward and take refuge in Spanish Florida.
Once there, they joined the last remaining descendants of many other tribes whose members had lived in Florida for thousands of years.
The Natives who constituted the nucleus of this Florida group refered to themselves as yat'siminoli or "free people," because for centuries their ancestors had resisted the attempts of the Spaniards to conquer and convert them, as well as the attempts of the British to take their lands and use them as military allies.
Soon, the European Americans would begin to call all of the Natives in Florida by that name: "Seminoles."
In 1823, at the Treaty of Moultie Creek, the Seminoles were ordered to live in a reservation, much of which was located in modern day Lake County.
One large tribal camp was located about five miles northwest of present day Groveland in the area of Tuscanooga. The area was named after their leader, Halpatter Tustenugee. Records indicate there were somewhere between 180 to 300 members of the tribe living there. Tustenugee led his warriors to participate in what became known as the Dade Battle, which took place in Bushnell.
Other nearby tribal camps were located at Okahumpka and northwest of Center Hill. It is likely that these groups also took part in the battle.
In 1842, at the end of the Second Seminole War, Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act.
It offered 160 acres of land in Florida to any man who would take up arms to protect the area against potential renewed Native hostilities.
So long as he would build a habitable dwelling and live on the property for five years, while cultivating at least five acres of his homestead.
Many men accepted the challenge and joined the Blacks who were already engaged in farming the area.
Settlements and small towns began to quickly appear and some vanished just as fast.
1880 - Few Remain
In 1880, after less than 200 years of the tribe being formed, it is reported that only 208 Seminoles remained.
John Griffin
John Griffin, a former Groveland City Councilman and Vice Mayor, was a Black Seminole. For many years, he participated in the Dade Battlefield reenactment as a Seminole warrior.
[Contributors: Jason Brown]
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