Seminole Indians

Explains when & how Seminole & Miccosukee culture was formed & how it has withstood historical challenges & survived in the face of pressures from the modern world.

The essays that comprise this volume examine the distortions and fabrications that white culture has imposed on historical and current events in its representation of American Indian culture over the last 150 years.

Early in this century, the Native Americans known as the Florida Seminoles struggled to survive in an environment altered by the drainage of the Everglades & a dwindling demand for hides. The author describes how they turned to tourism & discovered another marketable commodity - their own culture. Ironically, she shows, it was the reticent Mikasuki-speaking Seminoles (who call themselves i:laponathli:) who developed the tourist market so successfully. By the 1930s virtually all of the Florida Indian population was engaged in the business. They participated in fairs & expositions in Chicago, New York, & Canada. In large commercial Seminole villages in Miami & Ocala, the antigovernment i:laponathli: sewed brightly colored patchwork, wrestled alligators, & opened their palm-frond chickees to the public, attractions that visitors to the state have enjoyed for much of this century. Though their exhibition economy originally was condemned by the government, it provided income for families as well as a lasting cultural identity for the people. Today, the Seminole Tribe of Florida & the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida promote their tourist activities to worldwide markets as "cultural heritage & ecotourism." Illustrated with 30 evocative photographs, the author's book supplies an original & colorful social & economic history of an unconquered people. Often told in the words of the many Seminoles whom the author interviewed, this book is the only one available on the topic of the cultural tourism activities of an Indian tribe.

In 1898 after the murder of a white woman, two young Seminoles were chained and burned alive. Hiding behind a wall of silence and fearing reprisal for identifying the executioners, virtually the entire white community became involved with the ghastly execution. In this absorbing narrative Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., captures the horror and details the events that incited this alarming act of mob violence and community complicity. Seminole Burning not only gives an account of a dramatic, violent chapter in Indian-white relations but also provides insights into the social, economic, and legal history of the times. Because the lynchers took the victims out of Indian Territory and into the new state of Oklahoma for execution, the case became a target for federal investigation. With the conviction of six this became the first successful prosecution of lynchers in the Southwest.

Though they speak several different languages and organize themselves into many distinct tribes, the Native American peoples of the Southeast share a complex ancient culture and a tumultuous history. This volume examines and synthesizes their history through each of its integral phases: the complex and elaborate societies that emerged and flourished in the Pre-Columbian period; the triple curse of disease, economic dependency, and political instability brought by the European invasion; the role of Native Americans in the inter-colonial struggles for control of the region; the removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes" to Oklahoma; the challenges and adaptations of the post-removal period; and the creativity and persistence of those who remained in the Southeast.

This eagerly awaited debut by acclaimed Native environmental activist Winona LaDuke is a thoughtful and in-depth account of Native resistance to environmental and cultural degradation. LaDuke's unique understanding of Native ideas and people is borne from long years of experience, and is deepened by inspiring testimonies from local Native activists sharing the struggle for survival.