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Ajisa Akada
English 102
Informative Essay
27 April 2015
Woodlands Seminole Native Americans
People have always been interested in where they come from and the relatives who make
up their ancestry. When considering ones own deep past and trying to trace back, a complicated
map, like an ants nest, spreads out, and it can feel as if no end points exist. Culture will be one
of the inevitable topics of deliberation during this time. The word culture is abstract, and the
definition may vary with each persons thoughts. However, culture helps define who people are
whether they identify with their cultural roots or are immersed in the art, music, literature, food,
and language of their cultures present state. Every person belongs to a culture, and people who
have the same culture share beliefs and traditions. Compared to other countries that have
thousands to tens of thousands of years of history, such as Greece, China, and Italy, the U.S. has
only about 240 years. The U.S. is multiethnic nation, a huge, great nation of various people who
originated in different countries and cultures living together. The American people take pride in
Americas status as a nation of immigrants; however, Columbus did not discover an empty land.
In fact, Americas earliest settlers encountered indigenous people whose ancestors had lived on
the land for many, many generations. One tribe of indigenous people, the Seminole Nation, had
and have thriving, fascinating cultural traditions with unique social organization, arts, adaptation
to the environment skills, and government and relocation history.
Social Organization
Seminole Native Americans form traditional extended families. Each Seminole mother
belongs to a clan that has eight separate groups: Wind, Otter, Bear, Snake, Panther, Toad, Bird,
and Deer (Seminole Tribe). Each non-human symbol gives each Seminole a sense of firm
belonging; the symbols represent strength, courage, and spirit among other attributes. For
example, in the southeast region, the panther denotes nobility: the otter symbolizes loyalty and

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honesty: a deer represents caretaker of the earth (Native Languages). The traditional way
Seminoles form their extended family is the husband goes to live with his wifes family although
he does not need to change his own clan. Then, newborn babies follow their mothers clan, and
this social organization leads to a succession of each clan (Seminole Tribe of Florida. Clans).
Compared to ancient Japanese cultural tradition, the female goes to her husbands house and
changes her family register to her husbands family. The Seminole family system is rare in that it
has a matriarchal lineage: descendants clan affiliations are determined through the female line.
Adaptation to Environmental skills
In the 1700s, the early Seminoles established themselves using north Florida as their
home base; this land is subject to climate extremes especially tropical monsoons. Seminoles
made a living by farming, gathering wild plants, fishing, and hunting, becoming self-supporting
(Seminole). The Seminoles also earned a livelihood by raising livestock and trading handmade
goods such as cloth, weapons, and tools with the European pioneers (Seminole). Taking
resources from the environment, they produced all that they needed for their lives, establishing a
traditional economy system (Hyland).
Without the techniques and machines that todays people utilize to make their lives
convenient, the early Seminoles exercised their own ingenuity and relied on their accumulated
knowledge to adapt to their daily living environment. To prevent damage from floods, the
Seminole people built high-floored houses (three to four feet above the ground) that were similar
to log-type cabin homes developed in the early 1800s. Because of the humid and hot climate,
no house walls were required, but to shelter themselves from heavy rain and strong wind, they
used lash tarps (National Tribal). The Seminoles experienced floods because of their location, but
using canoes as main transportation, they took advantage of their living environment as well,
traveling distances by water routes to hunt, gather resources, and trade. Putting gasoline in a
vehicle or hitting a horrible traffic jam was not among their concerns.

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Arts
Native Americans including Seminoles are artistic and knowledgeable. They use natural
materials, such as fibers and shells, for their artworks (South Eastern Woodlands. Indians). For
Seminole people, beadwork is one of their important daily activities (Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Beadworks). When babies are born, a first beaded necklace is given. Then, each year, they
continue to receive a new necklace, adding it to the collection of necklaces from past years, and
they wear them all together without taking them off. Although the boys change from necklace to
scarf at the age of three, girls continue this custom until others cannot see the girls necks but
only the beautiful necklaces (South Eastern Woodlands. Beads). While their incredible
beadwork, like necklaces, are symbolic of Seminoles artistic culture, the fact remains that
beading caused some accidents. In the 1930s, two Seminole women paddled a canoe on the
Barron River and drowned. They were not able to swim because of the heavy weight of their
necklaces, and the weight only made them sink. Moreover, Seminole women are pestered with
bad shoulder and neck ailments (Historical Society). Among the women there is a belief: females
endure any pain for the sake of their style. Regardless of time or culture, most females may share
this common idea.
Government and Relocation
The Seminole, Cherokee, Muskogee, Creek, and Chickasaw, called the Five Civilized
Tribes, resided in the southeastern region of the U.S. The Seminole was one of the most
traditional tribes in the southeastern region (Five). In 1814, Andrew Jackson, who was a
powerful advocator of Indian removal, commanded the U.S. military to destroy more than six
Indian towns and conquer the lands the Seminoles settled in north Florida. The tribe was
considered an impediment in the way of the growth of the United States (PBS Online). This led
to the First Seminoles War (1817-1818). While protecting their indigenous land, about five years
later after first Seminoles War, the Seminoles agreed to the Treaty of Moultrie Creek; they

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relocated their reservation to central Florida and formed their own first unified government,
following Creek social practices (Seminole). The new Seminole government consisted of a
national council that also served as the judicial body, an elected principal chief, and a second
chief (PBS Online).
In ongoing efforts, the U.S. government tried unsuccessfully to remove the Seminoles
from their Florida lands, and in 1830, Jackson passed legislation called the Indian Removal
Act through the Congress; the legislation gave the president power to negotiate with Indian
tribes to relocate their territory. The struggle of the U.S. government to remove the Seminoles
from their residential lands led to the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) - the longest and
costliest Indian war in U.S. history. In the end, most Seminoles left their land moving west, but
to remove every Seminole, the Third Seminole War followed (Seminole). When compared to
the U.S. government and its power, one tribes government was powerless, but the Seminoles
made the U.S. government pay to get the remaining Seminoles to move west. Although the
function or power of the Seminole form of government was not as strong as the U.S.
government, the oppression felt solidified the tribe.
When considering culture, people will discover new facts or stories of their roots.
Cultural practices evolve because of living situations, including available resources, and climate.
Cultural beliefs develop as people make efforts to cope with unanticipated incidents, diseases,
conflicts, or oppression. Regardless of the depth of the roots, each custom becomes an
indispensable element. The indigenous people in the Seminole Nation had and have a flourishing
culture with respect to the matriarchal lineage, flexible skills to adapt to their environment,
artistic skills like beadwork, their own government structure, and a history of relocation in
difficult times. With time, customs and traditions in the Seminole culture have been given over to
the inheritors, while some components were added or customized into new shapes. Cultures are

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like many-layered mille-feuilles; the strong foundation is not shaken easily and allows the
accumulation of other layers of cultural elements to be added on. If ancestors were here and
looked the present culture that they had started creating, reformation or disappearance of some
customs may make them sorrowful, but maybe not. Due to their ability to adapt, the Seminoles
still share strong beliefs and traditions, and the remnants of their ancient ways identify who they
are.

Works Cited
"Five Civilized Tribes." Encyclopedia of North American Indians. History Study Center. 1996.
Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Historical Society of Palm Beach County. The Seminoles and Miccosukees: Traveling
Educational Trunk Program. Nd. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Hyland. School World. Teacher Websites. Edline. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
National Tribal Healthy Homes. Southeastern Houses: Chickee. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2015
Native Languages of the Americas. Native American Panther Mythology. 2015. Web. 28 Apr.
2015.
---. Native American Otter Mythology. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.
---. Native American Deer Mythology. 2015. Web 28 Apr. 2015.
PBS Online. People & Events: Indian removal, 1814 1858. Nd. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
"Seminole." Encyclopedia of North American Indians. History Study Center. 1996. Web. 27
Apr. 2015.
Seminole Tribe of Florida. Clans: Culture, who we are. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
---. Beadworks: Culture, who we are. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2015
South Eastern Woodlands. Beads: Everglades Seminole Indians. Nd. Web. 24 April 2015.
---. Indians in Olden Times. Nd. Web. 24 April 2015.