Ethnos

Seninole

The Seminole are a Native American Indian people, originally of Florida. They originated as members of the Creek Nation who emigrated into Florida in the early and mid 18th century, and were conquered and largely exiled by the United States in the early 19th century, after the United States took Florida from Spain.

In 1832, the United States government signed the Treaty of Payne's Landing with a few of the Seminole chiefs, promising them lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida voluntarily. The remaining Seminole prepared for war. White settlers pressured the government to remove all of the Indians, by force if necessary. In 1835, the US Army arrived to enforce the treaty. The war only ended after a full decade of fighting, in 1842. The US government is estimated to have spent about $20,000,000 on the war, at the time an astronomical sum. Many Indians were forcibly exiled to Creek lands west of the Mississippi; others retreated into the Everglades. In the end, the US government gave up and left the surviving Seminole. 1500 American soldiers had died and still no formal peace treaty had been signed.

The Seminole Tribe (in 1957) and The Miccosukee Tribe (in 1962) of Indians of Florida agreed settlements with the US government confirming their tribal lands and agreeing compensation for other lands. Since then they have developed an economy based on sales of duty free tobacco, tourism and gambling.

The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma has about 6000 enrolled members, who are divided into fourteen bands. Two are called "Freedmen Bands" (also black seminole) because they count their descent from escaped slaves who took refuge with the Seminole. Band membership is matrilineal: children are members of their mother's band. The group is ruled by an elected council, with two members from each band. The capital is at Wewoka, Oklahoma.***
See also: The Seminole Tribe of Florida and Seminole