What Lessons Can We Learn From The Seminole Culture

Lesson Essential Question: How did the Seminoles adapt to change?

Objective: Students volition understand the concept of adaptation and how it practical to the survival of the Seminole people.

Materials:View interactive artifact in 3D, read"The Seminole People in Florida"

Vocabulary:Adaptation: the idea of adjusting oneself to different weather condition, environs, etc.

1. Have the students first view the 3D historic Seminole Doll on the TBHC website. They will be able to rotate the prototype and zoom. Explain that making crafts by hand was a mode for Seminoles to brand a living through tourism; a manner they had to conform to survive in Florida later the Seminole Wars were fought.

2. Have students read "The Seminole People in Florida."

three. Students volition list five means in which the Seminoles had to conform. Examples can exist cultural, economic, or other ways. Talk over as a class.

A Brief History of the Seminole People in Florida

(Courtesy of the Museum of Florida History)

The Seminole people have been an important part of Florida history for more than 300 years. Their story of survival and success is remarkable, and their unique civilisation endures today.The ancestors of today's Seminole people migrated to Florida in the 1700s and early 1800s. These Indians came primarily from Alabama and Georgia, and although they were simply known equally "Creeks" to the British, they spoke unlike languages and lived in contained towns. Different bands of Creeks established towns in north Florida and traded with both the British and Spanish. Later on 1765, all Florida Indians were referred to equally "Seminoles." The name comes from the Spanish word cimarrón which means "wild" or "runaway." However, a more plumbing fixtures interpretation may be "gratis."

The first half of the nineteenth century was tumultuous for Florida's Seminoles. The U.South. military waged three wars against them; in fact, the 2d Seminole War resulted in the majority of Seminoles beingness removed to Indian Territory (present-24-hour interval Oklahoma.) Less than 200 survivors retreated deep into the Everglades and the military ended its hunt for them.

The Seminoles lived in virtual isolation in and around the Everglades for many years. They lived in open-sided structures chosen chickees, which were adapted to the swampy surroundings. They survived by hunting, gathering wild foods, and growing crops like corn, pumpkins, and potatoes. As white settlers began moving to south Florida, they established trading posts. The Seminoles sold animate being hides and pelts to the traders and in plow bought textile, guns, tools, and nutrient staples. This style of life lasted into the twentieth century.

The corking influx of settlers and drainage of the Everglades hastened the end of the trading mail service era. Equally a result, some Seminoles entered new tourist attractions in Miami. Seminole exhibition villages were a large function of the tourist scene in south Florida from the 1920s to the 1960s. At these villages, men wrestled alligators to the delight of crowds. Both men and women made crafts such every bit dolls, baskets, and carvings to sell to the tourists.

These seasonal jobs in the villages provided important income, and the exhibition nature of the attractions enabled some of the traditional ways to continue.

A typical scene at tourist villages included women sewing colorful patchwork clothing. This colorful style of clothing is one of the almost recognizable aspects of Seminole civilisation today. Seminole women invented patchwork around 1917. To make patchwork vesture, different colored strips of cloth are sewn together, then cut and reassembled to make rows of designs. The rows are sewn together horizontally to course the garment. The Seminole people wore patchwork clothing and sold them to tourists. It is notwithstanding part of the Seminoles' traditional wearing apparel today.

In the 1890s, the regime attempted to address the question of where the Seminoles should alive past setting aside parcels of land. These parcels eventually became reservations. The Noncombatant Conservation Corps-Indian Division, a plan of the New Bargain, employed Seminole men to build roads, fences, wells, and make other land improvements on the reservations. A cattle program was also started at Brighton Reservation in 1936, and information technology is still a success story today.

In August 1957, the Seminole Tribe of Florida became a federally recognized sovereign tribe. The Tribe operates under a Constitution, Bylaws, and Corporate Lease. Information technology has approximately 3,200 members today.

Afterwards many years of economic struggles, the Seminoles achieved their goal to be self-sufficient and not reliant on the federal authorities for money. Their sovereignty allows business ventures like casinos that allow them to exist financially independent. Considering of their new-establish wealth, the Tribe tin provide for its members, particularly in health care, housing, employment, and education.

The Seminole people of Florida have persevered despite the many social, political, and economical pressures brought against them. They accept proven to be successful at adapting to new circumstances while still preserving important aspects of their civilisation.