"giving eco-tours of their land. As of 2008, there were six Seminole and Miccosukee reservations throughout Florida; they feature casino gaming that supports the tribe. Indigenous people of the Everglades region The indigenous people of the Everglades region arrived in the Florida peninsula of what is now the United States approximately 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, probably following large game. The Paleo-Indians found an arid landscape that supported plants and animals adapted to prairie and xeric scrub conditions. Large animals became extinct in Florida around 11,000 years ago. Climate changes 6,500 years ago brought a wetter landscape. The Paleo-Indians slowly"
"Band of Creek Indians in Alabama, Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Kialegee Tribal Town, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida and now residing in Florida and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation came into existence in the 18th century and was composed of renegade and outcast Native Americans from Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, most significantly the Creek Nation, as well as African Americans who escaped from slavery in South Carolina and Georgia. While roughly 3,000 Seminoles were forced west of the Mississippi River, including the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma,"
"which was replaced in 2005. The other five Seminole Tribe of Florida reservations are: Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, located in northeast Glades County near the northwest shore of Lake Okeechobee. It is one of six reservations held in trust by the federal government for this tribe. The reservation has a land area of approximately 146 square kilometers or 36,000 acres and a 2000 census resident population of 566 persons. Some residents of the reservation speak the Muscogee language (or Creek), which is different from the Mikasuki"
"Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, located in northeast Glades County near the northwest shore of Lake Okeechobee. It is one of six reservations held in trust by the federal government for this tribe. The reservation has a land area of approximately 146 square kilometers or 36,000 acres and a 2000 census resident population of 566 persons. Some residents of the reservation speak the Muscogee language (or Creek), which is different from the Mikasuki language of other Seminoles and the Miccosukee tribe. Fewer than 200 people on the"
"Oklahoma. The tribe began to revive its government in 1936 under the Indian Reorganization Act. While its reservation was originally larger, today the tribal jurisdictional area covers Seminole County, Oklahoma, within which it has a variety of properties. The few hundred Seminoles remaining in Florida fought against US forces in the Third Seminole war, and peace was made without their defeat. Today, descendants of those people have formed two federally recognized Seminole tribes. Together, the three tribes and unorganized Traditionals in Florida were awarded a land claims settlement valued in total at $16 million in 1976, for nearly 24 million"
"a US Indian agent explained the Seminoles this way: ""The word Seminole means runaway or broken off. Hence ... applicable to all the Indians in the Territory of Florida as all of them ran away ... from the Creek ... Nation"". Linguistically, the term ""Seminole"" comes from a corruption of the Spanish word ""cimarron,"" likening their migratory history to wild horses. The traditional Muskogee Creek Language lacks a rhotic phoneme. There was a methathesis of the penultimate and ultimate syllables. Creeks, who were centered in modern-day Alabama and Georgia, were known to incorporate conquered tribes into their own. Some Africans"
"Black Seminoles The Black Seminoles are black Indians associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. They are mostly blood descendants of Seminole Indians, free blacks and of escaped slaves (called maroons) who allied with Seminole groups in Spanish Florida. Many have Seminole lineage, but due to the stigma of having dark skin, they all have been categorized as slaves or freedmen. Historically, the Black Seminoles lived mostly in distinct bands near the Native American Seminole. Some were held as so-called slaves of particular Seminole leaders; but they had more freedom than did slaves held by whites in the"
"as they spoke the Mikasuki language. They received federal recognition in 1962, and received their own reservation lands, collectively known as the Miccosukee Indian Reservation. The Miccosukee Tribe set up a reservation on the northern border of Everglades National Park, about west of Miami. In the United States 2000 Census, 12,431 people self-reported as Seminole American. An additional 15,000 people identified as Seminole in combination with some other tribal affiliation or race. The Seminole in Florida have been engaged in stock raising since the mid-1930s, when they received cattle from western Native Americans. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) hoped"
"indigenous people. In a process of ethnogenesis, they constructed a new culture which they called ""Seminole"", a derivative of the ""Mvskoke""' (a Creek language) word ""simano-li"", an adaptation of the Spanish ""cimarrón"" which means ""wild"" (in their case, ""wild men""), or ""runaway"" [men]. The Seminole were a heterogeneous tribe made up of mostly Lower Creeks from Georgia, who by the time of the Creek Wars (1812–1813) numbered about 4,000 in Florida. At that time, numerous refugees of the Red Sticks migrated south, adding about 2,000 people to the population. They were Creek-speaking Muscogee, and were the ancestors of most of"
"Seminole County, Oklahoma Seminole County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,482. Its county seat is Wewoka. Before Oklahoma's admission as a state, the county was the entire small portion of Indian Territory allocated to the Seminole people, who were removed from Florida in the 1820s. Seminole County is notable for the Greater Seminole Field, one of the most important oil fields ever found, which is still producing. It extends into nearby counties. In the early years of the oil boom, workers and adventurers flooded into the county,"
"and is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate. Big Cypress Indian Reservation The Big Cypress Indian Reservation is one of the six reservations of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. It is located in southeastern Hendry County and northwestern Broward County, in southern Florida, United States. Its location is on the Atlantic coastal plain. This reservation lies south of Lake Okeechobee and just north of Alligator Alley. It is governed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Tribal Council, and is the largest of the five Seminole reservations in the state. Facilities on the reservation include the tribal museum and a major entertainment and"
"who picked up new members along the way, approximately 300 to 500 Seminoles stayed and fought in and around the Everglades of Florida. In a series of United States wars against the Seminoles in Florida, about 1,500 U.S. soldiers died. The Seminoles never surrendered to the US government, and consequently the Seminole of Florida call themselves the ""Unconquered People"". Federally recognized Seminole tribes today include the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and Seminole Tribe of Florida. For about twenty years after the move to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), the Seminoles refused to live with the Muscogee Creek tribe or under their Government"
"changed to ""Seminole"" by September, 1938. Seminole is the name of a Native American people whose original homelands included portions of Florida. By 2015, the most recent year figures are available, the membership of the Seminole Lodge numbered 523. The West Central Florida Council's Order of the Arrow Lodge is Timuquan Lodge 340, founded in 1946. The Order of the Arrow is Scouting's National Honor Society that recognizes youth and adult leaders who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Scout Law in their daily lives. The lodge is named in honor of the extinct Timucua Native American tribe of northern"
"eligible. Journalists theorized the decision could affect the similar case in which the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma excluded Cherokee Freedmen as members unless they could document a direct Indian ancestor on the Dawes Rolls. Black Seminoles The Black Seminoles are black Indians associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. They are mostly blood descendants of Seminole Indians, free blacks and of escaped slaves (called maroons) who allied with Seminole groups in Spanish Florida. Many have Seminole lineage, but due to the stigma of having dark skin, they all have been categorized as slaves or freedmen. Historically, the Black"
"Seminole, Florida Seminole is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 17,233 at the 2010 census, up from 10,890 in 2000. St. Petersburg College has a campus in the city. The first white settlement at Seminole was made in the 1840s. The community was named after the Seminole Indians who once inhabited the area. Seminole was incorporated in 1970. Seminole used to contain a water tower painted in 2000 by artist Tom Stovall. In late 2005, council members expressed dissatisfaction with the design, but residents spoke out in its favor, feeling it made Seminole unique and"
"Seminole music Seminole music is the music of the Seminole people, an indigenous people of the Americas who formed in Florida in the 18th century. Today most live in Oklahoma, but a minority continue in Florida. They have three federally recognized tribes, and some people belong to bands outside those groups. Their traditional music includes extensive use of rattles, hand drums, water drums, and flutes. Seminole folk songs include those used to treat the sick and injured, and to encourage animals to be easily hunted. Hunting songs are a cappella and call-and-response. The two major ritual dances are the Green"
"in the Indian Territory but originally they came from Florida. Before the United States government banned slavery in December 1865, several hundred black freedmen escaped their masters and sought refuge among the Seminoles in Florida. Not long after the Seminoles were removed to the Indian Territory, the Black Seminoles, as they became, went to Coahuila, Mexico, to escape enslavement. There they were welcomed by the Mexicans and later joined by native Seminoles, Black Creeks and Black Cherokees. In 1870, the United States Army issued a message to the Black Seminoles' chief, John Horse, inviting him and his band to come"
"Seminole County in south-central Oklahoma, approximately 45 miles east of Oklahoma City. The Seminole Nation Tribal Complex is located in the town of Wewoka. The junction of U.S. 270 and Oklahoma Highway 56 is located at the town, approximately 30 miles southeast of the town of Shawnee. Wewoka is the site of several Seminole Nation programs and services. The Mekusukey Mission (which includes tribal offices, recreational areas, industrial and commercial areas, and a cultural area) is located 2 miles south and 2 miles west of the city of Seminole. By 1961 the Oklahoma and Florida Seminole independently filed claims with"
"current Seminole and Miccosukee tribes of Florida. The only Federally recognized tribes in Florida are: The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creek from what are now northern Muscogee. In 2014, there were 4,000 Seminole and Miccosukee natives, living on reservations in Tampa, Immokalee, Hollywood, Fort Pierce, Brighton, and Clewiston. While income from legal casinos is $100,000 or greater per capita for tribal members, this has often produced negative life style changes. From being lean and muscular in the late 19th century, their adoption of the western lifestyle has led"
"forced cession of Muscogee lands to the US. During Indian Removal of the 1830s, most of the Muscogee Confederacy were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Kialegee Tribal Town, and Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, all based in Oklahoma, are federally recognized tribes, as are the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. Seminole people today are part of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. At least 12,000 years ago, Native Americans or Paleo-Indians"
"Seminole, Oklahoma Seminole is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,899 at the 2000 census. Seminole experienced a large population growth in the 1920s due to an oil boom. The city was platted in 1906 as a relocation setting for the residents of Tidmore, when the railroad line was placed north of the town. When Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory merged to become the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907, there were 206 residents. Seminole competed to be the county seat of Seminole County, but lost out to Wewoka. Upon the discovery of a high-producing"
"Indian groups and formed the Seminole, a new tribe, by ethnogenesis. The Seminole originally settled in the northern portion of the territory. In addition, free blacks and fugitive slaves made their way to Florida, where Spain had promised slaves freedom and arms if they converted to Catholicism and pledged loyalty to Spain. These African Americans gradually created communities near those of the Seminole, and became known as the Black Seminoles. The groups acted as allies. In 1817, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida to hasten its annexation to the United States, in what became known as the First Seminole War. After Florida"
"the new converts, relocating to the reservations afforded them the opportunity to establish their own churches, where they adapted traditions to incorporate into their style of Christianity. Reservation Seminoles began forming tribal governments and forming ties with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1957 the nation reorganized and established formal relations with the US government as the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Seminole Tribe of Florida is headquartered in Hollywood, Florida. They control several reservations: Big Cypress, Brighton Reservation, Fort Pierce Reservation, Hollywood Reservation, Immokalee Reservation, and Tampa Reservation. A traditional group who became known as the Trail Indians moved"
"Seminole Tribe of Florida. The more traditional people near the Tamiami Trail received federal recognition as the Miccosukee Tribe in 1962. The Oklahoma and Florida Seminole filed land claim suits in the 1950s, which were combined in the government's settlement of 1976. The tribes and Traditionals took until 1990 to negotiate an agreement as to division of the settlement, a judgment trust against which members can draw for education and other benefits. The Florida Seminole founded a high-stakes bingo game on their reservation in the late 1970s, winning court challenges to initiate Indian Gaming, which many tribes have adopted to"
"time, Creek Indians began to migrate into Florida, leading to the formation of the Seminole tribe. The aboriginal peoples of Florida had been devastated by war and disease, and it is thought most of the survivors accompanied the Spanish settlers when they left for other colonies (mostly French) in 1763. This left wide expanses of territory open to the Lower Creeks, who had been in conflict with the Upper Creeks of Alabama for years. The Seminole originally occupied the wooded areas of northern Florida. Under pressure from colonists and the United States Army in the Seminole Wars, they migrated into"
"and dependent Indian communities. Native Americans make up 22% of the population of Seminole County. The Seminole County service population is 5,315 Tribal citizens, according to the Seminole Nation Tribal Enrollment Office. The total enrollment of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is approximately 17,000 members. According to 2000 U.S. Census data for Seminole County, the self-identified Native American (one race only) population is 4,328, and the Native American (one race or combination with other race) population is 5,485. The Curtis Act suspended US Federal Governmental recognition of the tribe's government, during the time of land allotments in the late 19th"
"Some intermarried and were culturally Seminole; others maintained a more African culture. Descendants of those who were removed with the Seminole to Indian Territory in the 1830s are recognized as Seminole Freedmen. Many were formerly part of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, but have been excluded since the late 20th century by new membership rules that require proving Native American descent from historic documents. Until the mid-1760s, maroon colonies lined the shores of Lake Borgne, just downriver of New Orleans, Louisiana. These fugitive slaves controlled many of the canals and back-country passages from Lake Pontchartrain to the Gulf, including the"
"Black Seminoles had been removed to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. During the American Civil War, most Oklahoma Seminole allied with the Confederacy, after which they had to sign a new treaty with the U.S., including freedom and tribal membership for the Black Seminole. Today residents of the reservation are enrolled in the federally recognized Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, while others belong to unorganized groups. Perhaps fewer than 200 Seminoles remained in Florida after the Third Seminole War (1855–1858), but they fostered a resurgence in traditional customs and a culture of staunch independence. In the late 19th century,"
"brought the Muscogee and Miccosukee languages to Florida in the early 18th century and would eventually become known as the Seminoles. In the 19th century, however, the US government forced most Muscogees and Seminoles to relocate west of the Mississippi River, with many forced into Indian Territory. Today, the language is spoken by around 5000 people, most of whom live in Oklahoma and are members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Around 200 speakers are Florida Seminoles. Seminole use of the language constitutes distinct dialects. Creek is widely spoken amongst the Creeks, and the Muscogee"
"to the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida (and other Florida Seminoles) by the federal government. The settlement was in compensation for land taken from them in northern Florida by the United States at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823, when most of the Seminole and maroons were moved to a reservation in the center of the territory. This was before removal west of the Mississippi. The judgement trust was based on the Seminole tribe as it existed in 1823. Black Seminoles were not recognized legally as part of"
"tourists came to the area, and the Seminoles began to work in local farms, ranches, and souvenir stands. In the 1940s, Seminoles living across the state began moving to reservations and establishing official tribal governments to form ties with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1957, most Seminoles established formal relations with the US government as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which is headquartered in Hollywood, Florida and control the Big Cypress Indian Reservation, Brighton Reservation, Fort Pierce Reservation, Hollywood Reservation, Immokalee Reservation, and Tampa Reservation. The Miccosukee branch of the Seminoles held to a more traditional lifestyle in the"
"Big Cypress Indian Reservation The Big Cypress Indian Reservation is one of the six reservations of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. It is located in southeastern Hendry County and northwestern Broward County, in southern Florida, United States. Its location is on the Atlantic coastal plain. This reservation lies south of Lake Okeechobee and just north of Alligator Alley. It is governed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Tribal Council, and is the largest of the five Seminole reservations in the state. Facilities on the reservation include the tribal museum and a major entertainment and rodeo complex. The land area is"
"escaping slavery from South Carolina and Georgia fled to Florida, lured by Spanish promises of freedom should they convert to Catholicism, and found their way into the tribe. Seminoles originally settled in the northern portion of the territory, but the 1823 Treaty of Moultrie Creek forced them to live on a reservation north of Lake Okeechobee. They soon ranged farther south, where they numbered approximately 300 in the Everglades region, including bands of Miccosukees—a similar tribe who spoke a different language—who lived in The Big Cypress. Unlike the Calusa and Tequesta, the Seminole depended more on agriculture and raised domesticated"