the chase are their main support, they cultivate the fields, raising
vegetables, corn and sugar cane. The men make canoes, which they
sell to hunters and trappers. Moccasins, baskets and koonti starch,
plumes, smoked skins and venison are among their exports. Complaints
are sometimes heard that the Indians are killing off the deer and the
alligator, which is very true; but alike are the white men and the
negro engaged in the same occupation. Before the white race taught
the Indian the monetary value of the game of the country, he slew
them only for food and clothing. Long centuries had he lived on this
continent, but the herds of buffalo were not lessened; nor the vast
quantities of game driven to the fastnesses of the forest. Till the
white trader came to hunt the game as a source of revenue or for
ruthless sport, the Indian knew no such motive.
Like his forefathers, the Seminole is no prohibitionist, but enjoys
the fire water, as much as did the savage tribe that greeted the good
ship, The Half Moon, in the land-locked waters of Manhattan, three
hundred years ago, and drank the first American toast to the intrepid
Henry Hudson. Since that first great tipple in New York which
ended in such a scene of intoxication, causing the Mohicans to name
the island “the place of the big drunk,” the Indian practices more
precaution; and one of their number always remains sober and watches
his boozy brother like a hawk. This is the practice of the Seminoles.
Before going on a spree, a selection is made of one of the band whose
duty it is to stand guard over all weapons and see that no injury is
done to any member of the tribe. The “sprees” in which they indulge
are too infrequent to warrant them being classed as intemperate.
It is opportune at this point to say that only under the degrading
influence of whiskey, which the white civilization brings to him,
does the Seminole ever show any demoralized condition, and the proper
official should see to the enforcement of the laws against selling
liquor to these childlike people.
Only a few of the tribe talk broken English. The chiefs disapprove
of it on general principles--for fear they will talk too much. To
keep aloof from the white man, and the white man’s ways, is the
training of the Seminole youth. Occasionally a few of the tribe leave
their marshy homes. These talk sufficiently to do their trading when
visiting towns to dispose of their plumes, deer skins, basket work,
etc. These products always find ready sale, and when the great day of
shopping begins, a “corner” in red calico and fancy colored beads is
the result. The squaws have control of their own money, when on a
purchasing expedition, a fact which makes them very _American_.
The squaws are about as sociable as the half-wild deer that are
petted by the guests of the St. Augustine hotels. As seen in their
camps, clustered together, half-alarmed, half-curious, the side
glances from their dark-brown eyes seem to utter a protest against
the Government’s eternal “move on.” A more severely pure-minded
people are not to be found on the globe. The women are above
reproach. Were a white man to insult a Seminole woman by word or
look it would be well for that man never to appear in the presence
of the tribe again. The Seminole girl who would unwisely bestow her
affections would be killed outright by the squaws. In the history of
the Everglade Indians only one such case is known and at the birth of
the half-breed child the mother was taken to the woods and there hung
to a tree by the indignant squaws. The infant was also destroyed. In
questioning, as to which of the squaws did the killing, the answer
was “All, every squaw.” On the principle of American lynch law each
hand helped pull the rope.
GENS AND MARRIAGE.
The Seminoles, like other Indian tribes, are classified by gens. This
lineage in the Florida tribe is traced through the mother. The child
belongs to the clan which the mother represents. The mother exercises
absolute ownership, and should a squaw and her husband separate
for any cause, the children belong unconditionally to the wife.
[Illustration:
_Photograph by E. W. Histed._
A PICTURESQUE GROUP
Seminoles of the Cow Creek band.]
Modesty, as the great ornament of women, is taught to the girls,
and as she is about to enter into life there is a moral sublimity
in the counsel that teaches her to hold an implicit reverence
for her husband, but at the same time she becomes a teacher and
custodian of her children. One young Indian of our acquaintance is
divorced from his squaw. They have one pickaninny now, three years
old. Asking the father to give the boy up, and holding out alluring
inducements, he replied, “_Munks-chay_ (no), squaw’s pickaninny.”
The gens represented in the Seminole tribe to-day are the Otter, the
Tiger, the Deer, the Wind, the Bird, the Snake, the Bear, and the
Wolf. Other gens are now extinct in Florida. Thus, in asking about
the Alligator tribe, the chief replied, “All gone--long time ago--to
Indian Territory.” A young brave dare not marry a girl from his own
gens, he must select her from another clan. When asking a chief what
he would do were he to want a girl from his own gens for a wife, and
the girl should want to marry him, he replied, “Me no marry her.”
The young Indian is shy and bashful in his courtships, and having
resolved to marry, conceals his first overtures with all the Indian
cunning. His intention is secretly conveyed to the girl’s parents,
and should there be no objection the young woman is at liberty to
accept or reject. No Seminole girl is forced into a marriage. The
lover, with permission to woo, shows some token of affection; a
deer is killed, and laid at the door of the wigwam. If the present
is received the lover is happy. If it remains untouched, he may do
as his white brother does, go hang himself, or, as is usual, go
seek a more willing fair one. The prospective bride, to show her
appreciation of her lover, makes a shirt and presents it to him. No
pomp or ceremony is connected with the marriage. The day is set by
the parents, the groom goes to the bride’s house, at the setting
of the sun. He is now her husband, and at her home, he lives for a
period. When the young couple build their own wigwam, they may build
it at the camp of the wife’s mother, but not among the husband’s
relatives.
BEAUTY AND MUSIC.
The Indian has a high sense of beauty in woman, and has been
demonstrated on several occasions during their visits to the
different towns. A Seminole chief was taken to the parlor of a
hotel, where a new piano was the exciting theme, to see what effect
the music would have upon his savage mind. But the fair-haired
_performer_ absorbed his attention, and with a shrug which showed his
appreciation for beauty more than for music, he said, “Ugh! white
man’s squaw heap purty!”
Music is not a genius with the Seminoles. True, they have some songs
which are monotone and rhythmical. They are the hunter’s songs, the
camp songs and the lullabies. The war songs which sent such terror
to the hearts of the white settlers in Seminole war days they seem to
have forgotten. Some of the Indians have natural musical ears, and
they are recognized by their people as musical leaders. They have no
standard pitch, but start their songs where the natural quality of
the voice renders it easiest to sing. The pitch of the song depends
upon the individual.
An incident, full of pathos, yet illustrating one of life’s parodies,
is recalled. It was occasioned by hearing the music of some old
familiar tunes played in a gruesome Everglade home. As the picture
recurs, one sees a savage tribe--a weird camp scene, with its
storm-beaten wigwams in the background--and dusky warriors and squaws
moving hither and thither in the dim shadows of the camp fire. In the
center of the group sat the musician, who was the happy possessor of
a “box of music,” an organette, which he had recently purchased. The
melodies of “Home, Sweet Home,” “Hail Columbia,” and “Nearer My God
To Thee,” floated out upon the stillness of the night, telling the
story of the white man’s inheritance--happy homes, a free Government
and an ennobling religion. To the Seminole the tuneful strains
contained no more sentiment than the murmur of the brook: for they
are a people without a home, without a country, and without a God in
the sense of these songs.
RELATIONSHIP TO THE AZTECS AND EASTERN TRIBES
“YAH-VEY, YAH-VEY”
To-day, the antiquarian may lay aside his musty parchments of
antiquity and in the heart of the Big Everglades study the history of
an ancient people through living authors.
“_Jah-vey--Jah-vey--Yehovah--Yehovah!_” Monotone, yet rhythmical,
the brown-faced singers chanted the hymn. Over and over again were
the words repeated by the Seminole choir, till the word “_Jah-vey_”
mystical with the centuries past, dwelt with the listener. None but
a Hebrew scholar would have caught the word with an understanding
of its meaning. The occasion was a Fourth of July celebration when
the Rt. Rev. Wm. Crane Gray was visiting the Seminole Mission at
Im-mo-ka-lee, situated near the western border of the Florida
Everglades.
The Indians, full of confidence and kindly feeling, had consented to
sign and here appeared the wonderful, yes, startling, observation
made by Bishop Gray. “Jah-vey” is the Hebrew word meaning Jehovah, a
word held in such awe by the children of Israel, and as claimed by
scholars, too sacred to pass the lips of man, that even its correct
pronunciation is unknown.
To-day in the weird fastnesses of the Everglades, a band of wild
Indians chant the name of the Great Jehovah in the Hebrew tongue,
a name that is meaningless in its original form to thousands of
educated Americans.
When questioned by Bishop Gray as to the meaning of the sacred word,
the Indian answered, “God, white man’s God.” The question now appeals
to the scientist, to the antiquarian, and to the theologian. From
whence came the Seminole’s knowledge of the word?
From its use in the depth of the Everglades, one may work back to the
prehistoric ruined temples of Mexico and Yucatan, so similar to those
of Egypt; and thus may find in Seminole speech a language link to
connect the new world with the old.
Is this single word as verified by Bishop Gray the keynote to the
history and origin of the North American Indian?
With a close study of the Seminoles of Florida, one finds a subject
mystical with the history of centuries past. We meet in this
old-turbaned tribe a history vague, ’tis true, but as interesting as
the data gleaned from the hieroglyphics of Mexico, or Egypt, and why
not?
While the archæologist delves among the ruins of ancient Egypt, and
as he disturbs the inanimate forms of the old Pharoahs, let him pause
and like Diogenes of old, shine his lantern in scientific research
for the American Rameses. Tracing the proud and invincible Florida
Seminole through all his wanderings, from the plains of Mexico,
we meet him to-day in the confines of the mysterious and weird
Everglades.
Reaching Florida in 1750, under the name Seminole or Wanderers,
his history verges into a singularly distressing drama and forms a
tragical chapter in American history.
Tracing their lineage, as we may, to the Aztecs of Mexico, the
student must find in their usages and customs links that connect
their present history with that of the ancient tribes.
In this remnant, proud as the old Montezumas, may the scientist and
antiquarian find a history teeming with interest, while the novelist
may revel in story, both real and legendary--the most romantic of
Indian life that has ever been written.
If we accept the Le Plongeon theory of prehistoric Mexico, as well
as Professors Holmes and Seville’s research of Mexican antiquities,
we must note the relationship between the early Central American
civilization and the Ancient Egyptians; and that the builders of the
pyramids and temples of Mexico and Yucatan were closely allied with
the architects of the Cheops.
After the conquest of Mexico by Cortez in 1519-20, the Muskogee
Indians left Mexico and gradually traversed the country till in
1620 we find them in Alabama, where they added other bands to their
ranks. The British name them Creeks, from the many small streams that
traversed the country.
Thus the great Muskogee tribe of the Mexican Empire vanquished by
Cortez became one hundred years later the Creek Confederacy, _from
which branched the Seminoles_.
It will take no great stretch of fancy to suppose that before the
mysterious chain of migration the Aztecs and the early Egyptians
were allied. As we study, to-day, the frail remnants of the
vanishing Aborigines in the heart of the Everglades, may we not
find a coincidence of usages that at least give abundant food for
speculation, and the resemblance of the present Seminole to the
ancient Egyptian suggests strong points of similitude to that of the
old Israelites, and a common origin for the North American Indian and
the older tribes, whose magnificent wrecks strew the borders of the
Nile?
Prescott in his history of Mexico refers to some traditions of the
Aztecs, as bearing a singular resemblance to those found in the
Scriptures. More or less does one start with surprise and awe as he
notes in the Indians of Florida a strict observance of those customs
as well as religious beliefs as laid down in the book Leviticus.
The similarity existing between the ancient Egyptian principles and
that of the Aztecs is conceded by scholars, and when the Florida
Indian follows so closely these old religious rites, with the theory
that the Florida Seminoles are traceable to the mighty Aztecs, may we
not feel a pride in these red children of the forest homes and while
it is yet possible preserve this almost forgotten remnant?
To-day the student may study, in the swamp fastnesses, the history
of an ancient race, through the present-day Seminole.
Around the hereditary chief Tallahassee is the authority for the
government of the Cow Creek band. He is the honored chieftain, whose
duty it has been to teach to the younger generations the traditions
of his ancestors. “My grandfather, old, old man, tell me, me tell
my boys.” The stories never diverge--the same to-day that were told
one hundred and fifty years ago, and different slightly from the
teachings of the vanquished Muskogeeans of the Mexican Empire.
In their weird camps, by a glimmering light from the camp fire, is
instilled into the youth the laws of the old turbaned tribe, laws
startling in the rites they contain. A brief reference to a few of
these observances must convince that there is at least a keynote for
a chapter that must prove both interesting and valuable to science.
In the head dress of the Florida Indians, oriental in its effect, one
quickly recognizes a perfect imitation of that as worn in 1800 B. C.,
as shown in the statue from Tel Loh (showing early Akkadian type).
Passing through the realms of history, covering a period of 3,000
years, in 1563 we find Le Moyne’s delineations of the turban,
now worn by the Seminole chieftains. Likewise might the dress
of old Tallahassee in his chieftain regalia be mistaken for the
costume of the patriarchs in the days of the Pharaohs, when the
long tunic embraced by the brightly embroidered sash, with its
heavily-tasseled belt, made a picturesque attire.
[Illustration:
_Photograph by E. W. Histed._
AN ENCHANTING STUDY OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF SEMINOLES]
Not the least startling, after thirty-four centuries, do we find
the Seminole observing the rigid laws of health as laid down to
the Children of Israel after the Exodus. With reference to the
preservation of health, we find in the Scriptures, that those
affected by disease were separated from the tribe and as health
returned, we read, Leviticus 15: 13, “Then shall he number himself
seven days for his cleansing and wash his clothes and bathe his flesh
in running water and be clean.” Verse 7, “And whosoever toucheth
the flesh of him shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the
evening.” Note the following: On a recent visit to the Seminole
camps, and after receiving a warm welcome from the squaws and
pickaninnies of former acquaintances, a solitary figure was observed
sitting in a small detached wigwam. Approaching for the purpose of
shaking hands, from all sides came gesticulations and dissenting
tones from the squaws, and feeling that the woman was a prisoner or
taking some kind of punishment, we passed on. During a visit of three
days at the camps, the squaw was kept aloof from the band, receiving
all necessary attention with the kindliest spirit, but fulfilling the
law of Moses, as recorded in Leviticus, “And she shall be apart seven
days and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean.”
The Aztecs made crimes against society capital; among their
registered laws, adultery was punishable, as with the Jews, by
death. The same laws hold good among the Seminoles to-day.
Marriage laws are held sacred, but divorces are permitted where some
incompatibility of temper is found. This is done after the manner of
the old Jews--“out of mercy to the woman.” Either party may marry
again, but the marriage must meet with the approval of the leaders of
the band.
Taking up the question of land tenure, one sees the similarity
between the Everglade Indians and that of the ancient tribes.
Their tribal organization being a socialistic and communistic order,
it is not their policy to encourage individual land holdings.
Socialism finds its greatest example among the Seminoles and they
realize freedom in a greater degree than can possibly be found
in any community governed by man-made laws. They do not violate
any teachings of the tribe and are honorable and upright in their
dealings with one another and equally so with the white people with
whom they come in contact. Their law allows of individual occupancy
of land and the individual rights are respected, but the Indian is
not allowed to acquire title.
The Seminole, like his Aztec ancestors, shows an honorable contrast
to the other tribes of North America, in the treatment of the
women. No severe agricultural labor is imposed upon them and the
consideration shown them by the men would do credit to a high
civilization. Those who know some of the habits of the Florida
Indians (Seminoles) are cognizant of the fact that they will not eat
the green corn until the second day of the annual feast.
On a visit to the camps, old chief Tallahassee was invited to join
his white friends at dinner, and as he was offered a roasting ear,
he said, “Me not eat green corn, Shot-kay-taw (Green Corn Dance) eat
plenty.” Pointing to a small patch of corn from which the ears had
been stripped, he said, “Squaws eat corn plenty, men no eat,” and
as we read Leviticus, 23: 14, the thought comes: Is the law, though
divested of part of its meaning, being fulfilled to-day by a band of
wild Indians?
“And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears,
until the self-same day ye brought an offering to the Lord.”
Another link is a feast day which seems to correspond in its rites to
the Day of Atonement on old Jewish days. It is of peculiarly solemn
character and takes place in cycles. The sacredness attached to the
assembling of the band prevents little insight from the outside world.
With only an oral tradition, with their unwritten but priceless
history of an ancient race, with the white man daily encroaching on
their last domain, the time for studying this primitive people in
their purity will soon be over, and of their customs and usages,
where is the Œdipus at this day who shall solve the riddle of their
origin?
SEMINOLES AT HOME
THE EVERGLADES
The characteristic of the Seminole is to make his camp in some
secluded spot where the white man would least expect to find his
habitation.
The peculiar physical formation of Florida makes this very possible.
The Everglade region, which is the immediate environment of the
Seminoles, is a watery prairie, with here and there high points of
ground, and because land-grabbers, corporations and state officials
are already clamoring for these watery wastes, and selling thousands
of acres from paper plats, with the land still under water, a
more detailed description of the Everglade region would be better
appreciated. This vast region contains about 4,000 square miles of
marsh lands and tropical forests, interlaced with thick clustering
vines and is the greatest area of unexplored country in the United
States.
The accounts of the interior of the mysterious swamp is to be found
only in dim tradition or Indian legends.
However fast the door of the swamp may be locked, it opens quickly
enough to whomsoever carries the key. The Seminole is the true
key-bearer and with moccasined foot he enters when and where he will.
A writer, in a Miami paper, gives the following interesting account
of his approach to the Indian camps:
“Traveling through this aquatic jungle in a light canoe, the motive
power of which is plenty of muscle, a broad-blade paddle and a
push pole about eighteen feet long, we enter a trackless waste of
saw grass and water, with scattering islands and lagoons, channels
running in all directions. These channels often terminate in what
is called a pocket and then trouble begins, as these pockets are so
shallow that a canoe or skiff has to be pulled by rope or pushed by
hand through the mud and grass, until deep water is found. All signs
fail in the Everglades, as often to go north you will take the other
three points of the compass.”
“There is nothing quite so aggravating,” continues the writer, “as to
get sewed up in one of these pockets, in the open saw grass with deep
water in plain view and fine shady trees to welcome you, but tired
and disgusted you stand as high as possible in the canoe and see only
one chance in a hundred to find the right channel to go through.”
“There is no use for a compass, and it is a waste of time to think
about it. There is a sure thing of going overboard in the mud or
going back and starting over again.”
“When the water is high the trouble is not so great, but when it
is low, the traveler can lay aside his Bible, quote a chapter from
Dante’s Inferno, and plough through the mud until his energy is
exhausted and wonder if Dante ever heard tell of the Everglades.”
The channels running through these Glades are alive with fish, while
the saw grass ponds provide homes for thousands of alligators. The
myrtle and cypress clumps are the winter homes of the heron and
migratory birds.
From this vast morass, with an elevated position, and a rare
atmosphere, the view that would meet the eye would differ from
any other on the globe. Ballou says: “A thousand square miles of
saw grass would be seen spreading out in the shape of an artist’s
palette. Towards the end would be seen a series of little inland
lakes, fed by minute rivers. Interblending with the lakes, thousands
of islands would be visible, far beyond the saw-grass sea. The
flutter of bird life would be like the milky way, and the swarm of
insects like a distant sand storm on the Sahara.”
Bordering the sedgy lagoons, are dense cypress forests, with here
and there cabbage palms, Indian rubber and mangroves, while tangled
vegetation weaves itself in chaotic style over underbrush and tree.
These are the primeval woods of the United States. To be lost in
these great marshes means more than death. They are the paradise of
the serpent and the alligator. It is said in old slavery days, slaves
who ran away to the swamps, were entered on the books as dead.
Except the few points touched upon by adventurous botanists and
hunters, this entire region has remained _terra incognita_ until
within the past two or three years, when the subject of drainage has
caused deeper and more scientific investigation. These explorers have
brought interesting accounts of the great swamp.
The subject of drainage of this vast aquatic jungle is causing many
disputes and many opinions, but under the Legislature of 1907, with
the imperturbable Governor Broward in power, the work of drainage was
begun.
Those engaged in the reclamation of this rich soil look upon the
enterprise as being one of the most colossal of American ingenuity
and one that will made the Okeechobee region the Egypt of America.
While it is not the object of the writer to enter into the question
of reclamation--still, the thought comes, “Is it worth while to make
this region fit for habitation?”