Seminole Tribal Life.
We may now look at the life of the Seminole in its broader relations
to the tribal organization. Some light has already been thrown on this
subject by the preceding descriptions of the personal characteristics
and social relations of these Indians. But there are other matters to be
considered, as, for example, industries, arts, religion, and the like.
Industries.
Agriculture.
Prominent among the industries is agriculture. The Florida Indians have
brought one hundred or more acres of excellent land under a rude sort of
cultivation. To each family belong, by right of use and agreement with
other Indians, fields of from one to four acres in extent. The only
agricultural implement they have is the single bladed hoe common on the
southern plantation. However, nothing more than this is required.
_Soil._-- The ground they select is generally in the interiors of the
rich, hammocks which abound in the swamps and prairies of Southern
Florida. There, with a soil unsurpassed in fertility and needing only to
be cleared of trees, vines, underbrush, &c., one has but to plant corn,
sweet potatoes, melons, or any thing else suited to the climate, and
keep weeds from the growing vegetation, that he may gather a manifold
return. The soil is wholly without gravel, stones, or rocks. It is soft,
black, and very fertile. To what extent the Indians carry agriculture
I do not know. I am under the impression, however, that they do not
attempt to grow enough to provide much against the future. But, as they
have no season in the year wholly unproductive and for which they must
make special provision, their improvidence is not followed by serious
consequences.
_Corn._--The chief product of their agriculture is corn. This becomes
edible in the months of May and June and at this time it is eaten in
great quantities. Then it is that the annual festival called the "Green
Corn Dance" is celebrated. When the corn ripens, a quantity of it is
laid aside and gradually used in the form of hominy and of what I heard
described as an "exceedingly beautiful meal, white as the finest wheat
flour." This meal is produced by a slow and tedious process. The corn is
hulled and the germ cut out, so that there is only a pure white residue.
This is then reduced by mortar and pestle to an almost impalpable dust.
From this flour a cake is made, which, is said to be very pleasant to
the taste.
_Sugar cane._--Another product of their agriculture is the sugar cane.
In growing this they are the producers of perhaps the finest sugar cane
grown in America; but they are not wise enough to make it a source of
profit to themselves. It seems to be cultivated more as a passing
luxury. It was at "Old Tommy's" sugar field I met the forty-eight of the
people of the Big Cypress Swamp settlement already mentioned. They had
left their homes that they might have a pleasuring for a few weeks
together, "camping out" and making and eating sirup. The cane which had
been grown there was the largest I or my companion, Capt. F. A. Hendry,
of Myers, had ever seen. It was two inches or more in diameter, and, as
we guessed, seventeen feet or more in length. To obtain the sirup the
Indians had constructed two rude mills, the cylinders of which, however,
were so loosely adjusted that full half the juice was lost in the
process of crushing the cane. The juice was caught in various kinds of
iron and tin vessels, kettles, pails, and cans, and after having been,
strained was boiled until the proper consistency was reached.
[Illustration: Fig. 68. Sugar cane crusher.]
At the time we were at the camp quite a quantity of the sirup had been
made. It stood around the boiling place in kettles, large and small, and
in cans bearing the labels of well known Boston and New York packers,
which had been purchased at Myers. Of special interest to me was a
platform near the boiling place, on which lay several deer skins, that
had been taken as nearly whole as possible from the bodies of the
animals, and utilized as holders of the sirup. They were filled with the
sweet stuff, and the ground beneath was well covered by a slow leakage
from them. "Key West Billy" offered me some of the cane juice to drink.
It was clean looking and served in a silver gold lined cup of spotless
brilliancy. It made a welcome and delicious drink. I tasted some of the
sirup also, eating it Indian fashion, i.e., I pared some of their small
boiled wild potatoes and, dipping them into the sweet liquid, ate them.
The potato itself tastes somewhat like a boiled chestnut.
The sugar cane mill was a poor imitation of a machine the Indians had
seen among the whites. Its cylinders were made of live oak; the driving
cogs were cut from a much harder wood, the mastic, I was told; and these
were so loosely set into the cylinders that I could take them out with
thumb and forefinger. (Fig. 68.)
It is not necessary to speak in particular of the culture of sweet
potatoes, beans, melons, &c. At best it is very primitive. It is,
however, deserving of mention that the Seminole have around their houses
at least a thousand banana plants. When it is remembered that a hundred
bananas are not an overlarge yield for one plant, it is seen how well
off, so far as this fruit is concerned, these Indians are.
Hunting.
Next in importance as an industry of the tribe (if it may be so called)
is hunting. Southern Florida abounds in game and the Indians have only
to seek in order to find it. For this purpose they use the rifle. The
bow and arrow are no longer used for hunting purposes except by the
smaller children. The rifles are almost all the long, heavy, small bore
"Kentucky" rifle. This is economical of powder and lead, and for this
reason is preferred by many to even the modern improved weapons which
carry fixed ammunition. The Seminole sees the white man so seldom and
lives so far from trading posts that he is not willing to be confined to
the use of the prepared cartridge.
A few breech loading rifles are owned in the tribe. The shot gun is much
disliked by the Seminole. There is only one among them, and that is a
combination of shot gun with rifle. I made a careful count of their fire
arms, and found that they own, of "Kentucky" rifles, 63; breech loading
rifles, 8; shot gun and rifle, 1; revolvers, 2--total, 74.
_Methods of hunting._--The Seminole always hunt their game on foot. They
can approach a deer to within sixty yards by their method of rapidly
nearing him while he is feeding, and standing perfectly still when he
raises his head. They say that they are able to discover by certain
movements on the part of the deer when the head is about to be lifted.
They stand side to the animal. They believe that they can thus deceive
the deer, appearing to them as stumps or trees. They lure turkeys within
shooting distance by an imitation of the calls of the bird. They leave
small game, such as birds, to the children. One day, while some of our
party were walking near Horse Creek with Ka-tca-la-ni, a covey of quail
whirred out of the grass. By a quick jerk the Indian threw his ramrod
among the birds and billed one. He appeared to regard this feat as
neither accidental nor remarkable.
I sought to discover how many deer the Seminole annually kill, but
could get no number which I can call trustworthy. I venture twenty-five
hundred as somewhere near a correct estimate.
Otter hunting is another of the Seminole industries. This animal has
been pursued with the rifle and with the bow and arrow. Lately the
Indians have heard of the trap. When we left Horse Creek, a request was
made by one of them to our guide to purchase for him six otter traps for
use in the Cat Fish Lake camp.
Fishing.
Fishing is also a profitable industry. For this the hook and line are
often used; some also use the spoon hook. But it is a common practice
among them to kill the fish with bow and arrow, and in this they are
quite skillful. One morning some boys brought me a bass, weighing
perhaps sis pounds, which one of them had shot with an arrow.
Stock Raising.
Stock raising, in a small way, may be called a Seminole industry.
I found that at least fifty cattle, and probably more, are owned by
members of the tribe and that the Seminole probably possess a thousand
swine and five hundred chickens. The latter are of an excellent breed.
At Cat Fish Lake an unusual interest in horses seems now to be
developing. I found there twenty horses. I was told that there are
twelve horses at Fish Eating Creek, and I judge that between thirty-five
and forty of these animals are now in possession of the tribe.
Koonti.
The unique industry, in the more limited sense of the word, of the
Seminole is the making of the Koonti flour. Koonti is a root containing
a large percentage of starch. It is said to yield a starch equal to
that of the best Bermuda arrowroot. White men call it the "Indian
bread root," and lately its worth as an article of commerce has been
recognized by the whites. There are now at least two factories in
operation in Southern Florida in which the Koonti is made into a flour
for the white man's market. I was at one such factory at Miami and saw
another near Orlando. I ate of a Koonti pudding at Miami, and can say
that, as it was there prepared and served with milk and guava jelly, it
was delicious. As might be supposed, the Koonti industry, as carried on
by the whites, produces a far finer flour than that which the Indians
manufacture. The Indian process, as I watched it at Horse Creek, was
this: The roots were gathered, the earth was washed from them, and they
were laid in heaps near the "Koonti log."
[Illustration: Fig. 69. Koonti log.]
The Koonti log, so called, was the trunk of a large pine tree, in which
a number of holes, about nine inches square at the top, their sides
sloping downward to a point, had been cut side by side. Each of these
holes was the property of some one of the squaws or of the children of
the camp. For each of the holes, which were to serve as mortars, a
pestle made of some hard wood had been furnished. (Fig. 69.)
[Illustration: Fig. 70. Koonti pestles.]
The first step in the process was to reduce the washed Koonti to a kind
of pulp. This was done by chopping it into small pieces and filling with
it one of the mortars and pounding it with a pestle. The contents of the
mortar were then laid upon a small platform. Each worker had a platform.
When a sufficient quantity of the root had been pounded the whole mass
was taken to the creek near by and thoroughly saturated with water in a
vessel made of bark.
[Illustration: Fig. 71. Koonti mash vessel.]
The pulp was then washed in a straining cloth, the starch of the Koonti
draining into a deer hide suspended below.
[Illustration: Fig. 72. Koonti strainer.]
When the starch had been thoroughly washed from the mass the latter was
thrown away, and the starchy sediment in the water in the deerskin left
to ferment. After some days the sediment was taken from the water and
spread upon palmetto leaves to dry. When dried, it was a yellowish white
flour, ready for use. In the factory at Miami substantially this process
is followed, the chief variation from it being that the Koonti is passed
through several successive fermentations, thereby making it purer and
whiter than the Indian product. Improved appliances for the manufacture
are used by the white man.
The Koonti bread, as I saw it among the Indians, was of a bright orange
color, and rather insipid, though not unpleasant to the taste. It was
saltless. Its yellow color was owing to the fact that the flour had had
but one fermentation.
Industrial Statistics.
The following is a summary of the results of the industries now engaged
in by the Florida Indians. It shows what is approximately true of these
at the present time:
Acres under cultivation 100
Corn raised bushels 500
Sugarcane gallons 1,500
Cattle number owned 50
Swine do. 1,000
Chickens do. 500
Horses do. 35
Koonti bushels 5,000
Sweet potatoes do. ...
Melons number 3,000
Arts.
Industrial Arts.
In reference to the way in which, the Seminole Indians have met
necessities for invention and have expressed the artistic impulse,
I found little to add to what I have already placed on record.
_Utensils and implements._--The proximity of this people to the
Europeans for the last three centuries, while it has not led them to
adopt the white man's civilization in matters of government, religion,
language, manners, and customs, has, nevertheless, induced them to
appropriate for their own use some of the utensils, implements, weapons,
&c., of the strangers. For example, it was easy for the ancestors of
these Indians to see that the iron kettle of the white man was better in
every way than their own earthenware pots. Gradually, therefore, the art
of making pottery died out among them, and now, as I believe, there is
no pottery whatever in use among the Florida Indians. They neither make
nor purchase it. They no longer buy even small articles of earthenware,
preferring tin instead, Iron implements likewise have supplanted those
made of stone. Even their word for stone, "Tcat-to," has been applied
to iron. They purchase hoes, hunting knives, hatchets, axes, and, for
special use in their homes, knives nearly two feet in length. With these
long knives they dress timber, chop meat, etc.
_Weapons._--They continue the use of the bow and arrow, but no longer
for the purposes of war, or, by the adults, for the purposes of hunting.
The rifle serves them much better. It seems to be customary for every
male in the tribe over twelve years of age to provide himself with a
rifle. The bow, as now made, is a single piece of mulberry or other
elastic wood and is from four to six feet in length; the bowstring is
made of twisted deer rawhide; the arrows are of cane and of hard wood
and vary in length from two to four feet; they are, as a rule, tipped
with a sharp conical roll of sheet iron. The skill of the young men in
the use of the bow and arrow is remarkable.
_Weaving and basket making._--The Seminole are not now weavers. Their
few wants for clothing and bedding are supplied by fabrics manufactured
by white men. They are in a small way, however, basket makers. From the
swamp cane, and sometimes from the covering of the stalk of the fan
palmetto, they manufacture flat baskets and sieves for domestic service.
_Uses of the palmetto._--In this connection I call attention to the
inestimable value of the palmetto tree to the Florida Indians. From the
trunk of the tree the frames and platforms of their houses are made; of
its leaves durable water tight roofs are made for the houses; with the
leaves their lodges are covered and beds protecting the body from the
dampness of the ground are made; the tough fiber which lies between the
stems of the leaves and the bark furnishes them with material from which
they make twine and rope of great strength and from which they could,
were it necessary, weave cloth for clothing; the tender new growth at
the top of the tree is a very nutritious and palatable article of food,
to be eaten either raw or baked; its taste is somewhat like that of the
chestnut; its texture is crisp like that of our celery stalk.
[Illustration: Fig. 73. Mortar and pestle.]
_Mortar and pestle._--The home made mortar and pestle has not yet been
supplanted by any utensil furnished by the trader. This is still the
best mill they have in which to grind their corn. The mortar is made
from a log of live oak (?) wood, ordinarily about two feet in length
and from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter. One end of the log is
hollowed out to quite a depth, and in this, by the hammering of a pestle
made of mastic wood, the corn is reduced to hominy or to the impalpable
flour of which I have spoken. (Fig. 73.)
_Canoe making._--Canoe making is still one of their industrial arts, the
canoe being their chief means of transportation. The Indian settlements
are all so situated that the inhabitants of one can reach those of the
others by water. The canoe is what is known as a "dugout," made from the
cypress log.
_Fire making._--The art of fire making by simple friction is now, I
believe, neglected among the Seminole, unless at the starting of the
sacred fire for the Green Corn Dance. A fire is now kindled either by
the common Ma-tci (matches) of the civilized man or by steel and flint,
powder and paper. "Tom Tiger" showed me how he builds a fire when away
from home. He held, crumpled between the thumb and forefinger of the
left hand, a bit of paper. In the folds of the paper he poured from his
powder horn a small quantity of gunpowder. Close beside the paper he
held also a piece of flint. Striking this flint with a bit of steel and
at the same time giving to the left hand a quick upward movement, he
ignited the powder and paper. From this he soon made a fire among the
pitch pine chippings he had previously prepared.
[Illustration: Fig. 74. Hide stretcher.]
_Preparation of skins._--I did not learn just how the Indians dress deer
skins, but I observed that they had in use and for sale the dried skin,
with the hair of the animal left on it; the bright yellow buckskin, very
soft and strong; and also the dark red buckskin, which evidently had
passed, in part of its preparation, through smoke. I was told that the
brains of the animal serve an important use in the skin dressing
process. The accompanying sketch shows a simple frame in use for
stretching and drying the skin. (Fig. 74)
Ornamental Arts.
In my search for evidence of the working of the art instinct proper,
i.e., in ornamental or fine art, I found but little to add to what
has been already said. I saw but few attempts at ornamentation beyond
those made on the person and on clothing. Houses, canoes, utensils,
implements, weapons, were almost all without carving or painting. In
fact, the only carving I noticed in the Indian country was on a pine
tree near Myers. It was a rude outline of the head of a bull. The local
report is that when the white men began to send their cattle south of
the Caloosahatchie River the Indians marked this tree with this sign.
The only painting I saw was the rude representation of a man, upon the
shaft of one of the pestles used at the Koonti log at Horse Creek. It
was made by one of the girls for her own amusement.
I have already spoken of the art of making silver ornaments.
_Music._--Music, as far as I could discover, is but little in use among
the Seminole. Their festivals are few; so few that the songs of the
fathers have mostly been forgotten. They have songs for the Green Corn
Dance; they have lullabys; and there is a doleful song they sing in
praise of drink, which is occasionally heard when the white man has sold
Indians whisky on coming to town. Knowing the motive of the song, I
thought the tune stupid and maudlin. Without pretending to reproduce it
exactly, I remember it as something like this:
[Illustration: Music]
My precious drink, I fondly love thee.
Standing I take thee. And walk until morning. Yo-wan-ha-de.
I give a free translation of the Indian words and an approximation to
the tune. The last note in this, as in the lullaby I noted above, is
unmusical and staccato.
Religion.
I could learn but little of the religious faiths and practices existing
among the Florida Indians. I was struck, however, in making my
investigations, by the evident influence Christian teaching has had upon
the native faith. How far it has penetrated the inherited thought of the
Indian I do not know. But, in talking with Ko-nip-ha-tco, he told me
that his people believe that the Koonti root was a gift from God; that
long ago the "Great Spirit" sent Jesus Christ to the earth with the
precious plant, and that Jesus had descended upon the world at Cape
Florida and there given the Koonti to "the red men." In reference to
this tradition, it is to be remembered that during the seventeenth
century the Spaniards had vigorous missions among the Florida Indians.
Doubtless it was from these that certain Christian names and beliefs now
traceable among the Seminole found way into the savage creed and ritual.
I attempted several times to obtain from my interpreter a statement of
the religious beliefs he had received from his people. I cannot affirm
with confidence that success followed my efforts.
He told me that his people believe in a "Great Spirit," whose name is
His-a-kit-a-mis-i. This word, I have good reason to believe, means "the
master of breath." The Seminole for breath is His-a-kit-a.
I cannot be sure that Ko-nip-ha-tco knew anything of what I meant by
the word "spirit." I tried to convey my meaning to him, but I think I
failed. He told me that the place to which Indians go after death is
called "Po-ya-fi-tsa" and that the Indians who have died are the
Pi-ya-fits-ul-ki, or "the people of Po-ya-fi-tsa." That was our nearest
understanding of the word "spirit" or "soul."
Mortuary Customs.
As the Seminole mortuary customs are closely connected with their
religious beliefs, it will be in place to record here what I learned of
them. The description refers particularly to the death and burial of a
child.
[Illustration: Fig. 75. Seminole bier.]
The preparation for burial began as soon as death had taken place. The
body was clad in a new shirt, a new handkerchief being tied about the
neck and another around the head. A spot of red paint was placed on the
right cheek and one of black upon the left. The body was laid face
upwards. In the left hand, together with a bit of burnt wood, a small
bow about twelve inches in length was placed, the hand lying naturally
over the middle of the body. Across the bow, held by the right hand,
was laid an arrow, slightly drawn. During these preparations, the women
loudly lamented, with hair disheveled. At the same time some men had
selected a place for the burial and made the grave in this manner:
Two palmetto logs of proper size were split. The four pieces were then
firmly placed on edge, in the shape of an oblong box, lengthwise east
and west. In this box a floor was laid, and over this a blanket was
spread. Two men, at next sunrise, carried the body from the camp to the
place of burial, the body being suspended at feet thighs, back, and neck
from a long pole (Fig. 75). The relatives followed. In the grave, which
is called "To-hop-ki"--a word used by the Seminole for "stockade," or
"fort," also, the body was then laid the feet to the east. A blanket was
then carefully wrapped around the body. Over this palmetto leaves were
placed and the grave was tightly closed by a covering of logs. Above the
box a roof was then built. Sticks, in the form of an _X_, were driven
into the earth across the overlying logs; these were connected by a
pole, and this structure was covered thickly with palmetto leaves.
(Fig. 76.)
[Illustration: Fig. 76. Seminole grave.]
The bearers of the body then made a large fire at each end of the
"To-hop-ki." With this the ceremony at the grave ended and all returned
to the camp. During that day and for three days thereafter the relatives
remained at home and refrained from work. The fires at the grave were
renewed at sunset by those who had made them, and after nightfall
torches were there waved in the air, that "the bad birds of the night"
might not get at the Indian lying in his grave. The renewal of the fires
and waving of the torches were repeated three days. The fourth day the
fires were allowed to die out. Throughout the camp "medicine" had been
sprinkled at sunset for three days. On the fourth day it was said that
the Indian "had gone." From that time the mourning ceased and the
members of the family returned to their usual occupations.
The interpretation of the ceremonies just mentioned, as given me, is
this: The Indian was laid in his grave to remain there, it was believed,
only until the fourth day. The fires at head and feet, as well as the
waving of the torches, were to guard him from the approach of "evil
birds" who would harm him. His feet were placed toward the east, that
when he arose to go to the skies he might go straight to the sky path,
which commenced at the place of the sun's rising; that were he laid with
the feet in any other direction he would not know when he rose what path
to take and he would be lost in the darkness. He had with him his bow
and arrow, that he might procure food on his way. The piece of burnt
wood in his hand was to protect him from the "bad birds" while he was on
his skyward journey. These "evil birds" are called Ta-lak-i-clak-o. The
last rite paid to the Seminole dead is at the end of four moons. At that
time the relatives go to the To-hop-ki and cut from around it the
overgrowing grass. A widow lives with disheveled hair for the first
twelve moons of her widowhood.
Green Corn Dance.
The one institution at present in which the religious beliefs of the
Seminole find special expression is what is called the "Green Corn
Dance." It is the occasion for an annual purification and rejoicing.
I could get no satisfactory description of the festival. No white man,
so I was told, has seen it, and the only Indian I met who could in any
manner speak English, made but an imperfect attempt to describe it. In
fact, he seemed unwilling to talk about it. He told me, however, that as
the season for holding the festival approaches the medicine men assemble
and, through their ceremonies, decide when it shall take place, and, if
I caught his meaning, determine also how long the dance shall continue.
Others, on the contrary, told me that the dance is always continued for
four days.
Fifteen days previous to the festival heralds are sent from the lodge
of the medicine men to give notice to all the camps of the day when the
dance will commence. Small sticks are thereupon hung up in each camp,
representing the number of days between that date and the day of the
beginning of the dance. With the passing of each day one of these sticks
is thrown away. The day the last one is cast aside the families go to
the appointed place. At the dancing ground they find the selected space
arranged as in the accompanying diagram (Fig. 77).
The evening of the first day the ceremony of taking the "Black Drink,"
Pa-sa-is-kit-a, is endured. This drink was described to me as having
both a nauseating smell and taste. It is probably a mixture similar to
that used by the Creek in the last century at a like ceremony. It acts
as both an emetic and a cathartic, and it is believed among the Indians
that unless one drinks of it he will be sick at some time in the year,
and besides that he cannot safely eat of the green corn of the feast.
During the drinking the dance begins and proceeds; in it the medicine
men join.
At that time the Medicine Song is sung. My Indian would not repeat
this song for me. He declared that any one who sings the Medicine Song,
except at the Green Corn Dance or as a medicine man, will certainly meet
with some harm. That night, after the "Black Drink" has had its effect,
the Indians sleep. The next morning they eat of the green corn. The day
following is one of fasting, but the next day is one of great feasting,
"Hom-pi-ta-clak-o," in which "Indian eat all time," "Hom-pis-yak-i-ta."
[Illustration: Fig. 77. Green Corn Dance.]
----------------------------------------------------------------
++++++
N. Squaws
|
-+-E "O-PUN-KA-TO-LO-KA-TI"
| or the Dance Circle
S. "HIL-LIS-WA-MA-TOE-UL-KI"
Men who watch the
+--+ \ | / medicine fire
| | -- O -- ++
| | / | \ X +++
| | Medicine Medicine
+--+ The Fire or Fire Men
"TEOK-KO-CLACO" "O-PUN-KA-TOT-KIT-A"
House where the
warriors sit.
Squaws
++++++
----------------------------------------------------------------
Use Of Medicines.
Concerning the use by the Indians of medicine against sickness, I
learned only that they are in the habit of taking various herbs for
their ailments. What part incantation or sorcery plays in the healing
of disease I do not know. Nor did I learn what the Indians think of the
origin and effects of dreams. Me-le told me that he knows of a plant the
leaves of which, eaten, will cure the bite of a rattlesnake, and that he
knows also of a plant which is an antidote to the noxious effects of the
poison ivy or so-called poison oak.
General Observations.
I close this chapter by putting upon record a few general observations,
as an aid to future investigation into Seminole life.
Standard of Value.
The standard of value among the Florida Indians is now taken from the
currency of the United States. The unit they seem to have adopted, at
least at the Big Cypress Swamp settlement, is twenty-five cents, which
they call "Kan-cat-ka-hum-kin" (literally, "one mark on the ground"). At
Miami a trader keeps his accounts with the Indians in single marks or
pencil strokes. For example, an Indian brings to him buck skins, for
which the trader allows twelve "chalks." The Indian, not wishing then to
purchase anything, receives a piece of paper marked in this way:
"IIII--IIII--IIII.
J. W. E. owes Little Tiger $3."
At his next visit the Indian may buy five "marks" worth of goods. The
trader then takes the paper and returns it to Little Tiger changed as
follows:
"IIII--III.
J. W. E. owes Little Tiger
$1.75."
Thus the account is kept until all the "marks" are crossed off, when
the trader takes the paper into his own possession. The value of the
purchases made at Miami by the Indians, I was informed, is annually
about $2,000. This is, however, an amount larger than would be the
average for the rest of the tribe, for the Miami Indians do a
considerable business in the barter and sale of ornamental plumage.
What the primitive standard of value among the Seminole was is suggested
to me by their word for money, "Tcat-to Ko-na-wa." "Ko-na-wa" means
beads, and "Tcat-to," while it is the name for iron and metal, is also
the name for stone. "Tcat-to" probably originally meant stone. Tcat-to
Ko-na-wa (i.e., stone beads) was, then, the primitive money. With
"Hat-ki," or white, added, the word means silver; with "La-ni," or
yellow, added, it means gold. For greenbacks they use the words
"Nak-ho-tsi Tcat-to Ko-na-wa," which is, literally, "paper stone beads."
Their methods of measuring are now, probably, those of the white man. I
questioned my respondent closely, but could gain no light upon the terms
he used as equivalents for our measurements.
Divisions Of Time.
I also gained but little knowledge of their divisions of time. They have
the year, the name for which is the same as that used for summer, and in
their year are twelve months, designated, respectively:
1. Cla-futs-u-tsi, Little Winter.
2. Ho-ta-li-ha-si, Wind Moon.
3. Ho-ta-li-ha-si-clak-o, Big Wind Moon.
4. Ki-ha-su-tsi, Little Mulberry Moon.
5. Ki-ha-si-clat-o, Big Mulberry Moon.
6. Ka-too-ha-si.
7. Hai-yu-tsi.
8. Hai-yu-tsi-clak-o.
9. O-ta-wus-ku-tsi.
10. O-ta-wus-ka-clak-o.
11. I-ho-li.
12. Cla-fo-clak-o, Big Winter.
I suppose that the spelling of these words could be improved, but I
reproduce them phonetically as nearly as I can, not making what to me
would be desirable corrections. The months appear to be divided simply
into days, and these are, in part at least, numbered by reference to
successive positions of the moon at sunset. When I asked Tael-la-haes-ke
how long he would stay at his present camp, he made reply by pointing,
to the new moon in the west and sweeping his hand from west to east to
where the moon would be when he should go home. He meant to answer,
about ten days thence. The day is divided by terms descriptive of the
positions of the sun in the sky from dawn to sunset.
Numeration.
The Florida Indians can count, by their system, indefinitely. Their
system of numeration is quinary, as will appear from the following list:
1. Hum-kin.
2. Ho-_ko-lin_.
3. To-_tei-nin_.
4. _Os-tin_.
5. Tsaq-ke-pin.
6. I-pa-kin.
7. _Ko-lo_-pa-kin.
8. _Tci-na_-pa-kin
9. _Os-ta_-pa-kin.
10. Pa-lin.
11. Pa-lin-hum-kin, _i.e._, ten one, &c.
20. Pa-li-ho-ko-lin, _i.e._, two tens.
As a guide towards a knowledge of the primitive manner of counting the
method used by an old man in his intercourse with me will serve. He
wished to count eight. He first placed the thumb of the right hand upon
the little finger of the left, then the right forefinger upon the next
left hand finger, then the thumb on the next finger, and the forefinger
on the next, and then the thumb upon the thumb; leaving now the thumb
of the right hand resting upon the thumb of the left, he counted the
remaining numbers on the right hand, using for this purpose the fore
and middle fingers of the left; finally he shut the fourth and little
fingers of the right hand down upon its palm, and raising his hands,
thumbs touching, the counted fingers outspread, he showed me eight as
the number of horses of which I had made inquiry.
Sense Of Color.
Concerning the sense of color among these Indians, I found that my
informant at least possessed it to only a very limited degree. Black and
white were clear to his sight, and for these he had appropriate names
Also for brown, which was to him a "yellow black," and for gray, which
was a "white black." For some other colors his perception was distinct
and the names he used proper. But a name for blue he applied to many
other colors, shading from violet to green. A name for red followed a
succession of colors all the way from scarlet to pink. A name for yellow
he applied to dark orange and thence to a list of colors through to
yellow's lightest and most delicate tint. I thought that at one time I
had found him making a clear distinction between green and blue, but as
I examined further I was never certain that he would not exchange the
names when asked about one or the other color.
Education.
The feeling of the tribe is antagonistic to even such primary education
as reading, writing, and calculation. About ten years ago an attempt,
the only attempt in modern times, to establish schools among them was
made by Rev. Mr. Frost, now at Myers, Fla. He did not succeed.
Slavery.
By reference to the population table, it will be noticed that there are
three negroes and seven persons of mixed breed among the Seminole. It
has been said that these negroes were slaves and are still held as
slaves by the Indians. I saw nothing and could not hear of anything
to justify this statement. One Indian is, I know, married to a negress,
and the two negresses in the tribe live apparently on terms of perfect
equality with the other women. Me-le goes and comes as he sees fit.
No one attempts to control his movements. It may be that long ago the
Florida Indians held negroes as slaves, but my impression is to the
contrary. The Florida Indians, I think, rather offered a place of refuge
for fugitive bondmen and gradually made them members of their tribe.
Health.
In the introduction to this report I said that the health of the
Seminole is good. As confirming this statement, I found that the deaths
during the past year had been very few. I had trustworthy information
concerning the deaths of only four persons. One of these deaths was of
an old woman, O-pa-ka, at the Fish Eating Creek settlement; another was
of Tael-la-haes-ke's wife, at Cat Fish Lake settlement; another was of a
sister of Tael-la-haes-ke; and the last was of a child, at Cow Creek
settlement. At the Big Cypress Swamp settlement I was assured that no
deaths had occurred either there or at Miami during the year. On the
contrary, however, I was told by some white people at Miami that several
children had died at the Indian camp near there in the year past.
Tael-la-haes-ke said to me, "Twenty moons ago, heap pickaninnies die!" And
I was informed by others that about two years before there had been
considerable fatality among children, as the consequence of a sort of
epidemic at one of the northern camps. Admitting the correctness of
these reports, I have no reason to modify my general statement that the
health of the Seminole is good and that they are certainly increasing
their number. Their appearance indicates excellent health and their
environment is in their favor.