Seminole

The Seminole people are a tribe that formed in Florida from the amalgamation during the 19th century of various groups that had been part of the Creek Confederacy and of other elements, including Black slaves. Most Seminoles are members of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. Communities of Black Seminoles, descendants of slaves held by Seminoles who adopted Seminole culture, live in Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico and the Bahamas.

Origins

The Indians living in Florida when it was first reached by Europeans had largely died out by early in the 18th century. Men from various groups that belonged to the Creek Confederacy in Georgia and Alabama started entering Spanish Florida at the beginning of the 18th century, raiding mission villages and other tribes, usually with aid and encouragement from the English in South Carolina. These Creeks also engaged in hunting, primarily for deer skins, throughout Florida.

Groups of Creeks began settling in Florida in the 1750s, establishing towns around the Tallahassee-Lake Miccosukee area and the Gainesville-Paynes Prairie area. Other early settlements were along the Apalachicola River and in the area west of Gainesville over to the Suwannee River. (While the Creeks may have found remnants of earlier tribes in the area, there is no evidence of earlier cultures in the Creek townsites.) More Creeks entered Florida in the first quarter of the 19th century, raising the total Creek-descended population in Florida to about 5,000. Towns were established from south of Gainesville to Tampa Bay during this period.