The Seminoles Today

In response to the growing poverty and suffering of the Native American tribes in the Southeast, the United States government passed the Indian Reorganization Act and allocated land to the Seminoles in Florida. The Indian Reorganization Act allowed the Native tribes to organize their own governments and set up their own constitutions. The Seminoles voted and passed their constitution, which established the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 1957. As more time passed the Seminoles would be granted more land from the US government that was taken away years ago by the military. In 1977, the first smoke shop was created by the Seminoles as a means of gaining revenue and the creation of smoke shops began an enterprise for the Seminoles. Soon after the first high-stakes bingo hall was created in Hollywood and soon gaming became the number one economic enterprise for Seminoles. Noticing the success of the gaming halls, other tribes began to follow the lead set by the Seminoles. The acquisition of land and reservations taken long ago by the government allowed the Seminoles to create many hotels, smoke shops, and gaming halls like the Hard Rock Casino. With the increased revenue and support from the federal government allows the tribe members to have modern housing and health care. Education is highly supported as well, with about $1 million spent each year. The Seminoles have came a long way and prosper in the face of opposition.

References 

Florida Department of State: Division of Historical Resources.
N.b. "Seminole History". Electronic Document. http://www.flheritage.com/facts/history/seminole/, accessed July 22, 2014.

Seminole Tribe of Florida.
N.b. "Survival in the Swamp". Electronic Document. http://www.semtribe.com/History/SurvivalInTheSwamp.aspx, accessed July 22, 2014.

Seminole Tribe of Florida.
N.b. "Seminoles Today". Electronic Document. http://www.semtribe.com/History/SeminolesToday.aspx, accessed July 22, 2014.

Seminole- Marriage/lifestyle

Traditional Seminole marriage was matrilocal and polygyny, until that was banned in the twentieth century. Seminole Indians mostly married within there group and marrying someone outside the community was frowned upon. Today intermarriage is very common. Divorce used to be simple and at the wish of either partner but unions under modern law require a formal legal divorce. Marriage in the Seminole community has its own process. When a male finds the one he wants to marry he must call together a council of his own family to break the news. If the family does not oppose, the message must be delivered to the females family. When the two families have agreed gifts are exchanged. The wedding ceremony is informal and consists of the groom going to his mother in laws house to receive his bride as a wife. The next day they make it symbolically official with a public appearance in the community. After the marriage the husband goes to live with his wife and her family for the period equivalent to a honeymoon and soon after they set up their own household.

References

N.d. JRank. "Seminole- Marriage and Family." . www.everyculture.com (accessed July 22, 2014).

N.d. Lorette, Kristie. "Seminole Indian Wedding Traditions." . www.ehow.com (accessed July 22, 2014).

Gender Roles In Seminole Society

Although some people may think that there are major differences amongst male and female roles in the Seminole Tribe, there aren’t.  Both females and males contribute greatly to the community as a whole.  Either sex is able to practice things such as arts and crafts, storytelling, art, music and medicinal arts. Formerly the chiefs of the tribe were only men, now women are also permitted to lead the government. Nevertheless there are things that were divided by gender such as, the men being hunters and gathering food for the tribe as well as warriors to defend both the tribe and their families. Women were accountable for things like agriculture, weaving and maintaining the children and family. Games like Stickball had slight restrictions depending on your gender, men were able to use sticks while the women were allowed to play without the sticks using their hands and feet. The women were not to be tackled; those who tackled women would face severe penalties. There are also events such as spiritual dances and purification ceremonies that involved both men and women becoming adults of the tribe, however, men do have manhood rituals specified to them.

References

L.A. Cargill 
N.d. "Native American Tribes - Seminole." Electronic Document. http://austinstar.hubpages.com/hub/Native-American-Tribes-Seminole, accessed July 22, 2014.

Downs, Dorothy 
N.d. "Florida Seminole and Miccosukee Indians: Trade, Change, Adaptation and Innovation." Electronic Document. http://www.kislakfoundation.org/millennium-exhibit/downs1.htm , accessed July 22, 2014.

Seminole Religion and Spirituality

The Seminole people sustained a very simple, yet rich religion in the core of their culture. Their belief of a monotheistic creation made it feasible for Christianity to take root in their culture's modernization, albeit many Seminoles' reluctance to forget their past traditions. The Seminole belief was of a single creator that birthed everything into existence, including the eight clans that the people themselves organized into. The Green Corn Dance is at the heart of their religion, as it was the special event for purification and the Earth. A ritual stomping dance would take place that acted as both a tribute to the creator and a rite of passage to transform boys into men. Shamans acted as both healers and the leaders for this dance, however many of them died without passing on their knowledge to successors. The introduction of Christianity to the communities in the 1940's led to most of the population converting, resulting in the eventual loss of the old traditions. The Green Corn Dance still takes place as an important activity for the tribes to unite but is more of a social event held for the public as of today.

References 

Countries and Their Cultures . N.D. "Seminole Indians - Religion - Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids." Seminole Indians - Religion - Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids. http://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/southeast/seminole/religion.html accessed July 22, 2014.

Seminole Tribe of Florida . N.D. "Seminole Tribe of Florida - Culture, Green Corn Dance." Seminole Tribe of Florida - Culture, Green Corn Dance.      
http://www.semtribe.com/Culture/GreenCornDance.aspx accessed July 22, 2014.

Seminole Tribe of Florida . N.D. "Seminole Tribe of Florida - Culture, Seminoles and Christianity." Seminole Tribe of Florida - Culture, Seminoles and Christianity. http://www.semtribe.com/Culture/SeminolesandChristianity.aspx accessed July 22, 2014.

Seminoles history/origin

Seminole History/Origins

 Originally in the eighteenth century, there were creek tribes who migrated from Georgia and Alabama to the swamps of southern Florida. Black slaves would flee to Florida and interbreed with the creek Indians. This formed the Seminole Indians. Seminole means "wild people" or "runaways". The Seminole history is marred by the many wars they fought. Unlike many other tribes in the United States, they refused to leave their homeland. In the first 58 years of the nineteenth century, they fought four major wars: the creek war(1813), the first Seminole war(1818-1819), the second Seminole war( 1835-1842), and the third Seminole war (1855-1858). These wars devastated the Seminoles. At the beginning of the wars, the Seminole population stood at 5000. By the end of the wars, the population stood at a few hundred. In 1907, they were given 540 acres of land by the US government. Eventually they broke off into two groups; the miccosukee tribe of Seminole Indians and a second group. Each divided the reservation into two distinct halves.


References:

N.b. "Brief Summary of Seminole History." . Electronic document http://www.semtribe.com/History/BriefSummary.aspx accessed July 22, 2014

N.b. Florida Division of Historical Resources." Seminole History. Electronic document http://www.flheritage.com/facts/history/seminole/ accessed July 22, 2014