The Seminole Indians are a tribe of Indians who now
have territory and reservations in Florida and Oklahoma.
They once belonged to the Muskogee tribe that lived along
streams in what are now southern Georgia and Alabama.
The Seminoles moved to Florida and Oklahoma
around 1708 when the white men drove them out of their
homes and took their land. The Seminoles adjusted well to
life in Florida.
In the late 1700s and early 1800s Florida was a
territory of Spain, that made the Seminoles Spanish
citizens. Like white men, they had black slaves, but they
treated their slaves with respect.In the early 1800s
General Andrew Jackson attacked the few Seminole
villages left in Georgia and forced most of the Indians to
flee to their relatives in Florida. Among them were a
young woman and her son, Osceola, who would grow up to
become a great Seminole leader.This attack started the
First Seminole War.
Florida was sold to the United States by Spain in
1819. In 1823 the Seminoles signed a treaty giving up most
of their land.Once they moved into their new reservations
in Central Florida Andrew Jackson who was president at
the time signed the Indian Removal Act which required all
Seminoles to move to the Indian Territory, which is now
known as Oklahoma. Most of the Seminoles wouldnt go.
This started the Second Seminole War. During the Second
Seminole War many of the Seminoles gave up and went to
Oklahoma. The ones that didnt had to hide deep in the
Everglades where the white men couldnt find them.
Osceola was taken prisoner by the United States
government. He died in prison.
The Florida Seminoles never signed a formal peace
treaty with the United States.The Seminole Indians are
still living in reservations in Florida and Oklahoma, The
Seminole Tribe of Florida, Inc., has its headquarters in
Hollywood, Florida, where there is a replica of a traditional
chickee village.
The Seminole Indians have been in what is now The
United States of America for over fifteen thousand years.
They have been through many wars and have had many
tragedies along the way. The Seminoles always were a
strong tribe and continue to be a strong tribe.
