Seminole you've gotta love 'em

Greeting my fellow classmates and my wonderful teacher Ms. Leslie Terrell. I go by the title of Adam Russell and the topic that I am going to be discussing today is the Seminole Nation. I chose this topic because my great great grandmother is a full blooded Seminole and knowing this I chose to discover more about one of my ancestors heritages. To tour my blog simply go to the World Wide Web and type in http://www.russellthevaulter.blogspot.com/ in the address bar to enter my blog.
Some of the highlights of this project is the amazement at how many websites there really were about the Seminole Nation. I was able to go to numerous sources to find the information that I needed to create my blogs. Another highlight was that there wasn't only one Seminole War, but three. Each a struggle to eliminate the stubborn Seminole from the land that they had claimed as their own. Going more onto the war topic I discovered that the Seminole were actually one of the first armies to use guerrilla tactics to fend off a large army; much like the early colonials when they were fighting the British for their freedom.
I was able to expand my knowledge for the subject of the Seminole and also quench my thirst for wanting to learn more about them for a long time, but being to lazy to have an actual reason. So I thank thee Ms. Terrell. My final opinion on my topic is that the Seminole Nation was defiantly a force to be reckoned with and the President Jackson finally had to resort to cowardly trickery to capture the key to the war, Chief Osceola. He captured him while they were having a peaceful talk under a WHITE FLAG.
I wish that i wouldn't have procrastinated as much as I did and that i could have delved into more depth on each blog but limited myself due to lack of time left to turn the assignment in.

Seminole History brough to you through Youtube

This video is about the history of the Seminole people and where they came from as a whole, and over time. Its sort of lengthy and a bit borish but it is very educational. I was able to learn some more in depth information from his video presentaion than I already knew from what I've read and heard from others. I liked it personally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyu7MXLGr60

Johns, Willy. "Willy Johns - Seminole Creek Indian History ( Part 1)." Youtube. USF, 07/02.2008. Web. 15 Apr 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyu7MXLGr60.

Seminole Nation, Made of Many Parts

Http://www.flheritage.com/facts/history/seminole is a website that covers the history of the Seminole people in a breif fashion, but without leaving anything out. This posting is about how the Seminole nation didn't just pop up on the map like most other American tribes; it was a process of many other groups of tribes moving into the Florida territory for many various reasons. Also it wasn't just Native Americans that became part of the Seminole tribe, runaway slaves that seeked out refuge from slave catchers joined their ranks as the years went on.

The Seminole nation is like America; it was a melting pot of various groups that all put up with their different reasons for going to Florida and lived together and eventually formed their own nation. The forefathers of the Seminole's came from the Lower Creek Confederation (LCC), which were most of the weaker tribes that were tired of being beat up on by their brothers the Upper Creeks. Then others traveled south in search of more fertile farmland which hadn't been tapped into like most of the south. A large number of runaway slaves went to Florida to escape the slave catchers who were persistently trying to get them to sell them for profit. The Seminole gladly gave them safe haven, and also became intimate with them. This later led to more controversy with the US government and thier war with the Seminole. The slave catcher's didn't give a hoot whether the Seminoles were native in appearance or black, the blacks were captured and sold. This is what happened to Chief Osceola's wife, who was black.

Morris, FirsAllent. "Creeks migrate to Florida." Seminole History. Florida Dept. of State, 2010. Web. 15 Apr 2010. http://www.flheritage.com/facts/history/seminole/ .

Guerilla Warfare, Unconventional and Successful

American strategy website www.globalsecurity.org/military discusses all of the American army's previous engagements. "The U.S. Army found itself ill prepared to fight a guerilla campaign" (White 47-48) sums up how the US was not ready for this new type of Indian warfare that had never been seen before. This was made by a marine who decided to share how well guerilla tactics work against a conventional army. This is how the Seminole defended their land.

The Seminoles where outnumbered, out gunned, and out matched during the Seminole Wars. Yet they still fought for their freedom and their land until the very end. They had to develop a type of fighting that could hold off extremely large numbers of soldiers with only a few hundred warriors. Seminoles not only used lightning tactics but also terrain tactics as well, each ambush was planned at a place where they could easily escape quickly and with very little casuality. Enabling them to continue the war and still inflict heavy casualities. The only way that the American Army was able to finally defeat them was by using trickery and un-honorable means.

L Whiteast, FirsJohn C.t. "American Military Strategy In The Second Seminole War." GlobalSecurity.org. 2000-2010 GlobalSecurity.org , 27-04-2005. Web. 21 Apr 2010. http://globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/WJC.htm .

Interview with Seminole

In my interview over the phone we discussed several different questions that I had previously prepared. One of my questions was how have the Seminole adapted today's society and changed theirs to fit it. He told me that the Seminoles that remained in Florida didn't stay in hiding they fought in the courts for their land and gained a lot of it back. The land that was returned they used to build casinos and other modern enterprises. Also something that surprised me was that the women had been using sewing machines since they were basically first introduced to make eloquent designs on their dresses.

Some really cool things that I learned were that houses that they slept in were wall-less, which is really weird compared to what I'm used to. Also that most of the Seminole that had been forced to move out west decided to return to their homeland and raise their children in the Seminole society. Also I didn't know that there had actually been a 3rd Seminole war that wasn't publicized as much as the other two, it crippled their population down to only 200 still living in Florida until the fighting finally stopped. Lastly what surprised me was that most Seminole men didn't and still don't have last names only one that they gain when they inter manhood.

Yaha.Personal interview. 6 May 2010.

The Defenders

The Defenders by Ann McGovern

This book tells about the Seminoles struggle against Andrew Jackson and the many generals that he sent to fight eliminate them. It discusses the various battles and skirmishes that the Seminoles had to fight through to be free. Osceola is the main character, the chief of the Seminole tribe. It tells about how he was the "Spirit of War" and spurred the Seminoles on to fight against the American government during the 7 years war. There are still some Seminoles that remain in Florida today on the same land that their ancestors did.

One main reason that I don't like this book is because it talks about two other Native American struggles. I want a book about only the Seminoles not the various other struggles that went on during the late 1800's. It not only talks about Osceola but also Tecumseh and Cochise. All of these leaders fought for freedom but Ive got Seminole blood in me and I prefer to learn about them more.

It was very short. I was want to learn more about the Seminole nation as a people, and this novel was too short to achieve that in my opinion. The pictures in the chapters helped me understand what some of the actual battles where like. They were green though so it sorta killed it.

McGovern, Ann. The Defenders. New York: Scholastic Books, 1970.

Survival In The Swamp

This web page is from the official Seminole Tribe of Florida. They have this website so that average people can learn about how they stood up and fought and also changed their ways so that they wouldn't have to be destroyed. Although most did move out to the western reserves, the few that remained are the true survivors of the Seminole Wars.

This page shows us how the remaining Seminole Indians survived in the swamps of southern Florida for decades until the government that had tried to exterminate them was now assisting them. Many were not trusting at first because the Seminoles had seen their fare share of trickery during their war with the US, but as time went on they slowly moved onto the 80,000 acre plot set aside for them. Although they no longer have to subsistence farm to survive, had it had not have been for that they wouldn't still be walking in our midst.

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"Survival In the Swamp". Seminole Tribe of Florida. 4/8/10 .

Big Cypress Shootout Reenactment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYnh48S644
I got this video from YouTube after extensive research to find the most epic video on the Seminole Indians that I possibly could. It not only shows battle footage but also everyday life during that time period, along with common dress for that time period. I enjoyed watching this video for it helped me to get a mental picture of what the battles were really like back then.
This video shows how the warfare was for the Seminole compared to the US army at the time. They weren't used to hiding and shooting, they were trained to fight out in the open in ranks so that they could shoot volleys. This guerrilla style warfare helped the Seminole withstand the US armies massive numbers compared to their few thousand.

"www.YouTube.com". Big Cypress Reenactments. 4/8/10 .

The Spirit Of The War

The place that I've chosen to pull my information is from chapter 4 of " The Defenders" by Ann McGovern. The book covers the struggle of two different tribes that both fought for their resources against the U.S. government. I am of course using the Seminole section of the book, for that is the issue that I am discussing.
"The Spirit Of The War" is not only the name of my chapter but also the nickname given to chief Osceola during the war. When the fighting first erupted he wasn't an actual chief, but all of the other chiefs still looked up to him due to his wisdom beyond his years. " We must use the cunning of the fox, the swiftness of the snake, to fight the wolves!" ( McGovern 19), is one of the many things Osceola said to the other members of the Seminole tribe to convince them to stay and fight, rather than give in and move to Oklahoma.

McGovern, Ann. The Defenders. New York: Scholastic, 1970. 19. Print.

The source that I am pulling my information for this review is from chapter 8 in the book "The World of the SOUTHERN INDIANS" by Virginia Pounds Brown. This book disscusses nearly all of the native americans that were present in the south near Florida. It helps to expose the more interesting facts about the Seminole people as a whole, and the struggle that they faced. It also discusses how they not only fought for freedom but how they earned it by adapting to the White-man ways.

I chose to use this source because it helped me learn things that i did'nt know about the seminole indian's such as; " they became a boat people because there was no foot trails to follow in the swamp," (177 Brown). This helps explain to us what sort of struggles that the seminole people had to suffer due to the American government at the time.