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Description
Seminole, North American Indian tribe of Creek origin who speak a Muskogean language. In the last half of the 18th century, migrants from the Creek towns of southern Georgia moved into northern Florida, the former territory of the Apalachee and Timucua. By about 1775 those migrants had begun to be known under the name Seminole, probably derived from the Creek word simanó-li, meaning “separatist,” or “runaway.” The name may also have derived from the Spanish cimarrón, “wild.”

The Seminoles located their new villages in the Everglades, a patchwork of dense thickets and wetlands that provided protective isolation from outsiders. There they were almost immediately joined by individuals—Africans, African Americans, and American Indians—who had escaped from slavery as well as by others attempting to avoid the bloody power struggles between European colonizers and other Southeast Indians. (See also Black Seminole.)

The Seminoles generally welcomed those newcomers. Their economy emphasized hunting, fishing, and gathering wild foods such as nuts and berries; they also grew corn (maize), beans, squash, melons, and other produce on high ground within the wetlands. Homes included substantial log cabins and, later, thatched-roof shelters with open sides known as “chickees,” which promoted maximum ventilation. People typically wore long tunics; by the late 19th century, Seminole clothing was often decorated with brightly coloured strips of cloth.

Description
Seminole, North American Indian tribe of Creek origin who speak a Muskogean language. In the last half of the 18th century, migrants from the Creek towns of southern Georgia moved into northern Florida, the former territory of the Apalachee and Timucua. By about 1775 those migrants had begun to be known under the name Seminole, probably derived from the Creek word simanó-li, meaning “separatist,” or “runaway.” The name may also have derived from the Spanish cimarrón, “wild.”

The Seminoles located their new villages in the Everglades, a patchwork of dense thickets and wetlands that provided protective isolation from outsiders. There they were almost immediately joined by individuals—Africans, African Americans, and American Indians—who had escaped from slavery as well as by others attempting to avoid the bloody power struggles between European colonizers and other Southeast Indians. (See also Black Seminole.)

The Seminoles generally welcomed those newcomers. Their economy emphasized hunting, fishing, and gathering wild foods such as nuts and berries; they also grew corn (maize), beans, squash, melons, and other produce on high ground within the wetlands. Homes included substantial log cabins and, later, thatched-roof shelters with open sides known as “chickees,” which promoted maximum ventilation. People typically wore long tunics; by the late 19th century, Seminole clothing was often decorated with brightly coloured strips of cloth.