Daily Life in Olden Times Everglades Seminole Indians For Kids & Teachers K-12 What is the job of an animal spirit helper?  Why did the Seminole people hang their baby cradles from the rafters of their home?  What is a comfortable? Why were beads so important?  Find out here. Welcome to the Florida Everglade Seminole Indians in Olden Times. Use the Short Cut Menu to find just what you need.  Florida Everglades Seminole What are the Everglades? Marriage Seminole Dolls Who are the Seminole?   Law and Order Seminole Religion What did they eat? Village Life Seminole Beads What did they wear? Daily Life Ancient Festivals How did they live?   Chickees Tall Tales/Stories How did they travel?   Comfortables Recipes The Clans Toys/Pets Links for Kids Animal Spirit Helpers and the Old Ones (Lesson)    Seminole Lesson Plans   What are the Everglades? In Florida, there is a huge area of 9-million-acres of wet, swampy land, covered with tall saw grass. There are many slow moving streams of water and stretches of quicksand. This area is called the Florida Everglades. Many animals live in the Florida Everglades including poisonous snakes, panthers, bobcats, alligators, deer, otter, turtles, fish, birds. There are beautiful flowering plants. Hammocks: Dotted here and there in the Everglades are pieces of firm ground positioned a few inches above the water. These firm pieces of ground are called hammocks. They are islands in the swamp. Hammocks vary in size from a footstep to an acre or more. Many support thick forests. Waterways: Waterways run everywhere through the Everglades. Some waterways are only a few inches deep. Others are 3 or 4 feet deep.   Who are the Seminole?   The Seminole Indians are a group that settled in what would become modern day Florida. When first the Spanish and then the French explorers and settlers arrived in Florida, they wanted the Seminole lands. There were wars. Some Seminole fled to the Everglades to live. They knew the white man would not want the land of the Everglades. It was too inhospitable. In time, the Seminole learned to love the Everglades. They found it rich with food and shelter.   What did they eat? Food: Seminole men were good hunters. Fish were speared from canoes. They caught otter, raccoon, bobcats, alligator, turtle, and birds. To catch deer, they would burn a patch of grass. When the new grass grew in, the deer came to feast, and the Seminole caught the deer. Villagers planted crops behind their house and on nearby hammocks. But they did not tend their crops. They did not weed or fertilize or irrigate. Wild plants mingled with the ones they had planted. The land teemed with food like wild pineapples, mangos, guava, oranges, and mulberry trees. The Seminole planted pumpkins, pawpaws, and corn. Corn was the main crop. They used corn to make corn flour, corn bread, corn pancakes, and even a corn soft drink called sofkee. Sofkee is still a popular soft drink among the Seminoles on reservations today. Cane Sugar: These early people sweetened their food with sugar cane. To crush the cane and get the sugar, they put wheels on either end of a wooden pole. The men pushed the pole across the cane until it shredded. Eating Houses: Each village had an eating house. This was the biggest house in the village. The women cooked the food, and made food for the entire village. Everyone ate together. They did not have silverware. They ate with their fingers. The two big meals were breakfast and lunch.   What did they wear? Clothes: Babies wore patchwork dresses. At about age 3, the boys continued to wear a knee length one piece garment. The girls moved to a 2 piece garment - a blouse with puffy sleeves and a wide long skirt. As a girl grew older, she had to wear three long skirts at the same time. The Seminole made patchwork clothes, carefully hand sewn. Some had applique and embroidery. Some had silver jewelry sewn on them. Clothes were bright and cheery. Beads: The Seminole loved beads. From the time a baby was born, a string of beads was placed around his or her neck. At age 3, the boys switched to a scarf. But girls continued to receive new bead necklaces, to add to the ones they already wore. By age 5, the beaded necklace a girl wore would have grown to about 36 inches. Adult women wore beaded necklaces that were about 60 inches long, and women did wear more than one necklace. These necklaces did not hang down. The women wrapped them around and around their neck until you could not see their neck at all. All you could see were beads. The beads were heavy. Hats: Men wore a cowboy type hat with a colorful band around the rim. Silver Jewelry: The Seminole made and wore many rings and bracelets made of silver.  Clans: The Seminoles were broken up into several clans. A clan is a family group. Each clan was named after something in nature - Panther, Bear, Bird, Deer, Wind, Snake, Otter. Clan names were very important. Your name announced what clan you belonged to. The Seminoles had a naming ceremony. Only 2 people could have the same name in a clan. When one died, that name was passed on to a boy or girl turning 12. That person carried the clan name until they died, and again the name was passed on. No other tribe or clan could use those names. Clans had songs and special necklaces that also identified them.   Marriage: A wedding could be performed by any male relative of the bride or any one of the "old men" of the tribe. Often, the bride's father performed the ceremony. Marriage between relatives was forbidden. You had to marry out of your clan. When a child was born, it belonged to the mother's clan.   Law and Order The Seminole believed that you took care of your own, and you punished your own. If a Seminole broke a Seminole law, the clan of the offender inflicted the punishment. Scarring: In the old days, the Seminole would cut deep scratches in their arms and legs. These cuts would be given for punishment and also for purification. Cuts were deep and arranged in a line. A Young Maiden Disappears: Not all punishment was scarring. Once, in the 1930's, a young girl wanted to go to the Indian school run by the whites. Her clan allowed her to do so. White children attended this school as well. There was only one schoolhouse. One day, this young girl put on a bathing suit and went swimming with her white friends. Her clan heard about it. That young girl disappeared into the Everglades for six months. When she reappeared, she was wearing 3 long skirts, one puffy sleeve blouse, a neck wrapped with beads, and she behaved as a young Seminole lady should behave. Everyone had to obey the rules. If you broke them, you were punished. Punishment was swift. In rare cases of very serious crime - if you killed someone, for example - your own clan would hunt you down and kill you. Daily Life Chickee (Seminole Homes): Each family had their own home. Homes were called chickees. Chickees were platform houses, made of logs. The bottom floor was about 3 feet off the ground for protection from flooding and animals. The roof was slanted. Certain times of the year, people hung canvas curtains (walls) to keep out the rain and cold weather. When walls were not needed, the Seminole rolled up their canvas curtains and hung them from the rafters to keep them safe and dry. They hung many things from the rafters of their homes - cooking utensils, a baby swing, perhaps a wheel. You had to keep things off the wet ground if you wanted to keep them safe. Sometimes, the women worked in the chickee during the day. The baby's swing, which was securely fastened to the rafters of the chickee, had a piece of cloth tied to it that hung down. While working at something else, the women would tug the piece of hanging cloth to gently rock the baby. Comfortables: Seminole families slept in their chickee at night. Their beds of hides or blankets were called "comfortables". Comfortables were rolled up and hung from the rafters during the day. They had very little other furniture, perhaps a chair, a table, and a few colorful baskets. Seminole Kids: Kids played quietly. They each had a little box that was exclusively theirs. It was filled with their treasures - a shell rattle, a small ball, a favorite doll. When they were not playing with their toys, they put their toys neatly away, and hung their little toy box from the rafters to keep it safe. Pets: Tame otters, birds Seminole Dolls: Seminoles were excellent woodcarvers. They made many things out of wood - homes, canoes. They also made dolls. They made two types of dolls. One was a little doll, about 2 inches tall. Each doll was dressed with fabric garments such as a Seminole woman or man would wear. The other doll was much bigger, perhaps 10 to 18 inches, and carved out of wood in an odd way. Everything was elongated as if you took a person and pulled them thin like taffy. It's a strangely attractive doll. Today, Seminole artists make both types of traditional dolls. Village Life: Seminole villages were very small. The entire village might be 2 homes (chickees), 1 eating house, and 1 storage house. A large village might have 10-12 homes (chickees). Their homes were built in a circle around a central open area used as a protected play area for their children and their central campfire. Campfires were always built in the same way. Logs were arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Seminoles did not stay in their village year around. They were often on the move, camping near harvest areas or off hunting. If someone came by and found a village deserted, they were welcome to spend the night. There were no locks. There were no walls. The Seminole might not return to a specific village for some time, but wherever they went, they either built a new camp, or stayed at an old one that they had built in the past. Each Seminole family had many homes.    How did they travel? Canoes: They traveled by canoe. Canoes were decorated with family colors. A favorite design was the diamond shape. Canoes were made in different size. The largest one could carry a family. The smallest was used for spear fishing. On Foot, Following Animal Trails: There were trails made by animals through the Everglades, trails that led from one hammock to another. The Seminole were experts at following animals trails.  Seminole Religion: Dreams: The Seminole believed that everyone had dreams. When someone had a dream, they would ask the old ones for guidance. They did not have to take the advice offered, but they believed it was good to get advice. Animal Spirit Helpers: They other place they could turn for help was by praying to their animal spirit helper. The Seminole believed that everyone had an animal spirit helper who watched over them and guided them. It might take many years and many dreams to recognize your particular spirit. Nothing in your dress or name could give away the identify of your helper. Funeral Practices: When someone died, their body was put in a coffin along with a bundle of clothes and some cooking utensils. The coffin was buried. The rest of the family abandoned whatever chickee they were living in at the moment, and moved on. The home remained empty until another family moved in.  Ancient Festivals: Tribal Festivals: There were two big festivals held each year that were attended by all the clans. One was the Corn Dance in June. The other was the Hunting Dance in September. Each festival lasted 3-4 days. People came from great distances to attend these festivals. Musical Instruments: Music was greatly loved. The Seminole invented several instruments. One was a sugar cane flute. It had four holes cut in it to vary notes. They made coconut shell rattles, and used small drums mostly for ceremonial use. Recipes Pawpaw recipes Pawpaw Cookies Pawpaws have been called poor man's bananas. If you can't find pawpaws in your backyard, as did the ancient Seminoles, you can substitute bananas in this recipe. Wait until the banana skins are speckled and nearly overripe. That speckling is natural sugar! 1½ c. pawpaw pulp (or mashed bananas) ¾ c. shortening 1& 1/3 c. sugar 1 egg 3 c. sifted flour 1 Tbsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt ¼ tsp. ginger ¼ tsp. allspice 1 tsp. nutmeg 1 tsp. cinnamon Cream the shortening and sugar thoroughly. Add beaten egg and pawpaw. Stir in the dry ingredients, and mix well. Form into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Press into round flat shape with the bottom of a glass that has been lightly greased. Bake in a moderate oven about 15 minutes.    Seminole Stories The Seminoles loved stories of all sorts, including tall tales. Seminole Tall Tale:  Around 1896, Chief Wildcat told some white traders that the Seminoles were the descendants of giants that were 6 feet tall. Some were 8 feet tall. According to Chief Wildcat, the giants built huge mounds. First, guards would burn an area around the mound for some considerable distance. Then two guards would cross the burnt earth and climb to the top of the mound. If anyone else tried to cross the burnt earth, the guards would catch them, bring them to the top of the mound, and burn them up. None of the white traders asked if this was still a Seminole custom, much to the Chief's delight.   Men Visit the Sky (Seminole story) Links for Kids Seminole Tribe - How do you spend your day? Seminole Indians Seminole Indians Report Seminole Clothing Chief Osceola (Scholastic) Seminoles Everglades Adventure Conflict in the Everglades (Thinkquest) Florida Panther Endangered Species of Florida (5th grade Thinkquest) return to the main menu All Rights Reserved Counter start date January 2006     Seminole Tall Tale loosely retold by Lin Donn Have a great year!