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.
