The Black Seminoles is a term used by modern historians for the descendants of free
blacksThe term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
and some runaway slaves (
maroonsMaroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...
), mostly
GullahThe Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
s who escaped from coastal
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
rice plantations into the
Spanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
wilderness beginning as early as the late 17th century. By the early 19th century, they had often formed communities near the
Seminole IndiansThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
.
Together, the two groups formed a multi-ethnic and bi-racial alliance. Today, Black Seminole descendants still live in Florida, rural communities in
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and in
the BahamasThe Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
and Northern
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In the 19th century, the Florida "Black Seminoles" were called "Seminole
NegroThe word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
es" by their white American enemies and Estelusti (Black People), by their Indian allies. Modern Black Seminoles are known as "Seminole Freedmen" in Oklahoma, "Black Indians" in the Bahamas, and Mascogos in Mexico. The
Black Seminole ScoutsBlack Seminole Scouts, also known as the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts, or Seminole Scouts, were employed by the United States Army between 1870 and 1914 as United States Army Indian Scouts. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some native Seminoles...
served in the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the 19th century.
Origins
The Spanish strategy for defending their claim of Florida at first was based on organizing the indigenous people into a
missionMission may refer to:* Mission , variety of grape* Mission , base of missionary practice* Mission statement, a formal short written statement of an organization's value proposition...
system. The mission Native Americans were to serve as militia to protect the colony from English incursions from the north. But a combination of raids by South Carolina colonists and new European infectious diseases, to which they did not have immunity, decimated Florida's native population. After the local Native Americans had all but died out, Spanish authorities encouraged renegade Native Americans and runaway slaves from England's southern colonies to move south. The Spanish were hoping that these traditional enemies of the English would prove effective in holding off English expansion.
As early as 1689,
African slavesSlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
fled from the South Carolina Lowcountry to
Spanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
seeking freedom. Under an edict from King Charles II of Spain in 1693, the black fugitives received liberty in exchange for defending the Spanish settlers at
St. AugustineSt. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. The Spanish organized the black volunteers into a
militiaThe term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
; their settlement at
Fort MoseFort Mose Historic State Park is a U.S. National Historic Landmark , located two miles north of St. Augustine, Florida, on the eastern edge of a marsh. It is also a Florida State Park...
, founded in 1738, was the first legally sanctioned free black town in North America.
Not all the slaves escaping south found military service in St. Augustine to their liking. It is likely that many more runaway slaves sought refuge in wilderness areas in Northern Florida where their knowledge of tropical agriculture—and resistance to tropical diseases—served them well. Most of the blacks who pioneered Florida were
GullahThe Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
people who escaped from the rice plantations in South Carolina (and later Georgia). As Gullah, they had preserved much of their African language in an Afro-English based Creole, along with cultural practices and African leadership structure. The Gullah pioneers built their own settlements based on rice and corn agriculture. They were allies to Indians escaping into Florida at the same time.
In 1763 the British took over rule in Florida, in an exchange of territory with the Spanish west of the Mississippi, of former French lands. The area was still considered a sanctuary for fugitive slaves, as it was lightly settled, and many sought refuge near growing American Indian settlements.
Florida had been a refuge for runaway slaves for at least 70 years by the time of the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. Communities of Black Seminoles were established on the outskirts of major Seminole towns. A new influx of freedom-seeking blacks reached Florida during the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
(1775–83). Several thousand American slaves agreed to fight for the British in exchange for liberty and were called
black LoyalistA Black Loyalist was an inhabitant of British America of African descent who joined British colonial forces during the American Revolutionary War...
s. Those who chose freedom and resettlement were evacuated by the British along with their own troops from southern cities such as Charleston, as well as New York, and transported to the Caribbean, New Brunswick and England. (Florida was under British control throughout the conflict.) During the Revolution,
SeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
Indians also allied with the British, and Africans and Seminole came into increased contact with each other.
In addition, members of both communities sided with the British against the US during the
War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, solidifying ties and earning the enmity of the war's American General
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
.
When Africans and the Seminole first started to interact, the Native Americans of various tribes were also recent migrants to Florida. Spain gave land to some Muscogee (Creek) Native Americans. Over time the Creek were joined by other remnant groups of Southeast American
IndiansNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, such as the
MiccosukeeThe Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida are a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. They were part of the Seminole nation until the mid-20th century, when they organized as an independent tribe, receiving federal recognition in 1962...
and the Apalachicola, and formed communities. Their community evolved over the late 18th century and early 19th century as waves of
Creek The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...
left present-day
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
under pressure from white settlement and the Creek Wars.
By the time the American naturalist
William BartramWilliam Bartram was an American naturalist. The son of Ann and John Bartram, William Bartram and his twin sister Elizabeth were born in Kingsessing, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. As a boy, he accompanied his father on many of his travels, to the Catskill Mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens,...
visited the area in 1773, the Seminole had their own tribal name, derived from cimarron, the Spanish word for runaway, which connoted the tribe's breakaway status from the Creek. Cimarron was also the source of the English word
maroonMaroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...
, used to describe the runaway slave communities of Florida, the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, and other parts of the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
.
Culture
The Black Seminole culture that took shape after 1800 was a dynamic mixture of African, Native American, Spanish, and slave traditions. In the tradition of the Native Americans, maroons wore Seminole clothing; strained koonti, a native root; and made sofkee, a paste created by mashing corn with a mortar and pestle.
Initially living apart from the Native Americans, the maroons developed their own unique African-American culture. Black Seminoles inclined toward a
syncreticSyncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
form of Christianity developed during their lives on the plantations. Certain cultural practices, such as "
jumping the broomJumping the broom is a phrase and custom relating to wedding ceremonies in different cultural traditions: "many diverse cultures, those of Africa − Europe including Scotland, Hungary and Gypsy culture – include brooms at wedding rituals." It is particularly associated with the Romani gypsy people...
" to celebrate marriage, hailed from the plantations; other customs, such as the names used for black towns, reflected African heritage.
As time progressed, the Seminole and Blacks had some intermarriage, but historians and anthropologists believe that generally the Black Seminoles had separate communities and were allied with the Seminole at war. The Seminole known as King Phillip married a Black Seminole and had a mixed-race child with her. The Southeast Indians generally had matrilineal systems, in which children belonged to the mother's
clanA clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
, so while the children might integrate customs from both cultures, they were considered to belong to the mother's group more than the father's. The Seminole would have considered children of Black Seminoles to belong to the mother's people.
African-Seminole relations
By the early 19th century, maroons (free blacks and runaway slaves) and the Seminole were in regular contact in Florida, where they evolved a system of relations unique among
North American Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and blacks. In exchange for paying an annual tribute of livestock and crops, black prisoners or slaves found sanctuary among the Seminole. Seminoles, in turn, acquired an important strategic ally in a sparsely populated region.
Typically, many or most members of the Black Seminole communities were not identified as slaves of individual Native American chiefs. Black Seminoles lived in their own independent communities, elected their own leaders, and could amass wealth in cattle and crops. Most importantly, they bore arms for self-defense. Florida real estate records show that the Seminole and Black Seminole people owned large quantities of Florida land. In some cases, a portion of that Florida land is still owned by the Seminole and Black Seminole descendants in Florida.
Under the comparatively free conditions, the Black Seminoles flourished.
U.S. ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
Lieutenant George McCall recorded his impressions of a Black Seminole community in 1826:
We found these negroes in possession of large fields of the finest land, producing large crops of corn, beans, melons, pumpkins, and other esculent vegetables. [I] saw, while riding along the borders of the ponds, fine rice growing; and in the village large corn-cribs were filled, while the houses were larger and more comfortable than those of the Indians themselves.
An 1822 census estimated that 800 blacks were living with the Seminoles, constituting by far the largest maroon community in North American history. The Black Seminole settlements were overall highly militarized, unlike the communities of most of the slaves in the Deep South. The military nature of the African-Seminole relationship led General
Edmund Pendleton GainesEdmund Pendleton Gaines was a United States army officer who served with distinction during the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars and the Black Hawk War.-Early life:...
, who visited several flourishing Black Seminole settlements in the 1820s, to describe the African Americans as "vassals and allies" of the Seminole.
In terms of spirituality, the ethnic groups remained distinct. The Seminole followed the nativistic principles of their
Great SpiritThe Great Spirit, also called Wakan Tanka among the Sioux, the Creator or the Great Maker in English, and Gitchi Manitou in Algonquian, is a conception of a supreme being prevalent among some Native American and First Nations cultures...
. Blacks had a syncretic form of
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
inherited from the plantations. In general, the blacks never wholly adopted Seminole culture and beliefs, nor were they accepted into Native American society. Though later generations of Seminole descended from white and Indian mixtures would not consider the black members of their society to be "Seminole", culturally the mixed Black Seminoles were all but entirely absorbed into the native population. The later refusal of the Seminole to accept Black Seminoles as part of the tribe, despite proven DNA links since the late 20th century, is likely due to their adopting the racial divisions of American Florida, once the region was absorbed into the Antebellum South.
Most of the blacks spoke
GullahGullah is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people , an African American population living on the Sea Islands and the coastal region of the U.S...
, an Afro-English-based
creole languageA creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
, so often could communicate better with Anglo-Americans, if necessary, than the Seminole, many of whom spoke mostly Mikasuki and
CreekCreek may refer to:*Creek, a small stream* Creek , an inlet of the sea, narrower than a cove * Creek, a narrow channel/small stream between islands in the Florida Keys*Muscogee , a native American people...
, Muskogean languages. Together in Florida they developed
Afro-Seminole CreoleAfro-Seminole Creole is an English-based creole spoken by Black Seminoles in scattered communities in Oklahoma, Texas, and Northern Mexico.It was first identified as a language by Ian Hancock, a linguist at the University of Texas....
, identified as a distinct language in 1978 by the linguist
Ian HancockIan Hancock is a linguist, Romani scholar, and political advocate. He was born and raised in England, and is one of the main contributors in the field of Romani studies....
, who found that Black Seminole and Seminole elders still spoke it in some locations.
Blacks in the Seminole Wars
From the time of the Revolution, the existence of armed black communities in Florida was a major concern for American slave owners. Slaveholders sought the return of Florida's black fugitives under the
Treaty of New YorkThe Treaty of New York is one of several treaties signed between the United States and Native American tribes, conducted in the city of New York.-1790:...
(1790), the first treaty ratified after the adoption of the
United States ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. General
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
wanted to disrupt Florida's maroon communities in 1816 and attacked the Negro Fort, which had become a Black Seminole stronghold after the British left Florida. Breaking up the maroon communities was one of Jackson's major objectives in the subsequent First
Seminole WarThe Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...
(1817–18).
The Second
Seminole WarThe Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...
(1835–42) marked the height of tension between the U.S. and the Black Seminoles and also the historical peak of the African-Seminole alliance. Under the policy of
Indian removalIndian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
, the US wanted to relocate to the western
Indian TerritoryThe Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
Florida's 4,000 Seminole people and a portion of their 800 Black Seminole allies. During the year before the war, prominent white citizens claimed at least 100 Black Seminoles as runaway slaves.
Fearing the attempt to re-enslave the 100, and anticipating attempts to re-enslave more members of their community, Black Seminoles opposed relocation. In councils before the war, they threw their support behind the most militant Seminole faction, led by
OsceolaOsceola, also known as Billy Powell , became an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. He was of Creek, Scots-Irish and English parentage, and had migrated to Florida with his mother after the defeat of the Creek in 1814.Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance...
. After war broke out, individual black leaders, such as John Caesar, Abraham, and
John Horse played key roles. In addition to aiding the Indians in their fight, Black Seminoles recruited plantation slaves at the commencement of the war. The slaves joined Indians and maroons in the destruction of 21 sugar plantations from December 25, 1835, through the summer of 1836. Historians do not agree on whether these events should be considered a separate
slave rebellionA slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves. Slave rebellions have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery, and are amongst the most feared events for slaveholders...
; generally they view the attacks on the sugar plantations as part of the Seminole War.
By 1838, U.S. General Thomas Sydney Jesup tried to divide the black and Seminole warriors by offering promises of freedom to the blacks if they surrendered and agreed to removal to Indian Territory.
John Horse was among the black warriors who surrendered under this condition. Due to Seminole opposition, however, the Army did not fully follow through on its offer. The status of Black Seminoles and fugitive slaves was largely still unsettled after they reached Indian Territory. The issue was compounded by the government initially putting the Seminole and blacks under the authority of the Creek Nation, which was slaveholding. They tried to re-enslave some of the fugitive black slaves.
Black Seminoles in the West
After 1838, more than 500 Black Seminoles walked with the Seminoles thousands of miles to the
Indian TerritoryThe Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
in present-day Oklahoma. Because of harsh conditions, many of both peoples died along this trail from Florida to Oklahoma, also known as The Trail of Tears.
Despite U.S. Army promises of freedom, however, in the west the Black Seminoles were still threatened by slave raiders. These included pro-slavery members of the
Creek tribeThe Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...
and some former Seminole allies, whose allegiance to the blacks diminished after defeat by the US in the war. Officers of the federal army may have tried to protect the Black Seminoles, but in 1848 the U.S. Attorney General bowed to pro-slavery lobbyists and ordered the army to disarm them. This left hundreds of Seminoles and Black Seminoles unable to leave the settlement or to defend themselves against slavers.
Facing enslavement, a Black Seminole leader named
John Horse and about 100 Black Seminoles staged a mass escape in 1849 to
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where slavery had been abolished twenty years earlier. The black fugitives crossed to freedom in July 1850. They rode with a faction of traditionalist Seminoles under the Indian chief Coacochee, who led the expedition. The Mexican government welcomed the Seminole allies as border guards on the frontier.
For the next 20 years, Black Seminoles served as militiamen and Indian fighters in Mexico, where they became known as los mascogos. Slave raiders from Texas continued to threaten the community. Arms and reinforcements from the Mexican Army enabled the black warriors to defend themselves.
Throughout the period, several hundred Black Seminoles remained in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Because most of the Seminole supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War, the US required a new peace treaty with them and the other of the Five Civilized Tribes. The US required the emancipation of slaves and extension to them of full citizenship rights in the tribes. In Oklahoma, Black Seminoles became known as Seminole Freedmen, although most had not been living as slaves before the war. They lived —as their descendants still do— in and around
WewokaWewoka is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,562 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Seminole County.Wewoka is the capital of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.-Geography:Wewoka is located at ....
, Oklahoma, the community founded by John Horse as a black settlement in 1849. Today it is the capital of the
Seminole Nation of OklahomaThe Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is a federally recognized Seminole tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the largest of the three federally recognized Seminole organizations, which include the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida...
.
In 1870, the U.S. Army invited Black Seminoles to return from Mexico to serve as
army scoutsNative Americans have made up an integral part of U.S. military conflicts since America's beginning. Colonists recruited Indian allies during such instances as the Pequot War from 1634–1638, the Revolutionary War, as well as in War of 1812...
for the United States. The Seminole Negro Indian Scouts (originally a black unit despite the name) played a lead role in the Texas Indian Wars of the 1870s. The scouts became famous for their tracking abilities and feats of endurance. Four men were awarded the
Medal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. They served as advance scouts for the commanding white officers and the all-black units known as the
Buffalo SoldierBuffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas....
s, with whom they were closely associated. After the close of the Texas Indian Wars, the scouts remained stationed at Fort Clark in
BrackettvilleBrackettville is a city in Kinney County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kinney County...
, Texas, until the army disbanded them in 1914. Family members settled in and around Brackettville, and scouts and family members were buried in its cemetery. The town remains the spiritual center of the Texas-based Black Seminoles.
The black Seminole community in Nacimiento,
CoahuilaCoahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
, inhabits lands adjacent to the Kickapoo tribe. Descendants of another Black Seminole community reside half a continent away on
Andros IslandAndros Island is an archipelago within the archipelago-nation of the Bahamas, the largest of the 26 inhabited Bahamian Islands. Geo-politically considered a single island, Andros has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined...
in the Bahamas. Refugees from 19th-century Florida wars went there to the British-held islands to find sanctuary from American enslavement. By that time Great Britain had abolished slavery.
Some of the descendants of the Black Seminoles who did not emigrate still live in Florida today. For the most part, these Black Seminoles are not members of registered tribes, either the
Seminole Tribe of FloridaThe Seminole Tribe of Florida is a federally recognized Seminole tribe based in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, it is one of three federally recognized Seminole entities...
or the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida.
Seminole Freedmen exclusion controversy
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Seminole Freedmen in Oklahoma were in the national news because of a legal dispute with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma over membership and rights within the tribe. Black Seminoles believed that due to their ancestral descent from the tribe, they should be included in services provided by a $56 million federal settlement, a judgment trust, awarded to the Seminole Nation because of land taken from them by the United States at their removal from Florida. As the judgment trust was based on the tribe as it existed in 1823, when Black Seminoles did not have citizenship rights, as decreed by American racial ideology, the Seminole Freedmen were excluded from the benefits. Many Black Seminoles held and farmed land in the area, and equally suffered property losses.
In another aspect of the dispute over citizenship, in 2000 the Seminole Nation voted to exclude as members any Seminole Freedmen who did not have an Indian ancestor listed on the
Dawes RollsThe Dawes Rolls were created by the Dawes Commission. The Commission, authorized by United States Congress in 1893, was required to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes to convince them to agree to an allotment plan and dissolution of the reservation system...
, the registry established in the early 1900s. At the time, registrars listed Black Seminoles as Freedmen, regardless of their proportion of Indian ancestry. This excluded some Black Seminoles from being listed on the Indian-Seminole list, although they qualified by ancestry. In addition, because the Dawes Rolls included many Intermarried Whites who lived on Indian lands, but did not include blacks, the Seminole Freedmen believed it was a racially based decision and opposed it. Although the Seminole Freedmen brought suit against the nation, they did not succeed in the courts.
The dispute developed after Seminole Indians voted to exclude any Seminole Freedmen of partial African descent from inclusion in the settlement and membership in the tribe. In June 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow the Seminole Freedmen to sue the federal government for inclusion in the settlement unless they could obtain the Seminole Nation's consent, as the latter has status as a sovereign nation.
Later that year, the
Bureau of Indian AffairsThe Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
held that the exclusion of Black Seminoles constituted a violation of the Seminole Nation's 1866 treaty with the United States, as the treaty was made with a tribe that included black as well as white and brown members. The BIA rescinded all federal funding for services and programs, prompting the tribe to reverse its decision. In 2004 the Nation voted to include the Freedmen in the tribe for voting in all elections and sharing in allotments and settlements.
See also
- List of topics related to Black and African people
- Cherokee Freedmen
- Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
- Cafuzo
- Garifuna
- Ian Hancock
Ian Hancock is a linguist, Romani scholar, and political advocate. He was born and raised in England, and is one of the main contributors in the field of Romani studies....
- Afro-Seminole Creole
Afro-Seminole Creole is an English-based creole spoken by Black Seminoles in scattered communities in Oklahoma, Texas, and Northern Mexico.It was first identified as a language by Ian Hancock, a linguist at the University of Texas....
- Black Indians in the United States
- Cimarron people (Panama)
The Cimarrons or Cimarrones in Panama, were enslaved Africans who had escaped from their Spanish masters and lived together as outlaws. In the 1570s, they allied with Sir Francis Drake of England to defeat the Spanish conquest and plunder their riches....
- Gullah
The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
- Gullah language
Gullah is a creole language spoken by the Gullah people , an African American population living on the Sea Islands and the coastal region of the U.S...
- Maroon (people)
Maroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...
- Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
- Native American tribe
- One-Drop Rule
The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States for the social classification as black of individuals with any African ancestry; meaning any person with "one drop of black blood" was considered black...
- Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II
Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II was a United States Army Major who served with the 22nd Infantry Regiment during the Indian Wars, the Spanish–American War and the Philippine-American War....
, a white officer who led the Army Black Seminoles from 1882 to 1890.
- Black Seminole Scouts
Black Seminole Scouts, also known as the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts, or Seminole Scouts, were employed by the United States Army between 1870 and 1914 as United States Army Indian Scouts. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some native Seminoles...
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