Seminole Nation

The Seminole Tribe is part of the group known as the Five Civilized Tribes

Ancestral Homeland: Southeastern United States - Georgia and Florida

Linguistic Group: Muskhogean

Federal Status: Recognized

 Miccosukee Tribe live on the Miccosukee reservation or along the Tamiami Trail

History

Brief Timeline

• 1817-18:  Seminole War; American troops under General Andrew Jackson.  Jackson's victory led to Spain selling Florida to the United States. 
• Februray 22, 1821: Florida became part of the United States.
• September 6, 1823:  Treaty of Fort Moultrie, the tribe gave up 30 million acres of farmland and received .5 million acres in central Florida. 
• May 9,1832: Treaty at Payne's landing; land cessions Indians to remove within three years.
• March 28,1833:  Treaty of Fort Gibson Major Phagan to superintend removal (Indian Treaties 1778-1883 by Charles J. Kappler; page 203-207)
• December 1835 - August 14, 1842: second Seminole War lead by Osceola
• 1835-1842: estimated 4,000 Seminole had been removed from Florida.  Those removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) became the Seminole Nation and one of the Five Civilized Tribes. 
• A refugee band of Seminole negroes removed near the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas.  
• January 4, 1845

Reservations

Big Cyprus

Brighton

Hollywood 

Miccosukee

Additional References to the History of the Tribe

Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Seminole tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Records

Census Records

Tribe	Agency	Location of Originial Records	Post - 1885 Census M595 RG 75 Rolls 693 Roll Number	FHL Film Number
Seminole Florida	Seminole Agency Dania, 1934-52	Atlanta	Rolls 486-87	581496-497

Correspondence

Tribe	Agency	Location of Originial Records	Pre-1880 Correspondence M234 RG 75 Rolls 962  Roll Number	FHL Film Number
Seminole	Seminole Agency,1824-76	Washington D.C.	Rolls 799-87	-
Seminole	Union Agency, 1875-80	Washington D.C.	Rolls 864-77	-
Seminole, Florida	Seminole Agency Dania, 1934-52	Atlanta	-	-

Enrollment:

• Dawes Commission Enrollment
• Eastern Cherokee- Guion Miller Enrollment

Treaties

• 1823 September 18, at Moultrie Creek in Territory of Florida, with the Florida Tribes of Indians  
• 1832 at Payne's Landing, Territory of Florida, annuity, removal, and land cessions 
• 1833 Mar 28, at Fort Gibson 
• 1845 January 4, at Creek Agency, with Creeks and Seminole, annuity, rations, removal 
• 1856 August 7, Washington D.C., removal, with the Creeks 
• 1865 with the Cherokee and other Tribes in Indian Territory 
• 1866 March 21, Washington D.C. 

Important Web Sites

• Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Constitution.
• Constitution and By-Laws of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Ratified August 21, 1957.
• Seminole Tribe Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives; Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1906 Available online.
• Klein, Barry T., ed. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Nyack, New York: Todd Publications, 2009. 10th ed. WorldCat 317923332; FHL book 970.1 R259e.
• Malinowski, Sharon and Sheets, Anna, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1998. 4 volumes. Includes: Lists of Federally Recognized Tribes for U.S., Alaska, and Canada – pp. 513-529 Alphabetical Listing of Tribes, with reference to volume and page in this series Map of “Historic Locations of U.S. Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Canadian Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Mexican, Hawaiian and Caribbean Native Groups” Maps of “State and Federally Recognized U.S. Indian Reservations. WorldCat 37475188; FHL book 970.1 G131g.

Vol. 1 -- Northeast, Southeast, Caribbean

Vol. 2 -- Great Basin, Southwest, Middle America

Vol. 3 -- Arctic, Subarctic, Great Plains, Plateau

Vol. 4 -- California, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands

• Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. 20 vols., some not yet published. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978– .
  

Volume 1 -- Not yet published

Volume 2 -- Indians in Contemporary Society (pub. 2008) -- WorldCat 234303751

Volume 3 -- Environment, Origins, and Population (pub. 2006) -- WorldCat 255572371

Volume 4 -- History of Indian-White Relations (pub. 1988) -- WorldCat 19331914; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.4.

Volume 5 -- Arctic (pub. 1984) -- WorldCat 299653808; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.5.

Volume 6 -- Subarctic (pub. 1981) -- WorldCat 247493742; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.6.

Volume 7 -- Northwest Coast (pub. 1990) -- WorldCat 247493311

Volume 8 -- California (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 13240086; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.8.

Volume 9 -- Southwest (pub. 1979) -- WorldCat 26140053; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.9.

Volume 10 -- Southwest (pub. 1983) -- WorldCat 301504096; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.10.

Volume 11 -- Great Basin (pub. 1986) -- WorldCat 256516416; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.11.

Volume 12 -- Plateau (pub. 1998) -- WorldCat 39401371; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.12.

Volume 13 -- Plains, 2 vols. (pub. 2001) -- WorldCat 48209643

Volume 14 -- Southeast (pub. 2004) -- WorldCat 254277176

Volume 15 -- Northwest (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 356517503; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.15.

Volume 16 -- Not yet published

Volume 17 -- Languages (pub. 1996) -- WorldCat 43957746

Volume 18 -- Not yet published

Volume 19 -- Not yet published

Volume 20 -- Not yet published

• Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.
• Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, New York: Facts on File, 2006. 3rd ed. WorldCat 14718193; FHL book 970.1 W146e 2006.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)