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Show Seminoles Misrepresented By Sensational Writers By BAUKIIAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WM Service, 1616 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. (This is the second of two articles bated on visits to the Seminole Indian reservation at Brighton, I'la.). SOMEWHERE NORTH OF THE EVERGLADES. Whenever one tries, as I did, to study the human side of the Seminoles that nation which has left so they always look "dressed up." The hairdress, an innovation ana a highly practical one, dates back only some six or seven years. The woman's smooth black hair is brought forward over a semi-circular cardboard form like the wide peak of a cap. This gives her the appearance of peering at you from underneath a wide, circular hat brim, and is achieved easily without with-out the aid of the beauty shop and virtually without mirrors. Furthermore, Further-more, the coiffure is one development develop-ment that has no connection with the White Man's culture. Women's Skirts Are Real Art Unlike the hairdo, the Seminole skirt and cape haven't changed except ex-cept to grow more artistic and more intricate with the advent of colored textiles. They likewise have become less difficult to create, thanks to the hand-driven sewing machine. I MM , little written record rec-ord of its short but historic lifespan life-span one is del-urged del-urged with information infor-mation and mis-informatio mis-informatio n. Misinformation of the type on which the Sunday supplement writer writ-er feeds. For example, examine the con- j tradictory data j on the Seminoles This gadget long since has been as common in tepee, hogan or even igloo as an ice-pick in a modern flat. The skirts are made of parallel bands of a brightly colored patchwork patch-work design which experts claim are real art. They are fashioned of hundreds of separate pieces of colorful col-orful cloth, blended or contrasted to make a barbarically splendorous whole. The skirts bell out, widening widen-ing in circumference as they approach ap-proach the hem which, according to regulations, must trail at least three inches or thereabouts on the ground. How can this be a practical everyday every-day dress in a country of swamps and morasses, of barbed and cutting cut-ting underbrush? That is the first question I (and every ignorant ob- i. x ; , ' ' ! I 111 I I k l;w "I . ; Baukhage and snake 'S-When 'S-When I called on Agent Boehmer, his wife recounted re-counted how a greatly-excited Indian In-dian had appeared one day on their doorstep to announce his pressing desire that Boehmer come to the Seminole camp a 100 rods or so distant to kill a rattler. Boehmer obliged. He carefully avoided carrying the corpse through the camp (a Seminole taboo), and he noted the usual fire lighted at the point where the victim fell. As usual, the Indian children had cooperated co-operated with him, without actively participating in the execution. There are two explanations as to why the Seminoles would not themselves them-selves kill the snake. One is that once in the past the Seminoles were ordered by the White Man to leave Florida for points west. They prepared pre-pared to remain even though it meant retiring deep into the Everglades. Ever-glades. Hbwever they decided it would be a good idea for both parties if they made a treaty with the snakes. They did so on a "live and let live" basis. That is one explanation. ex-planation. Or it may have been one of those common sense arrangements em bellished with the authority of mysticism. mys-ticism. There are few snakes which, if left alone, won't reciprocate. Another interpretation may be that when a white man attacks the rattler, the chances are that if anyone any-one is bitten, it would not be an Indian. I understand Seminoles do kill snakes when it seems necessary. nec-essary. Boehmer, whose opinion I learned to value as I pursued this subject, thinks the rattlesnake situation is interesting, but I couldn't get him to say rt meant the Seminole was superstitious. Gaudy Costumes Intrigue Observer Like every observer, I was impressed im-pressed by the Seminole attire. Not by the men's they wear conventional conven-tional garments lightened by a gay handkerchief about the neck when they pursue their dail.v tasks, hunt on the reservation or loaf in camp. They have shortened the long skirt-like skirt-like garment (comparable to the woman's cape) to sport-shirt length, even in ceremonial dress. I found only Sam Huff, reputed to be a medicine man as well as the handy man at the school, wearing wear-ing the long skirt-like garment, plus the blouse. Some say Sam clings to this outfit merely because of his love for the past; others say it may have something to do with his special spe-cial function as a medicine man; there is a whisper that it is a badge of repentance or punishment for some past sin. Sam is a grandfather grand-father today. He still lives in the nearby camp with the rest of his three generations. The younger men save their gay shirts for dress up occasions (the annual green corn dance and the hunting dance), but they have adopted modern trousers. Their shirts are coverd with complicated geometric tracery; (heir scarves are bound by a metal or wooden clasp; they wear beads or other brightly-decorated fobs. The most striking piece of Seminole Sem-inole clothing is the woman's billowing bil-lowing skirt; next ccme the beads which cover her neck from shoulder blade to ear tips; then her hair-dress. hair-dress. Unlike the men, the Seminole women (except those who have been completely converted to modern ways) wear their special garb and wear it all the time. Consequently, Seminule maid and brave spon native dress in Everglades. server) asks. But they are practical, practi-cal, say the experts who have seen them in operation. Through wet going go-ing and wading, they are "histed" (there are no undergarments to complicate com-plicate matters). Traveling over the dry and dusty fields, rife with snakes and other annoying reptiles, rep-tiles, they protect the bare feet and shins. As Miss or Mrs. Seminole moves forward, toeing in slightly, according to good Indian custom, she gently kicks the dragging rim forward without baring the bare feet to inquisitive eyes or any flora or fauna that might obtrude. The only other cloth garment is the cape. This is usually a single solid and bright color matching the skirt. The Seminole beads remain a mystery. So far, I have been able to learn little concerning the origin, purpose or excuse for them beyond the explanation offered by Agent Boehmer and supported by his wife: "They wear them because they think they're pretty." And what better bet-ter reason in any woman's lexicon? lexi-con? It does seem strange, though, to see a comely Indian matron, her skirt tucked high before a roaring fire on a hot Florida day, or working work-ing vigorously in a tomato patch, or even strolling through a shop among sweltering whites in low cut dresses or open sport shirts, with perhaps 25 pounds (they have been weighed) of beads in a solid collar rising as high as the whalebone-enforced whalebone-enforced "chokers" American girls wore in the first decades of the 1900s. |