Show fi Fi FiG G Colorful Seminoles noles Cling tt To Ancient Tribal Customs t I. I b. By j. j Ne Neu Analyst and Commentator Service 1616 Eye Ec St V. r Washington D. D C. C fl This is the first of 0 tuo two articles ankles on oti fh the effect Dut of 0 postwar conditions on all the nosi misunderstood of American c ti ens ens cm the Seminole Indians indian u Mr J rc reporting from front hand first IJ observation oz C Somewhere North of ol the Ever Ever- g- g lades The The sun Is setting over lintL Oat lint il L of saw grass making a silhouette of cabbage J alms ams on the far tar ft orlton dropping r i a tint of lilac imong the water 5 in the pond ond at It m my feet here lazy hump Brah- Brah I r r. r nan cattle cool hems elves Rig Rig- d white cranes It and undisturbed undisturbed t. t by us LJ bove b a v e g great rea t wheel and IS ts we pass a of snipe like black and ind white confetti tossed in the air airy y ly a giant hand Back at the thc turn of the road that i eads cads to the attractive headquarters wilding of the Brighton Seminole reservation smoke curls up rom beneath a Ore lire of logs in a I almetto thatched cooking if one of the Seminole camps Here ive lye three generations of at a single amily amBy group yet group yet a fairly large seg seg- nent neat of the entire Seminole nation or there are only of them in 0 l ill til Florida Like most tourists when I first j I J I ame ta to Florida I was startled to I neet fleet face to face these women in heir gayly colored skirts their high 4 lead collars coars their astounding hair i tress Iress ress the men less gayly clad but till with their gay kerchiefs and hats the solemn children of their mothers in their I w n nw I right flowing garments garments shopping shopping it the Five and Ten It is hard to believe that these clad yet modest folk so un- un that only three so sQ s far as know enlisted in World War II 11 ind nd none were drafted once defeat- defeat d ei the United States forces in three kt IJ vars ears stretching from the time of ot i I. I he be Revolution until almost the end endt t f the last century f By then with their Chief Osceola i into capture while at a peace larley all but of ot the Seminoles were ere dead or had yielded to mass to the West But the jever gave in Because of ot that fact he tradition has grown that the they I ire tre still at war with the United ita Hates tes It is true that no formal peace reaty ever was signed they signed they have iad lad no chief since Osceola died in but but the Seminoles have ull citizenship However they made heir first formal and voluntary nove toward reconciliation and co- co in 1938 A group of ot Sem nole leaders meeting with Amer Amer- can officials in the Everglades then the government for schools and better horses and rattle attic A p program Immediately was rawn up and entered into with good goodill ill nil on both sides but it is a ques ques- 10 ion whether this step has bas had as much influence on the life lite and habits habits habits hab hab- its and customs of at the Seminole in this short span as have the weight of economic conditions the conditions the depression depres sion followed by the high demand for labor during prewar and war periods For Far more than three quarters ofa of ofa a century no Seminole has owned land his possessions were limited to a few cattle and hogs running wild in the swamps and to what personal property he could store un under under der the palmetto roof of his open open- faced hut in the Everglades Today there arc are three reservations William Wil liam Boehmer Indian agent alBrighton at al Brighton saw that venture rise rise from Its Inception He tells me mc ev every e ery family on that reservation owns awns I ev-I a car and one family boasts five Radios are common as arc are elec electric flashlights and kerosene I elec-I lanterns lan Ian terns some so-me knives and forks and other practical gadgets and a lot lotof lotof of ot store food and canned goods I However there has been no change 1 in housing styles Before Defore the original original nal mil deal was closed in 1938 one of the Seminole leaders first made sure that living habits should not be interfered with He was quoted as assaying assaying saying saing Indians must live in air and sunshine sun sun- shine Must dress as their fathers lathers I dress But additional opportunity for employment em has brought about a desire de sire for an education As nearly asI as asI I could learn education to the Sem Seminole mole means learning to speak English Eng lish and perhaps to read and write it Because the Seminoles are naturally naturally nat nat- intelligent it is no trick for them to learn if they want to But the labor demand likewise has in interfered interfered in- in interfered with the process When the family gets a special job picking tomatoes the children go along and pick too There are no penalties for lor being absent from fram school With the shortage of teachers of ot every kind it Is unlikely that the r 4 4 44 Z i a fr I c I 4 4 5 v j 4 3 tr Seminoles cluster r around in native costumes deep In FlorIda Flor- Flor 1 Ida supply ever will quite reach the demand even on the part of the busy Seminoles The school in m the Everglades Everglades Ever Ever- glades is closed at present Undoubtedly edly when conditions change and the Seminole again is confronted with job competition the government government government govern govern- ment will be called upon to furnish the White Mans Man's learning in larger doses and with fewer interruptions In any case neither prosperity nor education has as yet caused the Seminole to complain camplain about his housing situation A few modern houses built on one reservation were left unoccupied except for one porch There is nothing wrong with witha a Seminole A really ought to be translated room instead in instead stead of house since there are as many separate as required I for far each family They are of two different types one for cooking and andone andone one for sleeping and living They I consist of a thick palm fan roof with i low hanging eaves supported on poles and rafters There are no no walls in the living hut but there Is isa I. I a I platform a couple feet off ofT the I ground and usually a like bunk I bench which can be used for the I women as a work table as well as for far sleeping II These dwellings are airy all aU right and would be damp during a long longI I tropical sub l rainstorm if il it were not for supplementary tarpaulin Now Eat Food Of White Man What the White Man calls cans progress ress has done more to affect the cating eat cat ing lag habits of the Seminole than our cultural activities have affected his j viewpoint Draining and lumbering in the Everglades have sharply reduced re reo re- re food sources sources dried dried creeks and ponds cutting timber and forest forest for for- est eat fires have killed off ott wildlife But the accessibility of the grocery store has tended to make up with I bakers' bakers bread beef beet coffee sugar syrup and canned fruits |