Show Colorful Seminoles Cling To Ancient Tribal Customs By BAUKHAGE N New Analyst an and Commentator Service 1616 Eye Str Street V. NW Washington D D. D C. C This Thin it is s Ib the first of 0 two articles anklet s on the be Ih effect U cl of 0 postwar conditions on Ih toe the not misunderstood rs of 0 American citi- citi li- li ens the ms-Ih the S Seminole Indians fl with u-ith h Mr reporting or ing from first band hal Somewhere North of the The lades lades The The sun is setting ov over r flat stretches of saw grass making a silhouette of cabbage alms palms on the far dropping i tint of ol lilac imong the water i Y in the pond ond at my feet here where lazy hump shouldered Brah- Brah nan cattle cool Rig- Rig d white cranes stand undisturbed b by us Jt bove great gawks wheel wheel and Yo Y is we pass a evy sevy of snipe like black and ind white confetti tossed in the aIry air airy y sy a giant hand Back at the turn of the road that eads to the attractive headquarters I of the Brighton SemInole radian reservation smoke curls up rom beneath a fire fire fir of logs in a thatched cooking if d one of the Seminole camps Here Ive lye three generations of a single amily group yet group yet a fairly large seg- seg nent of the entire Seminole nation or there are only of them in ill III Florida Like most tourists when I first tame same to Florida I was startled to I fleet neet face to face these women in i i heir gayly colored skirts their high lead collars their astounding hair Press Iress ress the men less gayly clad but till with their gay kerchiefs and hats the solemn children of their mothers in their j i much in influence on the life fe and habits habits hab hab- its and customs of the Seminole In this short span as have the weight of economic conditions the conditions the depression depres sion slon followed by the high demand for labor during prewar and war periods For more than three quarters ofa of ofa ofa a century no Seminole has owned i land his possessions were limited to a few cattle and hogs running wild In the swamps and to what personal property he could store under under un der the palmetto roof of his open- open faced hut but in the Everglades Today there are three reservations William William WilllIam Wil Will liam Boehmer Indian agent at Brighton saw that venture rise from rom its inception He tells me e e- ery family on that reservation owns a n car and one family boasts five Radios are common as are electric electric elec elec- flashlights and kerosene lanterns lan Jan terns some knives and forks and other practical gadgets and a lot lotof lotof lotof of store food and canned goods I However them has been no change In housing styles Before the original original original nal deal was closed in 1938 one of the Seminole leaders first made sure that thai living habits should not be interfered with He was quoted as assaying assaying saying tv K U itT T 1 r hk 1 i art s L 1 i y sf w 2 4 S yv fAI I y yr w Seminoles cluster around In native nathe costumes deep In FlorIda Florida Flor Flor- Florida ida Everglades right fi flowing w ng garments shopping garments shopping it tt the Five and Ten It is hard to believe that these gayly clad yet modest folk so un- un that only three so far as know enlisted in World War II 11 tad ind none were drafted once defeat- defeat d the United States forces in three pars vars stretching from rom the time of he Revolution until almost the end f the last century By then with their Chief Osceola into capture while at a peace larley parley all but of the Seminoles vere rere dead or had yielded to mass to the West But the lever ever gave in Because of that fact he tradition has grown that they ire still at war with the United states tates It is true that no formal peace reaty ever was signed they signed they have tad lad no chief since Osceola died in but Captivity bat the Seminoles have till un citizenship However they made heir first formal and voluntary nove nave toward reconciliation and co co- in 1938 A group of Sem nole note leaders meeting with Amer Amer- can cal officials in the Everglades then the government for schools and better horses and attle tattle A program Immediately was tip Up and entered into with good vill viii on both sides but it is a ques- ques question ion whether this step has had as Indians must live in air and sun sun- sunI I shine Must dress as their fathers dress But additional opportunity for employment employment employment em em- has brought about a desire desire desire de de- de- de sire for an education As nearly as asI could I learn education to the Sem mole means learning to speak Eng Eng- English lish and perhaps to read and write it t. t Because the Seminoles arc naturally naturally naturally nat nat- intelligent it is no trick for them hem to learn if it they want to But the labor demand likewise has interfered in interfered interfered in- in with the process When the family gets a special job picking tomatoes the chil Children ren go along and pick too There are no penalties for being absent from school With the shortage of teachers of every kind it is unlikely that the u m supply ever will quite reach the demand even on the part of the busy Seminoles The school in the Everglades Everglades Everglades Ever Ever- glades is closed at present Undoubtedly 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 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 stead of house since there arc are as many separate as required for each ach family They are of two different types one for cooking and andone andone andone one for sleeping and living They consist of a thick palm-fan palm roof with low hanging eaves supported on poles and rafters There are no walls in the living hut but but there is isa isa isa a platform a couple feet off the ground and usually a like bunk bench beech which can be used for the women as a work table as well as asfor asfor asfor for sleeping These dwellings are airy all aU right and would be damp during a long tropical sub rainstorm if it it were not for supplementary tarpaulin Now Eat Food Of White Man What the thc White While Man calls progress progress ress has done more to affect the eat cat ing habits of the Seminole than our cultural activities have affected his viewpoint Draining and lumbering ing in the Everglades have sharply reduced reduced re re- re- re food sources sources dried dried creeks and ponds cutting timber and forest forest forest for for- est fires have killed off wildlife But the accessibility of the grocery store has tended to make up with bakers' bakers bread beef coffee sugar syrup and canned fruits |