The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-08-19
AMONG THE SEMINOLES.
a Religious Fenst---A General Cleaning
Up for the Year.

Up for the Year.
A correspondent who has been among
the Seminole Indians in Florida gives us
this description of the only religious
ceremony Of the tribe a.s..
The ceremony is undoubtedly one of
purifcation-a propitiatory offering to
the Great Spirit. Every year at the
ripening of the harvest they gather all the
people of their tribes, and hold a grand
pow-wow, lasting several days.
They burn and destroy all the filth
and useless utensils of cooking, etc., and
burn all condemned old clothes, purify
themselves by sweating and washing /;
after which they elect chiefs, and trans
act such business as needs attention.
As my guide was at their feast last
year, let him relate the story as he told
it to me that night, by the smouldering
camp fire, with listening Indians
"'Twas about the first of July and
me and Aleck thought we'd go out and
kind of celebrate the Fourth among the
Indians, sooing's wod been invited.
Well, we got out here twas the same
trail we took the other day, but the flats
was full of water, and twas just awful
getting here. .. ..
turned loose our horses, and the next
day the performance commenced. You
see that cleared place there, about u
hundred feet across Well, that was all
smooth, and was used to dance on, about
that pole i'll the center, which was all
hung with leaves and one thing and an
other.
"This house here, to one side, was a
,,1 x>C ,t L.
stopped up tight, and big kettle of wa
ter--two or three of them-in one end.
"The women, they went round and
collected all the old stuff and made big
heap of it, and then set it atre. Then
they went out and got some kind of q
root and made strong drink, and that
physicked them, you bet.
"This took about all day.
"Next day they got together on that
level place, aud danced about the pole.
They didn't like it becausewe was there,
and some of the Big Cypress fellows
threatened to kill us, but Aleck had
brought out keg of real good whisky,
and the promise of that, when they was
through, made everything all right
"The women had them turtle-shells
strapped around their ankles, and they d
clap 'em together and make noise you
could hear a mile. First they'd dance
kind of slow, then gradually quicken
their steps till they would fairly wake
things, and sing and howl fit to wake the
dead. All these two days they hadn' t
had nothing to eat, and wouldn't give us
anything, and, if we hadn't brought
something, we should have starved.
"Every once in while one of the
chiefs would geU up ana .4...lA~ .,poooli,
and then dive into the sweat house,
where they had got up steam by chuck
ing red hot rocks into them kettles of
water. There he would stay till nigh
about dead---for the house was all full of
steam-and then he'd rush out and jump
into that pond, there, stark naked, and
yelling like sixty
"All this time the old doctor seemed
to be the master of ceremonies, and he
was a-mumbling over big words, hard
enough to choke q white man, and pre-
tended he was conversing with the Great
Spirit. Toward night of the second day
they seemed to think they'd got things
clean enough, with their sweating, and
physicking, and dancing, and all the
girls went off and got corn, and melons,
and pertaters, and they had a reg'lar
feast, and they eat and eat, till every
body had enough to make up for two
months fast.
"This is all the ceremony these heath
en- have, and they don't care no more for
religion than cat If they are good
when they are on this earth, they will &c
to land of plenty where things is cheap
and whisky and game is plenty. If they
don't be good here they will go to the
land of the bad spirit, who is half starv-
ed, and has no bears oil or whisky.
After the ceremonies was all over, they
elected old Tustenuggu chief, instead Of
old Tiger Tail, who has been chief SC
long, and that came near making fight
but it was proved that Tustenuggu was
descended from old Micanopy, and had
ought to have been chief long ago."