The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-04-15
Florida's Indian fund amounts to-.
Half of this poes to keeninp nm the

DedSCS, WQlle Gue Quiet udll Is uSCQ CU
buy lands and build new and needed
houses. This fund is amply sufficient
so far, as the work is yet embryonic.
In fact, at the end of each fiscal year
there is always some left over, which
is returned to and becomes a part of
the next years fund. All connected
with this Indian agency are pleased
with the progress made, and have
every reason to hope for the best re.
suits.
individuals here and there through
out the State have also done much to
foster a friendly feeling between the
races, among them several storekeep-
ers and farmers on the lower south
east coast nearer the Everglades. Fair
dealing in business, kindness in sick.
ness, little favors here and there, have
made good friends of otherwise trou-
blesome neighbors. Chief among
these latter unofficial workers is Mr..
Kirk Munroe, the well known boys
author, who has his winter home in
Southeast Florida on Biscayne Bay.
The Everglades entrance to the Indian
settlement is only seven or eight miles
west of Mr.. Munroe's home, and he
very frequently walks. out to call on
them, taking with him something in
the shape Of a gift that will please
them. After several years of suchin
tercourse the most friendly relations
exist, and as Mr.. Munroe has such an
excellent opportunity for studying
them in their home, their domestic re-
lations, language, customs and dress,
he may be regarded as possibly the
best authority on the present condi-
tion of the Florida Seminole.
The Seminole as he exists in Flori-
da to-day is by far the best specimen,
in every respect, of his race extant-
the best physically, Intellectually,
morally and socially. He is healthy,
clean, Industrious, moral, just. What
bett n elements of good citizenship
could be desired? He is kind to his
women and children, honest as a gen.
eral thing, proud, and a %sticler for tri-
bal custoL.s. These latter are, of
course, are interesting and numerous,
and the tribal laws are very strict.
U~nchastity is punishable with death.
Intermarriage is absolutely forbidden,
and the manner of living is the sim
plest.
Fifty or more families live in a camp
or village, which is movable, and they
never return to an abandoned camp.
They live on game and fruits and
vegetables of their own. raising. A
favorite dish is one Of cracked corn,
boiled like grist, which they call
"sofkee." One spoon is put into the
pot, around which the men are gather
ed. These take a mouthful at a time,
in turn, from the same spoon, the feast
beginning with the most important
nan present, and so continuing, round
after round, until they are satisfied.
Then the women and children come
and finish what is left.
The men wear ready-made shirts and
vests, sometimes leggins and mecca
sins, and not infrequently pantaloons,
their shirt, though, being u%ncon6ned,
hanging loose. Numbers Of red ''ban-
danna" handkerchiefs are used by
them as personal decoration wherever
one can be put, around neck, arms,
legs, through %buttonholes, and even
torn into strips and sewed the "~tails"
of their shirts. The hcad-dress is a
turban, the frame made of rattan and
covered with these red handkerchiefs,
arranged in fold upon fold. and not at
all unbecoming. Both men and wo-
men wear the front hair Changed"
It hangs in the 'fringe," so popular
among civilized bellies a decade ago.
Fine rifles and knives are their wea-
pons. The bow and arrow seem to
have been almost outgrown.
The women wear gay calico dresses,
the skirts of which are made very full
and trimmed with bands Of a contrast
ing color. The waist is a short jack
ct, not reaching to the skirt band, and
thus allowing two or three inches Of
the body to show, and there are guam
titles of beads and coins about their
necks. They are modest and clearly,
and very afectionate. The children
wear a calico shirt, that is the boys
do; the girls dresses are smaller pat
terms of their mothers.
The green-corn dance of July is
their "Thanksgiving," and they have
a ball game closely resembling our
national" They make crude toys,
but their boats, "dug-out' canoes, are
models of swiftness and grace. Their
houses are palmetto matched, with a
ground Csdirt') floor, in the midst of
which rises a three-foot, more or less,
elevation, like a table, upon which
they pile their goods in wet weather.
In many of these houses are sewing
machines, mirrors and other articles of
household use one would hardly expect
10 see.
A story has long been current to the
effect that the Seminole Indians hold
negro slaves. Mr.. Munroes says he has
never seen any, not heard of them
during his visits, and he discredits
the statement. He says that all In
dian Of the preceding generation mar
ried a negress, the only case on re-
cord, and their children and ali de-
scendants are not allowed to eat at ia
Bile with the full-bloods, and are in a
measure tabooed.
When Cortez came to Mexico among
followers was a priest, Father Olmedo.
This father came to Florida, and upon
his return to Mexico in 1919, wrote a
graphic and interesting account of the
copper-colored race he found there,
who impressed him favorably. This
manuscript journal is yet in the pos
session of a highly connected family,
that of De Vale, living in the City of
Mexico. A number of the Seminoles
were carried to that country by the
band of Cortez, and it is claimed by
etnologists that they were the progen-
itors of the Mexican Indian of to-day.
- = 49, ~ - 49," "-' ---- "'-~ -