The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-11-07

people. | talked with }ohnny Billy /
medicine man, while he busted MN I
self extinguishing a patient. every /
hour or so he drained off a lot OF his
bad blood, and in the Intervals doSed .
him with sweet bay, snake root ano (
black root He permitted his victim &c I
eat turkey, but forbade deer, duck /
and fish.
Many traditions of the tribe have
persisted with recent deaths Old Nan /
cy, widow of the great Osceola, was 4
a fountain of fact and fancy Old I.
Doctor, once chief. became garrulOus
in his later years, While Chief MotIey /
as a nondgenerian, continued TO tel .
with deviiish detail, his Lorna
Doone" story of tossing white babies I
in the air and catching them on 4 /
big knife as they fell.
The Typical Camp.
The language of the Semlnoles i
like that of The Creeks. Much OF the
construction is by building up from
rOot-WOTds-
Eche is tobacco: echc-pOlka, cigar;
wakana-wathes, milk. There are OF
ten two words with the same mean
ing, probably TO mislead aliens. Pane
wa and fightce both mean turkey;
Ioskee and nokanOsee mean Old, and
whyome and kehone whiSkey-
arted small colonies, consisting usual
ly of five or six families. y typical
camp covers about an acre Of dry
land, and consists of four rather at
tractive buildings Of poles and palmet-
to leaves. The roofs are large, hISn
and extend to within four feet Of the
ground. The eartheTn floor is nearly
covered with large tables, three feet
! high. on which the Indians eat and
sleep. In the center of the camp be
| tween the larger buildings, is the cook
! ing camp, which consists of circu
I lar shed. Under this is d camp fire
| from which ISgs of wood radiate like
| spokes from the hub of a wheel. AZ
! the ends of the logs burn away they
are fed up to the center, where tiny
! fire SufficeS for the simple require
ments of the Indian. The arabic soil
| about the camp IS devoted chiefly 10
| growing corn and sugar cane. An old
/ cane mill and a still, crudely con
/ stTuctod from an iron pot with wood
en- cover, d length of iron pipe and
box of water, utilize the sugar cane
in the way best appreciated by the In
dian.
Under the influence of liquor the
Seminole is quarrelsome. bites like
dog, fights with his companions and
| ali the members of his family, but
seldom with white men, whom he
fears even when in his cups. When
/ ever these Indians carouse, one Of the
f; party keeps sober, to look after the
others The corn-dance of the Semi
mole IS a carousal which begins with
I the new moon in June and lasts from
ten to twenty days. The Indians walk
around in circle twenty or thirty
yards in diameter, and talk until ~ a
1t. 8 ~.
down. The ordinary dance OF tn
squaws consists OF perfunctory ris
| ing and sinking motion caused 0y
| bending the knees, and is utterly I'M
attractive Sometimes the Younger
! girls vary the mOnOtony OF The per
Torrance by a TOugh-and-tUmble WTeSt
| ling match, which is exciting enough
but exasperating, because the sight OF
a camera sends them p cover so
| quickly. Casualties are not uncommon
during these festivities. | heard an
Indian report to trader an occur
renee at a recent corn-jance.
Doctor Jimmy. he kill sqUaw Jack
Buster
shoot her with gum" asked the
trader.
! NO. killed it with stick. He
drunk" Nothing was done by the
! tri0e or the husband. but 4 few weeks
! later tho measles and the medicine
man killed both Doctor Jimmy and
Jack Buster. On another festal OCca
sion Jimmy Jumper. half-neSrO mem
/ Der of the tribe. ran amuck and KILLED
five Indians before ne was shot
down
| NacI1illessee, the Indian name of q
trader, whose store Is in the Ever
gialCS. gives a Christmas dinner an
nualIy to the Seminoles which IS usU
ally attended by nearly half Of the
tribe. The Seminole who described
the latest affair 10 me expressed him
tselt automatically:
Mackillessee-set ON up-pje-
sure Nike.
A Seminole Marriage Separation
Indian hospitality expresses itself
negatively. You are expected 20 dip
either yoRr hand or big wooden
spoon into the family pot when you
are hungry. and no one helps or hiE
I deTS you. The SquaWS are diffident,
or reserved. especially in the presence
of male Indians and il is sometimes
Embarrassing TO speak to one or offer
her a trinket without eliCiting an indi
cation that she is aware of your ex
iStencc.
Marriage ties are lightly regarded
and a Seminole separation is as sim
pie as Dakota divorce. If married
couple come TO blows, the non-resist
ant can light out. and Indian ethics
are complied with. When Tommy Os
ceola's sqTaw got drunk and pounded
him, he didn't strike back. but left
her AMI the camp and married d widow
with six children, who was twenty
years his senior. The tribe inflicted
no additional punishment.
| Numerically, Ae Seminole repre-
seats per cent Of the immigration of
a single day through Ellis Island. Intel
Iectually and economically, MS per
centage is negligible.
y speedy solution Of the problem
could be reached by letting him alone
TO be disposed of by disease, drunken
ness and medicine men.
What humanity and moral Obliga
tions demand is quite another ques
ton.