The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-10-03

xoeksz, Hack From Canoe TriE
3 xsvsslsass. Describes Quaint
Customs.

~ ~ xO4As Oct. l.-Aftnson ohin'
M. who with three compani ons in
NO canoes passed completely through
- Florida Everglades as an expedi-
Non for the American Museum of Nat
UTol History. has Just returned to New
by York from what he describes as the
ind Of the free and home OF the
brave. The Seminole Indians. who
Is 1Dhabit the little hummocks In the
Wotery waste of the interior OF South
5 oFn Florida, are truly the free men
~ this continent. They are neither
c1ki1ens nor wards OF this or any other
!: government. Indeed, they have no
& government OF their own beyond a
x sort Of tacit understanding that the
elemental virtues shall be enforced
q among the remnant of the once pow
\ erful nation, which numbers at the
present time 800. Nevertheless. In
their swamp islands the Seminoles
. have monographs and sewing ma
X chimes. They have also made certain
provfsion for amusement, setting
aside certain hummocks or grassy ISL
3 ands I'm the swamp region as lacrosse
Y grounSs.
"The Seminoles," said Mr.. Skinner,
believe thSt they have been very I'M
i fairly dealt With by the white man
R and 80 they w,,nt nothing of his pres
/. ence or ways among them. They were
once q power s1l nation. inhabiting
the high and Try pine lands OF Flor
p ida- They wire hostile to Americans
3 during the evolutionary war. being
under British influence. In 1888 GER
Tain Of their leaders signed a treaty
With the United States by which they
\ agreed to give up their lands and emil
crate to the west. The leaders after
ward declared that they had signed
Y the treaty without understanding what
&C was. Their chief, Osceola. drove
: his knife into the table on which the
Z treaty was lying and said: This is
the way that Osceola signs your
\ treaty
-The efforts OF the United States
\ 10 force the carrying out OF that treaty
z brought on long war with the Semi
X noles, which cost the United States
8 10000. 900 and some 1900 lives. In
the end Gee Seminoles were beaten
y and agreed to emigrate. They were
; Given lands near the Creeks, in what
(, WAS then the Indian Territory.
Three Hundred Real Free Men.
There Is today, however. in the
= Everglades of Florida the remnant OF
y the Seminoles who would not emf
x krate. They were driven out OF the
( GOOD lands in Florida and found
y refuge on the little islands OF the
swamp region. This remnant, strange
70 say, Is entirely familiar with the
n history Of the tribe, and they have
y the story of Osceola down pat. Os-
3 c6ola was taken prisoner and ulti-
mately died in confinement.
THAT Ii the reason Of their distrust.
Z An white men they say. tell lies. The
& biggest compliment a Seminole can
q pay to anyone Is to say. He tell no
I'VE started Aug. z, from the west
or gulf coast of Florida from Fort
Nyer. Down at little settlement
called Imokalee lives Bill Brown, an
Englishman, who settled In the region
\, some 30 years ago. He has traded
With the Indians during all that time
and is known among them from coast
X 70 coast as the white man who tells
no lies His son was the first re-
cruit made for my party. Julian A.
Dimock was the photographer of the
rarity and went with me from New
York. Bill Browns son, Frank Brown,
; DimOck. myself and an Indian set out
(. "a an OK cart from Fort Myer. We
vent down to the borders of the Big
Cypress swamp and there the Indian
was sent on ahead with canoe TO
& ask permission for US to visit some
a. the camps.
"The Seminoles have no govern
ment and are under no government.
They do not even have a chief. They
once had chiefs, and there seems to
4 exist q sort OF code of morals that Is
froubound. They have high regard
B FOR the truth. Once one OF the In
dams shot a white man In a row. He
vas told by the other Indians that he
must die. The condemned man said
that ne owed some debts and that be-
fore he died he wanted TO pay them
on. So he was given q month in
which to work.
THE condemned Seminole spent his
month collecting egret plumes and
ALLIGATOR skins and paid his debts.
4 Then he appeared for the carrying
out Of the sentence by his companions.
They sent half-breed Negro after
2 him. who shot him.
Bought Many Negro Slaves.
THE Seminoles In the days Of the
h old south were quick TO adopt the
custom OF owning Negro slaves. They
bought many Negroes from the south
erners and there are living today In
4 the Everglades two slaves. One
camp has an old Negro nanny and
the other has the half-breed, des-
cendant OF Seminole and one of
4 their slave Negresses. This Is the
haifbreed who executed the sentence
Of death for the tribe. He cannot
= Be called slave, however. for in the
luxurious swamp he has grown TO be
y 20 powerful q man physically thai
6 they cannot treat him as slave. The
result II that he IL person of some
consequence among them.
ION one of the hummocks l was
ourprised to hear the strains OF the
y Sweet BY and By II was played by
4 monograph. The Indian women dc
not have to sew the costumes for
iheir braves az their ancestors did
They have sewing machines which
their braves have got at the trading
. stores.
There has been much talk and
many governmental projects for trans
+ n7nnfiuR this remnant OF the Semi
3 1oSes 20 Oklahoma, where those who