Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-03-15

40.@1 udl lHC 6CAkhA4OAV AAAAoAS 80 -
a rapidly vanishing race of men,
which is the thing you most often
hear about them, is vigorously de-
MED by E. P. Simpson, who is edi-
tor of the Tropical Suna, a local
! newspaper, and is known as an au-
thority on the Seminoles, with
whom he has lived and hunte:.
He says that after the Seminole
war, when the greater part Of the
tribe was removed to a reserva-
ton, there were just 296 Indians
who escaped to the Everglades and
refused to be moved. This little
group constitutes the present free
Seminole tribe, said to be the only
Indians in the United States who
we're never conquered by the Unit
ed States and have never acknowl-
edged the sovereignty of its gov
eminent. They, constitute practi-
cally a little nomad nation living
within the confines of our own.
Picturesque both in appearance
and in their situation in life, these
Indians are much exploited and
written about. They gave south
ern Florida a large part Of its
place names. They are a matter
of interest to tourists. The Sem
mole and the alligator seem to be
the two most characteristic things
in Florida-an indispensable part
of the local color" scheme.
Almost always the Seminoles
are held up as a subject for tears.
1t is represented that they are rap
idly dying opt, that the draining of
the glades is robbing them of their
only home and hunting ground,
that soon they will be but men,
DRY. Only recently an appropria-
ton was asked in congress to buy
them some lands, and their pa
thetic story then attracted much
attention.
Now they probably need and
should be given the lands, and it is
probably true that the draining OF
the Everglades will be a hardship
for them. unless they are well pro-
vided for in other ways. The trou-
Bile is that they are not Indian
wards" of the government. They
are a free people. We are not
bound to do anything for them.
But the idea that they are about
to disappear off the face of the
earth is, according to Mr.. Simpson
| a myth. He says that the original
296 renegades have now increased
to tribe of 600 individuals, divid-
ed into five different bands-the
Maimi, the Lauderdale, the Big Cy-
press, the Cow Creek and the Oke.
chobee bands. This increase, he
says, would be still more rapid ex
cept for the fact that tn. tribe suf
fers from a shortage Of women
The utter separateness of the
Seminoles from the modern civil
iized world is certainly illustrated
in this. While the rest of us are
wondering what to do with all The
women-Europe contemplating no
lygamy as a means of making tht
men go round, and many men wor
ried because women are usurpins
their jobs--the Seminoles are actu
ally suffering from an acute short
age of the fair ones. And their re
ligion forbids them to marry WON
en- of any other tribe Or race. The
often-heard statement that the,
have intermarried with negroes i:
denied by those who know them.
The fact seems to be that thu
balance of the sexes among thu
Seminoles has been upset by thu
relatively safe life they lead
Among some kind of human being:
more males are born than females
In a savage tribe living savage
! life, great many more males arr
killed in war and hunting than fe
males, with the result that there
are usually more women thai
men, and polygamy is practiced
But the Seminole men have no con
venient or reliable way of getting
killed. They have no wars, tn
Everglades are safe and healthy
| so the men have been increasing
faster than the women for severa
generations, and this promises t.
be a factor which more, and NOR
will limit the rate of increase.
/ The Seminoles have camps o
villages within easy reach of botl
Palm Beach and Miami, and a goo,
MANY tourists drive out to Sc