The Monroe journal., 1922-02-24
FLORIDA INDIANS.
ABIDING CITIZENS.
They Never Break Law Except
Through Ignorance and Obey
q II When II Is Known
| MARRIAGE VERY BINDING
High Standard of Morality is Main
tanned and Gambling is Unknown
Among Them-Many in Need

htuUuk IHCH-lidul ANSSa
Most people in this section perhaps
have the idea that Indians are bad
folks. but the following report from
Capt. LIcien A. Spencer of Fort N.Y.
ers, Florida, indicates that the Florida
Indians are about the best citizens to
be found, so far as their knowledge
OF the law goes:
The population of the Florida Sem
inoies is made up of two distinct
tribes, speaking different languages
aud having very little in common.
The northern tribe, locally known
as the Caw Creeks, numbering l15,
speak the Muskhogean language,
while the southern tribe, known To-
lcally as the Big Cypress Indians, with
a .poulation of 339, speak dialect
language known as the Miccosukee.
The population, made up of the two
tribes, is scattered over a territory
comprising 5000 square miles, in
(which there are no roads and prac-
T<ica,iy no white population.
|. During the Indian wars the Cow
Greeks and Miccosukees maintained a
defensive alliance, but did not mingle
socially, and to this day intermarriage
between the two tribes is Of rare oc-
currence.
| The Seminoles are an orderly peo-
pie. They are divided into bands,
each under headman who enforces
Istrict discipline and requires perfect
obedience to the unwritten code. When
a statutory law Is broken, ii is due
toi ignorance, and when the laws are
made known to an Indian, no second
case Of violation has ever been re-
| corded against them. The local courts
recognize this fact, and usually the
judges seek to impress upon an In
dian who is undergoing trial the ma
ture OF the law that he has broken,
knowing that he will carry the news
| Of this law to his people and thus
prevent it from being broken again.
The tribal laws of the Indians are
just and infexible, and if one is vio-
lated the erring one accepts the pen
alty, even though 1t be death itself,
WITHOUT protest.
Indian-custom marriage still pre-
walls, but such marriages are more
binding among them than legal mar
riage are among white people.
Probably no people on earth have
q higher standard of morality than
the Florida Seminoles, and it is not
a single standard.
The Indians have a high respect
! for property rights and theft and ly-
ing are serious crimes in their un-
written code.
| Gambling is unknown among them.
The domestic life of the Florida
Seminoles offers a great contrast to
that of most other Indians. The
women are treated with much con-
sideration and their wishes control
family policy. The women perform
the greater part of the work about
the camps, but not as menials; for,
| indeed, they are quite independent,
! and are the financiers of the home.
The Seminole children are almost
perfect models of parental control,
such a thing as willful disobedience
being Of rare occurrence. The au-
thority of the parents is maintained
without the harshness and severity
common in many white families, obe-
dience being rendered as tribute to
family law and not through fear of
punishment.
The house is a shack-like structure
suited to the semi-tropical country
Every Seminole has house; as soon
as a child is able to care for its own
simplest needs, it occupies a house
separate from its mother. The wife
has her home and the husband has
his, and they occupy their respective
homes, each living in separate
house.
The Seminole Indians are known as
the most healthy tribe in the United
| States.
The year just closing has been a
season of distress for many of the
Seminoles. There was no demand for
fur or alligator hides, the only two
things that they depend on to obtain
money with which to buy the neces-
saries of life other than those which
they obtain through hunting. A GER
tain amount of illness has been caus-
ed by under -nourishment among the
children, and an unbalanced ration
containing too much meat among the
adults. 1t was also necessary to fur
nish certain of the older Indians pro-
visions in order to prevent famine
conditions.
The United States government holds
26,741.72 acres of land for the use
and benefit of the Florida Seminoles.
An industrial policy has been outlined
looking toward the establishment of
an industrial center on the largest
tract of this land (17,2S0 acresl, situ-
ated in Lee County. Indian office ad-
vanced S2,207 of its own fund.
Seven thousand dollars has been
appropriated for the year 1922 and
every cent will be needed to prevent
acutal suffering and keep the present
plant from deteriorating.
The idea of the industrial policy is
to make these Indians self-support-
ing and not a constant drain upon
government funds. With the disap-
pearance of game and the occupancy
Of the land by white settlers, SONG
provision must be made for these In
dians. With sufic'en. appropriations