Florida Native American Heritage Trail - (Page 8) Native American Presence and Significance in Florida (continued) European settlers moving into North America and warfare among various Creek tribes pushed groups of Creek Indians off their ancestral lands in Georgia and Alabama and into a nearly empty Florida, a place they already knew well through trade and shared cultural traditions. Cowkeeper’s Cuscowilla band near the present-day town of Micanopy and Secoffe’s band near present-day Tallahassee began to act independently of other Creeks in Florida and eventually became known as the Seminoles, a Creek pronunciation of the Spanish word cimarón or “wild one.” By the early 1800s, these separatist groups developed a staunchly anti-American element. In response to demands by white settlers for more territory and greater security, the U.S. government attempted to remove Seminoles from Florida, first by treaty, then by military force. A few agreed to leave and many were forceably removed to what is now Oklahoma and Arkansas. ose that remained were determined to stay. is led to four decades of hostilities (1818 to 1858), marked by three distinct wars collectively called the Seminole Wars. Hostilities ended when the U.S. military, deterred by the environment and persistence of the natives, gave up the fight. No formal treaty was signed. ough the numbers of natives remaining in Florida were reduced to between 200 and 300 people, the determination of those remaining had not been broken. Groups led by Abiaka or Sam Jones, Chipco, Chitto-Tustenuggee, and Who, When, and Where: Pottery in Florida About 4,500 years ago Florida Indians living in villages in northeast and southwest Florida began making fired clay pottery. Prior to that time containers were fashioned from gourds, wood, shell, basketry, and even stone. Being able to easily construct vessels of clay was an extraordinary accomplishment that would present new options for the way people cooked and stored food and used containers in general. The clay of the earliest pottery contained plant fibers added as temper to help hold the damp clay together and prevent shattering during the firing process. Most often these fibers were from palmetto fronds or Spanish moss. Soon people began incising geometric designs or making punctations in the surface of the wet clay before the pots were fired. By 3,000 years ago potters improved their skills, creating more sophisticated ceramics using sand and even ground shell as temper. During the ensuing two and a half millennia groups in different areas of the state made pottery vessels in different shapes and decorated them with distinctive designs. Ft. Walton pot (ca. 500 – 1,000 years ago) from northwest Florida. Archaeologists use these ceramic variations to identify regional archaeological cultures, including the St. Johns culture in central and northeast Florida; Alachua of north-central Florida; Belle Glade, Caloosahatchee, and Glades in south Florida; Deptford, Weeden Island, and Suwannee Valley in north Florida; Swift Creek, Fort Walton, and Pensacola cultures of northwest Florida; and Manasota and Safety Harbor in the central Gulf Coast region. Recognition of these regional cultures allows archaeologists to study the nature and development of the pre-European Florida Indians. Jerald T. Milanich (Images courtesy of the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville) Swift Creek and Weeden Island “everyday dishes” (ca. 1,000 – 1,850 years ago) from central and north Florida. 8
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