Postcards of the Florida Seminole and Miccosukee tribes originated in towns where the Everglades and Big Cypress dwelling Indians came to trade. The natives' dress and accessories presented a novelty to southern Florida's early visitors. With Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad and hotels, tourism became a rising industry. During World War I, a failing hide market forced Indians to find a new livelihood, and the "Seminole Indian Village Attractions" began in Miami. Indians sold crafts and wrestled alligators, embracing tourism while keeping their culture intact. Tourist-attraction Indians (later organized as the Miccosukee Tribe) moved their Everglades camps to the Tamiami Trail. By the mid-1930s, many families had opened their own tourist attractions, becoming the first native entrepreneurs. Economic reinvention, especially through tourism, has sustained these tribal groups, most recently with bingo and gaming.

Examines the history and culture of Florida's Seminole and Miccosukee Indians, and discusses how the tribes have managed to withstand historical challenges and survive in the modern world.

"A superbly readable piece of cultural history. . . . Downs proves that graphics and narrative can be intertwined in an entertaining and informative historical presentation. . . . Delightful and intellectually enriching."--Southern Historian "Excellent. . . . Well-documented with both historical and anthropological sources, this is the best work to appear on a significant cultural characteristic of the Seminoles in quite some time. An excellent addition to the growing literature on the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes."--Tampa Tribune "Unfolds the meaning of Seminole-Miccosukee arts as metaphor for the people of the Everglades."--Joyce Herold, Denver Museum of Natural History The artistic tradition that in the past sustained Florida Indians helps identify them today as possessing a resilient, modern culture. In this richly illustrated account of the arts and crafts of the Florida Seminole and Miccosukee Indians, Dorothy Downs shows how artistic expression reflects and inspires history. Emphasizing the influence of drastic cultural changes on their artistic traditions, Downs traces Seminole and Miccosukee art from the eighteenth century to the present and demonstrates both the persistence of some prehistoric southeastern Indian designs and the impact of contact with Europeans. In addition to clothing and finger-woven or bead-embroidered accessories, their arts and crafts--most often practiced by women--include pottery, basketry, and doll making. Their most powerful artistic expression is found in the colorful and intricate patchwork patterns that have become their twentieth-century signature. Incorporating color and black-and-white photographs of these remarkable art pieces, Downs also details the "men's work" of silver and wood crafts and chickee building in a volume sure to interest scholars and the general public alike.

"An exceptional book for popular consumption. . . . It is a wonderful synthesis, and will be avidly read by both professional archaeologists and the general public."--Marvin T. Smith, Valdosta State University Florida's Indians tells the story of the native societies that have lived in Florida for twelve millennia, from the early hunters at the end of the Ice Age to the modern Seminole, Miccosukee, and Creeks. When the first Indians arrived in what is now Florida, they wrested their livelihood from a land far different from the modern countryside, one that was cooler, drier, and almost twice the size. Thousands of years later European explorers encountered literally hundreds of different Indian groups living in every part of the state. (Today every Florida county contains an Indian archaeological site.) The arrival of colonists brought the native peoples a new world and great changes took place--by the mid-1700s, through warfare, slave raids, and especially epidemics, the population was almost annihilated. Other Indians soon moved into the state, including Creeks from Georgia and Alabama, who were the ancestors of the modern Seminole and Miccosukee Indians. Written for a general audience, this book is lavishly illustrated with full-color drawings and photographs. It skillfully integrates the latest archaeological and historical information about the Sunshine State's Native Americans, connecting the past and present with modern place-names, and it gives a proud voice to Florida's rich Indian heritage. Jerald T. Milanich, curator in archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, is the author of Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe (UPF, 1995) and Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida (UPF, 1994), among numerous other books.

A collection of folk stories talk about human, animal, and spirit characters who act out important lessons about living in the natural world of the Florida Everglades.

As indigenous populations are invited to participate in cultural heritage identification, research, interpretation, management, and preservation, they are faced with a variety of challenges, questions that are difficult to answer, and demands that must be carefully navigated. We Come for Good describes the development and operations of the Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) of the Seminole Tribe of Florida as an example of how tribes can successfully manage and retain authority over the heritage of their respective cultures. With Native voices front and center, this book demonstrates ways THPOs can work within federal and tribal governments to build capacity and uphold tribal values--core principles of a strong tribal historic preservation program. The authors also offer readers one of the first attempts to document Native perspectives on the archaeology of native populations.

Years before the first shots of the Civil War were fired, Florida witnessed a clash of wills and ways that prompted three wars unlike any others in America's history. Among the most well-known of Florida's native peoples, the Seminole Indians frustrated troops of militia and volunteer soldiers for decades during the first half of the nineteenth century in the ongoing struggle to keep hold of their ancestral lands. While careers and reputations of American military and political leaders were made and destroyed in the mosquito-infested swamps of Florida's interior, the Seminoles and their allies, including the Miccosukee tribe and many escaped slaves, managed to wage war on their own terms. The study of guerrilla warfare tactics employed by the Seminoles may have aided modern American forces fighting in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and other regions.