Presents a collection of photographs along with commentary of the Seminole Indians of Florida, taken between 1905 and 1910 by the son of a New York financier.

This is the history and culture of the Seminoles, who lived in northern Florida in the 1700s, later moving to the Everglades.

This story of a remarkable people, the Black Seminoles, and their charismatic leader, Chief John Horse, chronicles their heroic struggle for freedom. Beginning with the early 1800s, small groups of fugitive slaves living in Florida joined the Seminole Indians (an association that thrived for decades on reciprocal respect and affection). Kenneth Porter traces their fortunes and exploits as they moved across the country and attempted to live first beyond the law, then as loyal servants of it. He examines the Black Seminole role in the bloody Second Seminole War, when John Horse and his men distinguished themselves as fierce warriors, and their forced removal to the Oklahoma Indian Territory in the 1840s, where John's leadership ability emerged. The account includes the Black Seminole exodus in the 1850s to Mexico, their service as border troops for the Mexican government, and their return to Texas in the 1870s, where many of the men scouted for the U.S. Army. Members of their combat-tested unit, never numbering more than 50 men at a time, were awarded four of the sixteen Medals of Honor received by the several thousand Indian scouts in the West. Porter's interviews with John Horse's descendants and acquaintances in the 1940s and 1950s provide eyewitness accounts. When Alcione Amos and Thomas Senter took up the project in the 1980s, they incorporated new information that had since come to light about John Horse and his people. A powerful and stirring story, The Black Seminoles will appeal especially to readers interested in black history, Indian history, Florida history, and U.S. military history.

Late at night around the campfires, Seminole children safely tucked into mosquito nets used to listen to the elders retelling the old stories and legends. The priceless tales of mischievous Rabbit, the Corn Lady, the Deer Girl, and the creatures of the Everglades are all written down and collected here for readers of all ages. This is a portrait of the beliefs and lifeways of the Seminoles of Florida as well as a delightful read for anyone interested in the first peoples of Florida.

This is the history of a remarkable nation, the only Indian tribe that never officially made peace with the United States. General Thomas Sidney Jesup admired the Seminoles as adversaries: "We have, at no former period in our history, had to contend with so formidable an enemy. No Seminole proves false to his country, nor has a single instance occurred of a first rate warrior having surrendered." Jesup made those comments in 1837, and they proved true throughout the Seminole-white confrontations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Portions of the Seminoles’ story-particularly their wars-have been told, but until this book no extensive history of the tribe had been written. Here is the record of those dauntless people, who were tricked, robbed, defrauded, and abused. The origins of the tribe, the complex problems concerning their rights in Florida, the military operations against them, their forced removal to Indian Territory, their role in the Civil War, and their adjustment to life in the West are important elements of the book.

Readers will find a rich learning experience in this book about the Seminole, a Native American tribe originally from Florida. Readers will learn about how the Seminole tribe developed their own identity, as well as their colorful traditions and customs. This book also explains how the Seminole tribe changed after contact with the European settlers, and what life is like for the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida today. This book supports American history curricula, both regional and national. Attention-grabbing text and brilliant photographs ensure that readers will have a strong grasp of Seminole life, past and present.