The Seminole, a North American Indian tribe of Creek origin who spoke a Muskogean language. In the last half of the 18th century, migrants from the Creek towns of southern Georgia moved to northern Florida, the former territories of Apalachee and Timucua. Around 1775, these migrants became known as the Seminole, probably from the river simanó-li, meaning "separatist" or "fleeing." The name may also come from the Spanish cimarrón, "wild."
The Seminole located their new village in the Everglades, a patch of dense scrub and wetlands that provided protective isolation from outsiders. There they were soon joined by individuals—Africans, African Americans, and American Indians—who had fled slavery, as well as by others trying to avoid bloody power struggles between European colonists and other Southeast Indians. Seminole generally welcomes newcomers.
Their economy emphasized hunting, fishing, and gathering wild foods such as nuts and berries; they also grew corn (maize), beans, squash, melons, and other upland produce within the wetlands. Homes included large log cabins and open-sided thatched-roof shelters known as "chickens," which increased maximum ventilation. People usually wear long tunics; in the late 19th century, Seminole clothing was often decorated with brightly colored strips of cloth.
To stem further colonial encroachment and avoid forced displacement westward, the Seminole fought successive wars in 1817–18, 1835–42, and 1855–58 (see Seminole Wars). As a result of the First Seminole War, Spain ceded its possessions in Florida to the United States. In 1832, a proposed treaty requiring the Seminoles to move west of the Mississippi River was rejected by most of the tribes.
The Second Seminole War was one of the most costly US-Indian wars, with military spending exceeding $20 million. In 1838 Osceola and other tribal leaders agreed to meet with the US military under a flag of truce, but US troops violated the truce by imprisoning the men, and Osceola died in custody about three months later.
Fighting continued sporadically for four years, but the tribe eventually surrendered. People were asked to move to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and be resettled on the western side of the Creek Reservation there. Some Seminoles remained in Florida
The Seminoles became one of Oklahoma's Five Civilized Tribes, along with the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, and Choctaw, who were all forcibly removed from the southeastern United States by the federal government in the 1830s. For three-quarters of a century each tribe had a land allotment and a semi-autonomous government modeled on the United States.
In preparation for the state of Oklahoma (1907), portions of the land were awarded to individual tribal members; the remainder was opened to non-native homeowners, trusted by the federal government, or given to freed slaves. Federal policy effectively dissolved the Oklahoma tribal government in 1906; those changes in federal policy resulted in a revitalization of tribal governments in the mid-20th century.
For some 40 years after the Seminole War, the Seminole living in Florida experienced difficulties regarding their resistance to resettlement. By the end of the 19th century, however, relations with neighboring European Americans had improved.
During the first half of the 20th century, tribesmen regained some 80,000 acres of land from the U.S. government, and in 1957, a century after the end of the Seminole War, Florida's Seminole tribe regained federal recognition. Over the next 50 years, the tribe developed an economic program ranging from citrus production to tourist attractions and infrastructure, including ecotourism parks, tribal museums, casinos and private airstrips.
Seminole tribe today early 21st-century population estimates suggest around 27,000 people of Seminole descent.