Seminole (Other Keyword)
1-7 (7 Records)
Secluded within a remote cattle pasture on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation sits a concrete marker from the 1940’s declaring it to be the location of Fort Shackelford, a US Army outpost built in 1855 during the prelude to the Third Seminole war. Investigations to verify the location however turned up a complex history. Historical research not only cast doubt on the marker’s accuracy, but revealed a cautionary tale of misinformation, looting, site tampering, and tribal sovereignty. Now,...
Finding Fort Shackelford: A lost U.S. Army Fort from the Seminole War Era. (2017)
Fort Shackelford was built in February of 1855 on what is now the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation in South Florida. It was one of several forts built by the U.S. Army used to scout near the Big Cypress and Everglades regions during the U.S. Government’s efforts to pressure the Seminoles into leaving the area. The fort was found burned by American Soldiers shortly before they were ambushed by Seminole Warriors; marking the start of the Third Seminole War. The location of the fort has been...
Home Ground Advantage: Small Battles and Large Consequences in the Third Seminole War (2020)
This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Seminole Wars of the nineteenth century were critically important in establishing the modern Tribal identity of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the consequences of the conflict reverberate throughout the community today. Yet relatively little archaeological work has been done to study the small military engagements that characterized the Third Seminole War (1855-1858) in south...
Seminole Cowboys: From Cowkeeper to Today (2016)
Cattle herding is not new to the Seminoles. It is a centuries old way of life that is embedded into their cultural heritage. This tradition began in the 1700s in the Alachua prairies of north Florida under the leader Cowkeeper and has continued into modern day on the Seminole Tribe of Florida (STOF) Reservations. The STOF Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) is currently investigating several early 20th century sites related to the formation of the Seminole cattle program, including the...
Standing Against the Tide: Preserving the Seminole History on Egmont Key (2020)
This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Between 1857 and 1858 as the Seminole Tribe rebelled against the American policy of forced Indian Removal, hundreds of captive Seminole Tribal members were held by the US army in a prison camp on the Island of Egmont Key. Nearly all were non-combatants, women, children, and elders who were taken from their homes to be removed to Indian Territory out west. Egmont Key saw the last...
When the Neighborhood Went to Hell: The Seminole Perspective of a U.S. Military Fort (2020)
This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In order to remove them from their lands, the U.S. Government waged a campaign of intimidation and force against Native Americans throughout the 19th Century that resulted in the placement of forts on native ancestral lands. One example, Fort Shackelford, was investigated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida THPO, not only for its archaeological content, but also to discover what it means to...
Why it was here: Using an American War Fort to Teach Indigenous History and Perspective (2024)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. January 10th of 2024 will mark the 200th anniversary of Fort Brooke, a U.S. Military base that became the foundation for the city of Tampa, Florida. For the Native people of Florida and their descendants this anniversary is not one to celebrate. To properly understand the history of Fort Brooke requires talking about the Seminole...