AMH2583 Surviva+ Guide Exam 1 Page | 1 Survival Guide History of the Seminoles Exam 1 Study Guide *Note: Terms from the Professor’s ‘Key Terms’ list are bolded. 1) Overview, Myths and Misconceptions of Native American History and Culture a) Pop Culture’s Influenced Images of Indians (Myths) i) Native Americans prefer to be called Native Americans (1) False, instead we should try to be as specific as possible (i.e. Seminoles, Creeks) ii) Indians get special privileges (1) Tribal Sovereignty: recognized tribes have the right to govern themselves (2) Guaranteed by treaties signed by both the U.S. Government and the tribes (3) Andrew Jackson: tried to remove Cherokee Indians from N.C. and Supreme Court would not allow it (4) 1960s: Fish-ins; western tribes gave up a lot of land but were still able to fish on the land (5) Taxes: Natives pay income tax but no sales tax on reservations iii) Indians are a dying or dead race (1) Not true (1910: 237,000 Indians vs. 2010: 4.4 million Indians) iv) Indians are easily identifiable v) All Indians live on reservations (1) 583,000 live on reservations (about 60% live in urban areas) (2) Highest Native population is Los Angeles, C.A. vi) Native Americans intuitively know their history and their culture (1) Some know very little and care very little vii) Most American Indians feel honored by Indian mascots (1) They have mixed feelings for many reasons (2) Cleveland Indians (Chief Wahoo honors L.F. Sockalexis, the first Native American to play major league baseball) viii) Natives are one with the environment (1) Popularized in the 1960s b) True or False (Myths cont.) i) All Florida Indians are Seminoles. False. ii) All Seminoles live in Florida. False. iii) Seminoles live off of government assistance. False. iv) Seminoles sovereignty is a result of reparations. False. v) Seminoles were in Florida in 1492. False. vi) Seminoles are not U.S. citizens and do not obey U.S. laws. False. vii) Seminoles were given gaming. False. viii) Seminoles are unconquered. False. ix) The Seminoles of 1807 are the same as the Seminoles of 2007. False. x) There is a single Seminole view. False. 2) The Problem of Studying Native Southerners: Ethnohistory, Anthropology, History and Evidence a) Historical SourcesAMH2583 Surviva+ Guide Exam 1 Page | 2 i) Primary Sources: documents or objects that were created during the time period being studied ii) Secondary Source: use primary sources and other secondary sources to create an argument or to describe an event iii) The problem of primary sources for Native American historians (1) Indians did not write, documents came from outsiders (2) Ethnohistory: the solution to the problem of primary sources (a) Asks anthropological questions out of historical sources (b) Agency to natives: puts the natives at the center of the story b) Multidisciplinary (Ethnohistory) i) Uses many disciplines (i.e. archeology, linguistics, written evidence, and physical evidence) and an awareness of strengths and weaknesses ii) Archeology (1) Burial sights: tells us about religion, hierarchy, wars and famine (2) Pottery: arts, work, cooking, value of the pottery (3) Bones: health (4) Buildings: religion, society, hierarchy iii) Photographs (1) Ex: paintings of Chief Osceola (2) Ed: portrait of a Seminole woman iv) Ethnographic Research (1) Study of cultures: conducted through participant observation v) Historical Sources vi) Oral Traditions c) Controversial Ethnohistorical Methods i) Down-Streaming: using the past to explain the present ii) Up-Streaming: using the present to explain the past iii) Side-Streaming: using a neighboring group to explain each other 3) Ethnohistory & The Ball Game: Reading Sources & Behavior in North America a) Event in eastern North America (1500 to present) i) Hundreds of sources but none are from the participants: all filtered by European eyes b) Variety of Ball Game i) At least two types ii) Variants: length of sticks, size of field, number of participants, gender, time of year iii) Leaders met before to set rules iv) Treated as “just a game” by outsiders (1) None of the sources discuss cultural meaning (2) Played for 500+ years, considered by outsiders to be pagan (meaning not Christian) v) Painting: George Catlin- “Choctaw Ball Game” c) Descriptions of Ball Game (by outsiders) i) “…play a game where they throw a ball at a high target and they like to hunt and fish…” ii) “…a great multitude of people gather…because it is attractive to watch…” iii) “…they wager everything on it…” iv) “…they play 50 on one side and 50 on the other…” (or similar proportions)AMH2583 Surviva+ Guide Exam 1 Page | 3 v) “…it lasted all day and night…” vi) The historical consensus is that Ball Game is an early version of lacrosse (i.e. two teams, goals to score points, sticks with nets to throw, small hard ball) d) The Problem of Meaning i) Similar games played across the eastern seaboard ii) Game continued to be played even after inducements to stop (by the Europeans) iii) Ball Game was even played during difficult times (ex. The Trail of Tears, Civil War, times of sickness, etc.) e) What is “a game”? i) What is the culture of the game? ii) War and Violence (1) Choctaw Term: “Toli” (means “little brother of war”) (a) Unique because other natives simply called it ball game (2) Sometimes goal was to disable opponents iii) Embedded in Culture (1) Dances before and after like war dances (2) Many tribes explain origins and rules through mythical tales (3) Dietary Taboos (Taboo: what not to do) (a) Ex: must not eat rabbit for 28 days before because the rabbit is a timid animal (4) Sexual Taboos (a) Ex: the player must not touch a woman before Ball Game or will be punished (5) Spiritual Meanings, Taboos and Rituals (a) Ball Game as a remedy for sickness (b) A game between religious leaders (if village vs. village) (c) Women and Gambling (i) Why would they wager? 1. A replacement for the spoiling of war 2. Bragging rights and communal involvement f) Adding it Up i) Strict taboos to aid victory ii) Both sides marshal all of their resources to prove superiority iii) Dispute resolution without war (1) Meetings before game are comparable to diplomacy (2) Objective to maim opponents not to kill them iv) A “Game” with Diplomatic Results v) Contemporary Meanings (1) Settle internal disputes (2) Now can be male vs. female
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