The Seminole Indians of Florida: Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-84, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887, pages 469-532MacCauley, Clay
History
The Seminole Indians of Florida: Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-84, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887, pages 469-532
MacCauley, Clay
Seminole Indians -- History; Seminole Indians -- Social life and customs
The next article of the man’s ordinary costume is the turban. This
is a remarkable structure and gives to its wearer much of his unique
appearance. At present it is made of one or more small shawls. These
shawls are generally woolen and copied in figure and color from the
plaid of some Scotch clan. They are so folded that they are about 3
inches wide and as long as the diagonal of the fabric. They are then,
one or more of them successively, wrapped tightly around the head, the
top of the head remaining bare; the last end of the last shawl is tucked
skillfully and firmly away, without the use of pins, somewhere in the
many folds of the turban. The structure when finished looks like a
section of a decorated cylinder crowded down upon the man’s head. I
examined one of these turbans and found it a rather firm piece of work,
made of several shawls wound into seven concentric rings. It was over 20
inches in diameter, the shell of the cylinder being perhaps 7 inches
thick and 3 in width. This head-dress, at the southern settlements, is
regularly worn in the camps and sometimes on the hunt. While hunting,
however, it seems to be the general custom, for the warriors to go
bareheaded. At the northern camps, a kerchief bound about the head
frequently takes the place of the turban in everyday life, but on
dress or festival occasions, at both the northern and the southern
settlements, this curious turban is the customary covering for the head
of the Seminole brave. Having no pockets in his dress, he has discovered
that the folds of his turban may be put to a pocket’s uses. Those who
use tobacco (I say “those” because the tobacco habit is by no means
universal among the red men of Florida) frequently carry their pipes and
other articles in their turbans.
[Illustration: Fig. 62. Key West Billy.]
When the Seminole warrior makes his rare visits to the white man’s
settlements, he frequently adds to his scanty camp dress leggins and
moccasins.
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