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 — John Shaqi
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
It will be convenient for me to describe the Florida Seminole as they
present themselves, first as individuals, and next as members of a
society. I know it is impossible to separate, really, the individual as
such from the individual as a member of society; nevertheless, there is
the man as we see him, having certain characteristics which, we call
personal, or his own, whencesoever derived, having a certain physique
and certain, distinguishing psychical qualities. As such I will first
attempt to describe the Seminole. Then we shall be able the better to
look at him as he is in his relations with his fellows: in the family,
in the community, or in any of the forms of the social life of his
tribe.
Physical Characteristics.
Physique of the Men.
Physically both men and women are remarkable. The men, as a rule,
attract attention by their height, fullness and symmetry of development,
and the regularity and agreeableness of their features. In muscular
power and constitutional ability to endure they excel. While these
qualities distinguish, with a few exceptions, the men of the whole
tribe, they are particularly characteristic of the two most widely
spread of the families of which the tribe is composed. These are the
Tiger and Otter clans, which, proud of their lines of descent, have been
preserved through a long and tragic past with exceptional freedom from
admixture with degrading blood. Today their men might be taken as types
of physical excellence. The physique of every Tiger warrior especially I
met would furnish proof of this statement. The Tigers are dark,
copper-colored fellows, over six feet in height, with limbs in good
proportion; their hands and feet well shaped and not very large; their
stature erect; their bearing a sign of self-confident power; their
movements deliberate, persistent, strong. Their heads are large, and
their foreheads full and marked. An almost universal characteristic of
the Tiger’s face is its squareness, a widened and protruding
under-jawbone giving this effect to it. Of other features, I noticed
that under a large forehead are deep set, bright, black eyes, small, but
expressive of inquiry and vigilance; the nose is slightly aquiline and
sensitively formed about the nostrils; the lips are mobile, sensuous,
and not very full, disclosing, when they smile, beautiful regular teeth;
and the whole face is expressive of the man’s sense of having
extraordinary ability to endure and to achieve. Two of the warriors
permitted me to manipulate the muscles of their bodies. Under my touch
these were more like rubber than flesh. Noticeable among all are the
large calves of their legs, the size of the tendons of their lower
limbs, and the strength of their toes. I attribute this exceptional
development to the fact that they are not what we would call “horse
Indians” and that they hunt barefoot over their wide domain. The same
causes, perhaps, account for the only real deformity I noticed in the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account