Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2021: The Black Seminole

Happy Indigenous Peoples’s Day! Have you ever heard of the Black Seminole? Let’s explore their history and their legacy in Northeast Florida.

The First Seminole War (1817-1818) served as a precursor to Florida becoming a U.S. Territory in 1819. The war began as U.S troops invaded Spanish territory in an effort to vanquish the Seminole who had retaliated against American settlers and harbored runaways. These runaways had escaped enslavement in the American territories to the north. Many of these runaways would come to be known as the Black Seminole. The Black Seminole lived in varying degrees of separation from the Seminole, usually in villages that surrounded Seminole settlements. Intermarriage was common and some Black Seminole became trusted advisors and military leaders like John Horse and Abraham. 

As the Seminole were forcibly removed to the Indian Territory out west, many Black Seminole traveled with them. After withstanding attempts to be re-enslaved in Oklahoma, a mass of the Black Seminole fled to Mexico, where slavery was outlawed. Their descendants still inhabit the area today.

You can learn more about the Black Seminole here: https://www.seminolenationmuseum.org/blog/archive/m.blog/42/seminole-freedman