Seminole War Reenactment

Every winter the Seminoles create a

reenactment of the Seminole War.

This is the first time I've gone to it.

I had so much fun photographing...

the costumes are wonderful, and the

faces are just marvelous: filled with

character! Had so much fun!

For those of you who don't know about

the Seminole War:

The war happened because the slaves

that escaped were running to South

West Georgia and Florida and joining

up with the Indians. They had been doing

this for generations. Eventually, the

plantation owners got upset. They wanted

their slaves back.

The government sent in the army.

By that time, the slaves

had families...and some of those families

were mixed blood. The soldiers were

taking children and anyone who looked

black. This didn't go well with the Seminole.

They fought back.

There were two wars. Together they lasted

longer than the Vietnam war and cost more.

More military were killed than Indians.

Eventually, the majority of the Seminole joined

the trail of tears, but some of them never

signed the peace treaty and hid in the Everglades.

I believe the Seminole signed the Peace Treaty

in the 1980's...yes, I said 1980's.

I don't think the Micousukee have ever signed

a peace treaty. They have an embassy in Miami!

We never actually won the war. It finally came

to an end because the Seminole were tired of

fighting. It just kind of ended...no big hooray.

We were entertained by several

Indian Dances

A beautiful costume that flowed

with the dance she was doing

What this young man could do with

hoops was amazing!

Everyone was in awe. He moved them over

under and around his body so fast that I

could hardly keep track. Magic!

The United States Soldiers

Everyone who joined in this reenactment

had wonderful faces filled with character.

I could have spent the day just

photographing their faces!

Frontiersmen

The crowd that came to see the event

glad we got there early!

Whites fighting

I hesitate to call them Americans

because, in reality, the Indians were

the Americans....

Indians fighting

...and the Seminoles won.