essay

Remnants, renegades, and runaways: Seminole ethnogenesis reconsidered

History, power, and identity : ethnogenesis in the Americas,1492-1992Iowa CityPublished In 1996 • Pages: 36-69

By: Sattler, Richard A..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Sattler reexamines the history and ethnogenesis of the Seminole, focussing on sociopolitical organization. He discusses the disintegration of the Muskogean chiefdoms in the Colonial Period and their replacement by less powerful polities. The Seminole emerged from the Lower Creek Kawita chiefdom, a multiethnic polity under Kawita suzerainty. Proto-Seminiole groups under Kawita sovereignty settled in northern Florida in the early 18th century. They eventually broke with the Kawita during the American Revolution when they sided with the British, contravening Creek neutrality. Refugees from the War of 1812 and 1814 Creek War swelled their ranks. The Seminole at this time formed three independent chiefdoms, which became most closely aligned during the Seminole Wars. Sattler argues that the Muskegean mode of socioplotical organization based on matrilineally inherited sacred power (HILISWA) among elite lineages allowed for the constitution and reconstitution of multiethnic polities.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Information sources listed in other works
Cultural revitalization and ethnogenesis
Territorial hierarchy
Towns
Chief executive
External relations
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Seminole
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2003
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern Woodlands
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Historian
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 2001
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
Not Specified
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1500-1840
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
southeastern United States
NotesAdditional notes
Richard A. Sattler
Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-265)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
95052415
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Seminole Indians