Seminole Indians

This is more pictures from our field trip. I love field trips. The top picture is the kids listening to the storyteller. She told stories about how the red fox got his color and why the raccoon's tail looks like it does. She had skins of foxes and coyotes and rabbits and a couple more. They all had heads and feet still attached. It was a little creepy, but the kids liked it.


We also learned about how they made their clothes and sewed to make a living. As the settlers pushed the Indians farther and farther south, the Indians realized that they could sell and trade with the settlers. At one point, they even got pedal sewing machines. My grandmother had one. It is definitely not as easy as it looks.



This is the baby holding a cup of corn mush stuff. The Indians would keep this on the fire all day to eat. The sophisticated taste buds of my 21st century kids didn't really care for it. Neither did mine. But it was fun to watch them take a bite.




Another stop was pottery. We learned that the Indians would go to the St. Johns River and gather clay to make pots with. They would also gather shells, leaves, and whatever else they could find to decorate their pots with. I though that was neat. The kids got to make their own pinch pots and decorate them.





The kids got to pick a clan. The Seminole Indians are actually many tribes that came together. The word "seminole" means running. They were running from settlers, and pioneers, and were kidnapped and sold as slaves. You can actually find artifacts in Cuba from some tribes of the Seminole Nation from the time that they were shipped as slaves to work the sugar cane plantations. It wasn't until 1957 or so that the Seminole Tribe came into existence on paper. When I told hubby, he said he alredy knew all that. Smarty pants. The big girl was a member of the bear clan, the boy and I were snakes, and the baby was a panther. The symbols that are being glued to the purple paper are the symbols of the respective clans.

The kids had a really great time. It was very interesting to see the way of life of a people that helped form this state and this nation. We also roamed all over the property and got to see the animals at the farm and the pioneer settlement that they have built. Most of the building have been moved from a different area and put together as a town. There were 16 people in our group that drove together, but 76 in the entire home school group. Quite impressive if you ask me. I'll let you know what happens on our next field trip.

Have a great day!