-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
1/33
The Role of Ethnogenesis and Organization
in the Development of African-Native AmericanSettlements: an African Seminole Model
Terrance M. Weik
Published online: 18 April 2009
# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract Archaeological research on a nineteenth-century settlement called Pilaklikaha
addresses gaps in the theory of African-Native American everyday life, community
composition, and social relations. By integrating analyses of human organization and
cultural transformation, it is possible to construct dynamic sociocultural scenarios for
African Seminole settlements that existed in what became Florida. In this region,
residents and visitors encountered diverse world views that originated in Africa and the
Americas. African Seminole cultural beliefs and practices were the product of both newly
created and ancestral traditions. The ways that these beliefs were practiced affected a
broad range of exchanges in the spheres of kinship, spirituality, ceremonialism, politics,
economics and anti-slavery resistance. Within these realms, people of African and Native
American descent recognized the importance of autonomy, cooperation, and alliance.
Keywords Ethnogenesis . Maroons . Transformation . African-Native Americans
Introduction
The manner by which settlements are established, perpetuated, and changed is a
central issue in history and anthropology. In the case of eighteenth- and nineteenth-
century African Seminole communities in Florida, this issue is complicated by the need
for reconciliation of views that emphasize social organization and ethnogenesis. A
more balanced theory of African Seminole sociocultural development is possible when
we consider both regional transformations and local attempts to create stability and
order. The heavy emphasis on cultural change in recent studies of Maroons and Native
Americans has created gaps in the discourse regarding the perpetuation of these
societies. These issues are addressed through archaeological analyses of socioculturalorganization, transformation, and interaction related to a settlement called Pilaklikaha
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
DOI 10.1007/s10761-009-0079-9
T. M. Weik (*)
Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, 317 Hamilton Hall, Columbia, SC 29208,
USA
e-mail: [email protected]
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
2/33
(18131836). Military and government records, maps, and travelersaccounts provide
glimpses of these cultural processes and their manifestations in the realms of
demography, political economy, kinship, and spirituality (Carter 1962; Williams
1962). By examining ethnography and material culture, undocumented beliefs and
practices receive some of the attention that they deserve in explanations of AfricanSeminole societies.
African Seminole (otherwise known as Black Seminole or Seminole
Maroon) is used in this article for a number of reasons. There are and were
tangible aspects of both African and Native American heritage in African Seminole
populations. African Seminole individuals such as a man called John Horse had both
African and Native American ancestry. African Seminole transcends the racializing
label Black (negro), a reduction of diverse African cultural heritages. Although
Blacknesshas been historically reclaimed (e.g., Black Power), it does not explicitly
acknowledge the biological and cultural African connections that contributed toAfrican-Native American belief and physiology.
Many of the members of African Seminole societies were formerly enslaved.
Ogunleye (1996) offered self-emancipated Africans as an alternative label for
terms she felt were derogatory, such as maroons, runaways,and fugitives(also
see Price 1979). The Spanish word cimarron has been used since the sixteenth
century to refer to wild animals that escaped to the mountains. Cima means peak in
Spanish, and cimarron (maroon in English) could be literally translated as one
who lives in the mountains. Some descendants of formerly enslaved African rebel
communities, such as those in Jamaica, proudly claim
maroon
heritage, whiledescendants in other places reject the word as a term of self-identification.
African Seminole is preferable to terms like Maroon or self-emancipated
African, because it reflects multiple, interconnected, and newly created heritages
and relations that resulted from African-Native American contact. Not all African-
Seminole populations should be equated with Maroons or freed blacks, for they
also included people of African descent who lived under some form of servitude to
Native Americans. However, African-Seminole settlements such as Pilaklikaha were
not mere subcultures or outliers of Seminole Indian or slave societies.
Another key terminological issue is the toponymy and etymology of African
Seminole settlements. Pilaklikaha will be used in what follows instead of
Abrahams Old Town, a term employed by later chroniclers. Pilaklikaha does
not invoke male-centric, top down ideas about society. This is not to diminish
Abrahams significance in African Seminole history. The Florida Armed Occupation
Act (1842) established a system of land distribution to Euro-American settlers.
Various permits (e.g., Robert Williams, #79) mention Abrahams Old Town, and
link it to a location on current maps where field work has been conducted (Whitner
1849). The Pilaklikaha (river?) and Palatlakaha Prairie are mentioned in this
same set of records, and the latter term is on modern topographic maps. Pilaklikaha
may have emerged from either African or Native American origins. It could be a
product of Muskogean (Creek) linguistic derivation, from opilwa lako laiki, big
swamp site. It has been previously suggested that the Kongo word pakalala (a
defensive posture) may have inspired the settlement name. By 1770, there existed
the Seminole town Pilatka (B. Weisman, pers. comm.). More recent writings
emphasize a greater interest in Seminole Indian linguistic roots (Mulroy 1993,
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 207
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
3/33
2004). Ultimately, Pilaklikahas meaning and origins do not have to be addressed in
a monogenetic conceptualization (Weik 2007, pp. 316317). It may have resulted
from similar words originating in both African and Native American populations.
In order to explain the establishment of the African Seminole society at
Pilaklikaha, attention has been given to both physical features and dynamicprocesses of the emerging society. These historical developments have been
connected with the practices and beliefs that facilitated communal organization
and socialization. African and Native American resistance to Euro-American
influence may have expressed itself differently in the belief systems and organizing
principles of African Seminole settlements such as Pilaklikaha versus those of some
Muskogean or Seminole neighbors. African Seminole acquisition and use of
information, goods, and services have been examined in ways that cross-cut
traditional compartmentalized fields of social analysis, such as economics and
spirituality. Socio-cultural creation, destruction, and transformation are explored atdifferent scales to link actions with beliefs.
Previous Approaches to African Seminole Societies
The formation, change, and functioning of particular African-Native American
settlements is not well understood, in part, because past studies have focused on
regional or family scales of analysis concerning cultural identity, intercultural
relations, borderland politics, and slavery (Bateman 1990pp. 1
24,2002pp. 227
257; Brooks2002; Jones2001; Miles and Holland2006; Riordan1996, pp.2544).
Archaeologists explicit discussions of African and Native American interactions at
colonial period sites have been largely limited to debates such as the contributions of
these two populations to the development of creole society. The case of
colonowares is instructive (Singleton and Bogard 2000). This plain, hand-built
pottery was constructed by African and Native American techniques. It often
exhibited European or plain forms.
The African Seminole and Garifuna are the only people of African and Native
American heritage whose settlements have been explored by archaeologists (Bullen
and Bullen 1972; Burger 2005; Fewkes 1922, pp. 1012, 35281; Herron 1994;
Boteler-Mock and Davis1997, pp. 810; Weik2002; Weisman1989, p. 174;http://
www.lookingforangola.com/home.asp). Thus far, Pilaklikaha is the most intensively
excavated African Seminole settlement, compared to other known sites at Boggy
Island (Florida), Angola (Florida), Fort Clarke (Texas), and Nacimiento (Mexico)
(Fig. 1). Africans who lived in Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and other Native
American territories deserve more attention by archaeologists (White2001pp. 550
551; G. Waselkov, pers. comm.).
Two problems that must be avoided in a study of a specific African Seminole
historic settlement are the assumption that archaeological sitesare isomorphic with
the space inhabited by a certain society, and the idea of a homogeneous, bounded
community. These challenges are addressed by shifting inquiry between individual acts
and group relations, by considering ancestral (and descendant) analogues and idiosyncratic
sources for beliefs, and by oscillating the focus from local to regional contexts. Places and
material culture are viewed as derivatives of and catalysts for human experiences and
208 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
http://www.lookingforangola.com/home.asphttp://www.lookingforangola.com/home.asphttp://www.lookingforangola.com/home.asphttp://www.lookingforangola.com/home.asp -
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
4/33
meanings across time and space (Ashmore2002, pp. 11721183; Beaudry et. al.1991).
The creation of landscapes is another theoretical thread that helps to constitute and
connect different parts of this paper. Settlements and the intervening countrysides are not
randomly inhabited or used. They are not merely the backdrop for human action. Spaceis socially constituted and constituting. While a full landscape analysis is beyond the
scope of this paper, the concept of landscape will inform the analysis in places.
Scholarship on African-Seminole societies in Florida has followed the late
Kenneth Porters perspective, emphasizing Seminole Negro life in independent
settlements (Porter 1971, 1996; Milligan 1974, pp. 418). Porter argued that their
autonomy derived from their abilities to wield weapons, farm, and select their
leaders. He also argued that African-Seminole opportunities were not diminished by
a semi-feudal relationship that they had with the Seminole Indians. Other approaches
to African and Seminole settlements recognize their mutable community membership,
sociocultural newness, mobility, and ability to manipulate borderland politicsin a
word ethnogenesis (Mulroy 1993; Sturtevant 1971). Core features of African
Seminole communities include various descent systems, central and west African
naming practices, and mixed subsistence strategies. African Seminole were set off
from their Seminole Indian neighbors by unique social, economic and political
activities. Following creolization theory, their religion was a mix of Anglo and
Spanish Christianity, Seminole Indian religion and African spirituality.
Kevin Mulroy (2004, pp. 465477) argues that Seminole Maroon cultural
distinction was reinforced by marriage, which rarely happened between Africans and
Seminole Indians. In a small number of cases, women and men, whether they were
of Native American or African descent, married, crossing the race and cultural
distinctions that past and present observers have ascribed to them. The rather slim
documentation that is available for many locales suggests that these marriages did
not result in bicultural offspring receiving rights and obligations prescribed by
Seminole Indian clans (Porter 1996). Oral history from the early twentieth-century
Fig. 1 African Seminole populations and sites
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 209
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
5/33
Seminole suggests that bicultural (or biracial) unions and offspring were not
encouraged in Florida Seminole communities (Jumper and West2000).
Research at Pilaklikaha represents one of the latest installments in a growing
discourse on the development of free African communities in Florida (Weik1997).
Historians and archaeologists have collaborated on Fort Mos (17381740, 17521763), where Africans who escaped from enslavement in the Carolinas allied with
Spanish colonists from St. Augustine, Florida (Deagan and Landers 1999, pp. 272
273). The institutions of marriage, religion, colonial government, and the Spanish
colonial military were central organizing factors at Fort Mos. The significance of
Spanish religious influences, such as god-parentage, was also reflected in
archaeological remains such as rosary beads and a religious medallion. Archae-
ologists found that Fort Moss inhabitants became self-sufficient by relying
primarily on wild fauna for food. It remains to be seen if similar material evidence
exists at the Negro Fort,
where Maroons, free people of African descent, andNative Americans allied with the British on the Florida panhandle (18121816)
(Griffin 1950; Millet 2002; Poe 1963). Free Black towns in the Spanish Americas
were not burdened by the colonial rules that confined the administration and
construction of European or Native American communities. Afro-Spanish collabo-
ration did not preclude tensions. Fort Moss residents occasionally clashed with
Spanish authorities over their participation in African practices (Landers1990).
While previous writings on African-Seminole societies have laid important
groundwork by describing general features, social relations with Seminole Indians, and
settlement locations in Florida, most studies, outside of an analysis of
Angola
(alsocalled Sarrazota), have not focused attention on the life history of any specific location
(Brown 1990; Mulroy1993; Porter1996; Weisman1989). Another goal of this paper is
to illustrate the diversity of experiences, social formations, and world views that existed
across Florida African Seminole settlements. The emphasis of ethnogenesis theory on
cultural heterogeneity, and processes of destruction, formation, change, and fissioning is
relevant here because it counters static, synchronic tendencies that have plagued
historical applications of the culture idea (Hill 1996). Transformation is a core feature of
my approach because of the effective way it has been used to invoke balance between
cultural continuity and change, pre-existing traditions and creolization (Armstrong and
Kelly 2000; Gomez 1998; Levine 1993). Transformations of Africans and Native
Americans led to the creation of African Seminole places, beliefs, and social relations.
African Seminole Geography
From the earliest colonial timessome would argue earlier (Van Sertima 1992)
Africans and Native Americans engaged one another in slavery and freedom (Forbes
1993; Willis 1963). Africans interacted with Native Americans by joining their
societies, uniting with them in newly formed settlements, and by allying with them
against colonial forces (Perz2000; Price1979). This contact has been discerned by
archaeological research at Maroon settlements in Brazil, the Dominican Republic,
and Jamaica, where some sites bear Native American pottery and names (Agorsah
1994; Orser1996; Weik2004). Conversely, Africans and Native Americans served
colonial armies in their assaults on indigenous and African communities.
210 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
6/33
Africans played a variety of roles in Floridas history (Landers 1999). The
sixteenth-century Spanish expeditions that crossed Florida included Africans who
encountered indigenous people such as the Calusa (DuBois1915). By 1602, a royal
report described 56 Africans at St. Augustine, Florida. As in other American
slave societies, Africans probably worked alongside Native Americans at St.Augustine (Chatelain 1941; Miles 2002). Free Blacks and Mulattos, especially
male traders or soldiers, also inhabited St. Augustine. Outside of Spanish colonial
settlements, Africans worked on European ranches, where they came into contact
with various Native Americans. In the seventeenth century, an African helped a
Timucuan woman to escape from a mission in north Florida (Hann1992). From the
Carolinas, Africans fled by boat and land to Florida, where the Spanish colonial
government granted amnesty to Catholic converts and military enlistees (Meaders
1975, p. 288). During the eighteenth century, Africans encountered Seminole
Indians,
a group who migrated away from their more northern Muskogean kinbecause of the prospects of peace, the deer-skin trade, and subsistence opportunities
in Florida (Sturtevant 1971; Weisman 1989, 1999). From the eighteenth to the
nineteenth centuries, interactions between Africans and Seminole Indians took
different forms, including marriage, slavery, alliance, kidnappings, conflicts, and
friendships (Boyd1958; Rawick1976).
The impact of Seminole Indian socio-political practices and beliefs on residents of
Pilaklikaha should not be underestimated. Native Seminole groups were quite
independent, asserting their autonomy spatially in matrilineal, dispersed clan camps
(Craig and Peebles 1974; Weisman 1989). Some Seminole were organized likechiefdoms, in hierarchical societies that were ruled by a chief, who was advised by a
council of elders from different clans, as well as some warriors. Like their
Muskogean predecessors, some Seminole created towns with squaregrounds, central
meeting places composed of four ceremonial structures. It is unclear whether many
African Seminole in Florida participated in Seminole tribal councils the way that
their descendants did in twentieth-century Oklahoma, but their role as interpreters at
Florida treaty negotiations is reason further to consider this hypothesis.
The issue of how slavery and freedom were realized in Seminole territory is
complicated by a diversity of observations and relationships. Many Euro-American
observers saw all African Seminole as slaves of white or indigenous slaveholders.
Other Euro-American observers saw the African Seminole as relatively free, or as
influential in Seminole Indian international affairs. The Euro-American documents
that comprise the most accessible descriptions of relations in Seminole territory must
be used with caution (Weik 2007, pp. 313). Most chroniclers only spent short
periods visiting African and Indian Seminole settlements. Many carried Eurocentric
views, which held that Africans were inherently servile. Other observers owned
slaves, and may have seen places like Pilaklikaha as new opportunities to acquire
both land and slaves.
These chronicler criticisms do not negate the fact that there were cases of Creek
and Seminole slavery which were coercive like American chattel slavery (Cohen
1964; Weik 2002, pp. 161; B. Weisman, pers. comm.). However, it would be
simplistic to assume that all cases of African and Native American slavery were the
same as American chattel slavery, in terms of the types, amounts, and restrictions of
their labor requirements (Littlefield1977; Miers and Kopytoff1977). There was no
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 211
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
7/33
consensus among Southeastern Indians about African or Native American servitude
(Saunt 1998). Many Native American and African forms of servitude involved
prisoners of war. However, there were sometimes opportunities for social mobility or
integration into the slaveholders kinship structures. William Bartram noted that the
Seminole freed children of Yamasee Indians who they had enslaved in the eighteenthcentury (Landers 1999, p. 68). Free people of African descent may have found
Seminole territory an appealing alternative to the racism of Euro-American slave
societies, although not all Muskogeans or Seminole eschewed denigrating views of
Africans (Wright1986, p. 78). Evidence for labor, ownership and sales records need
to be examined systematically, before claims can be made about the proportion of
African Seminole who were enslaved or free.
Pilaklikaha was one of many places in Florida where people of African descent
lived during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By the eighteenth century,
thousands of Africans and Muskogeans lived along the Apalachicola and Flintrivers. Later in the 1700s, African Seminole settlements formed in the Alachua
Prairie, an area ruled by Seminole leaders such as Cowkeeper and his successor King
Payne (Porter 1996, p. 5). From the late eighteenth century onward, slavery
expanded in Florida (Rivers2000). The chaos of the American Revolution and the
British policy of freeing some slaves as a war tactic, swelled the ranks of Africans in
Seminole territory. Decades later, the African Seminole leader Abraham escaped
from Pensacola and joined the British-African-Native American alliance at the
Negro Fort (Porter 1971). In 1813, invading Georgian militia forced Paynes
African Seminole to flee to the Suwannee River and to the Tampa area settlementssuch as Angola (Brown1990, p. 6,2005). A group of Creek Indians that assisted
the United States military in destroying the Suwannee River African and Seminole
settlements in the 18171818 war, took some African Seminole captives north to
Coweta. Some African Seminole eluded U.S. forces by sailing to the Bahamas,
where their descendants live today (Goggin 1946; Howard 2002; Vignoles 1977).
During the 1820s, a north Florida (Alachua) overseer complained that some of his
captive laborers escaped to Georgia (Charles1825). From northern and west-central
Florida, Africans and Seminole made their way to Pilaklikaha. African Seminole
mobility is exemplified by Abraham, who became a leader at Pilaklikaha. He made
trips to Washington D.C., various parts of Florida, and Oklahoma, as a part of
Seminole Indian delegations to whom U.S. Indian removal proponents offered land.
At the conclusion of the Second Seminole War (18351842), African Seminoles left
Florida, and began a series of migrations that led them to Oklahoma, Texas, and
Mexico (Mulroy1993; Porter1971).
While a set of dynamics is proposed for an African Seminole society, it is one of
many sociocultural scenarios for people of African descent who resisted slavery in
Florida (Fig. 2). Thus, generalizations about African Seminole living in separate
towns must be qualified to account for cases where Africans and Seminole lived
together (examples of this type of generalization appear in Brown 2005; Howard
2002, pp. 1819; Mulroy2004; Porter1996; Weik2002, pp. 168;2005, p. 5). In the
towns of Apilshopko and Apilchapoocha, negroes comprised approximately 40%
and 60% percent, respectively, of residents (Boyd 1958, p. 82). Angola represents
another end of the spectrum, where African rebels were the only inhabitants (Brown
1990).
212 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
8/33
Archaeology at Pilaklikaha
The archaeological record of the location that became known as Pilaklikaha, covers
centuries of human habitation. The place was first inhabited by pre-colonial Native
Americans who produced lithics and Pasco Plainpottery (Weik2002, p. 24). These
remains relate to the poorly-known, pre-colonial, Central-Florida borderlands, on the
fringes of Safety Harbor (1,100400 years ago) and St. Johns archaeological cultures
(1,000500 years ago). The stratigraphic distribution of the lithics underlays and
overlaps African-Seminole period remains. Seminole and other Native Americans
produced stone tools such as gunflints through the early nineteenth century (Johnson
1997; Neill1977, p. 15). It is worth considering whether stone tool production and use
at Pilaklikaha was continuous from antiquity to the Seminole period or confined to pre-
colonial times. In a later section, this paper will explore the possibility that African and
Indigenous Seminole recycled or created some of the lithics that were excavated at
Pilaklikaha. Some of the pottery and stone tools recovered from Pilaklikaha may have
been used during the colonial period by central-Florida societies such as the Guacozo,
Ocale, Mayaca or Jororo (Milanich 1995, p. 65). Maroons were not reported in this
region of Florida in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. However, Africans did
escape as far south on Floridas east coast, joining the indigenous Ays (or Ais) by 1603.
Pilaklikaha is located in a cow pasture, on a country road in Sumter County,
central Florida. The site is on an elevated oak hammock (hill), on the northern edge
Fig. 2 African Seminole, Maroon, and other settlements in Florida
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 213
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
9/33
of a boot-shaped ridge. Natural and man-made depressions and ponds ring the
location. Historic descriptions and a depiction of the town suggest that it was located
on a hammock. The soils of this hammock, and much of Sumter county, consist of
quartz sand, clayey sand and clay. These components range from several feet to
nearly 100 ft (30.5 m) below the surface (United States Department of Agriculture1988, p. 6). Jumper Creek, named for a Seminole Indian, former counselor to chief
Micanopy, is near the site. (see Potter, 1966, p. 456). Micanopy was a hereditary
indigenous Seminole ruler, though historians claim he did not have a strong impact
on Seminole Indian politics. He lived at both Pilaklikaha and another settlement
called Okehumpke (about 10 mi [16.1 km] north of Pilaklikaha).
The first African Seminole occupation of Pilaklikaha probably occurred after
north Florida Seminole settlements were destroyed by invading Georgia and
Tennessee militia, between 1813 and 1818. Mean ceramic dating done on pottery
from Pilaklikaha suggests a date of 1811 (Weik2002). Pilaklikaha is less than 10 m(16.1 km) from the Dade Battlefield State Historic Site, where African and Seminole
forces ambushed a U.S. military unit in 1835. African Seminole from central Florida
may have assisted in the Dade Massacreat the battlefield because they feared that
U.S. troop activities near their settlements would result in their enslavement. Not
long afterward, in 1836, General Abraham Eustiss troops destroyed Pilaklikahas
abandoned houses (Brown 1990, p. 42; Eustis 1836). J. H. Williamss homestead,
visible on an 1840s surveyor map and an Armed Occupation Act claim, was built on
fields that may have been cleared by inhabitants of Pilaklikaha. Post-African
Seminole-period Euro-American settlement is also evident in excavated artifacts suchas flat glass, an 1843 penny, and stoneware crock fragments (Weik 2002, p. 112).
Since the mid-nineteenth century, the land has been used for farms, a nursery, and
railroads. Building materials, ceramics, and other remains from a mid-twentieth-
century resident who lived on the western, adjacent property overlap with
Pilaklikahas African Seminole-period remains.
Since the 1990s, archaeological research has been conducted at Pilaklikaha. A
masters thesis identified over a hundred specimens from the surface of the site,
including many items of the type examined in this paper: European ceramics, Native
American pottery, glass, stone flakes, glass beads, and metal objects (Herron1994). A
pedestrian survey conducted by Bill Steele, who explored the site and its surroundings
for the Miami Historical Conservancy, confirmed that the property south of the main
study area of this paper did not have any Seminole period artifacts (Carr and Steele
1993; B. Steele, pers. comm.). Visibility was good during the pedestrian survey that
the author conducted on the southern, neighboring property in 1999, as large areas
were plowed (Weik2002). Shovel test pits placed on this adjacent southern property,
produced no African-Seminole period artifacts. No remains were recovered in the
southern, neighboring property by any surveys, except for an outlying, single, surface-
level, black glass shard. Previous surveys (B. Steele, pers. comm.) as well as a surface
inspection conducted by the author suggest that the adjacent, western property had few
artifacts of the Seminole period. During 1998, this western property was sold to a new
owner who denied access for further archaeological research.
Systematic and judgmental surface and subsurface samples were taken of the
archaeological record at Pilaklikaha, during field seasons from 1998 to 2002, as well
as during brief field visits in 2005 and 2006 (Weik 2002). Pedestrian surveys that
214 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
10/33
were conducted on properties within a mile radius of Pilaklikaha, did not locate any
additional sites. Prior to field work, a Cartesian grid was established on the main
study area. The grid was aligned according to a numbering system that centered on
the datum, which was placed at the coordinates 2,000 north, 2,000 east
(2000N2000E). The main distribution of material remains at Pilaklikaha was subjectedto over 200 shovel test pits (30 cm squared and 50100 cm deep). Based on the content
of these shovel test units, 23 larger judgmental test units (11 m, 12 m, and 22 m)
were excavated individually or in contiguous units (Fig. 3). Some gaps exist on the
shovel test grid because tree stumps, clay, or rock prevented excavation.
Over 1,000 artifacts were recovered that relate to the African Seminole
occupation at Pilaklikaha (Weik 2002, pp. 112139). It is difficult to determine
how much of the artifact distribution represents house floor or yard areas, as features
such as postholes were found in few of the test units. The features that were found
varied in depth from less than 1 cm to 20 cm deep. No definite midden or well-defined Seminole-period ground layer was evident from plan or profile maps, photos
or visual inspections of the excavated site stratigraphy. Test excavation units
demonstrated that thin sheets of scattered artifacts exist from ground surface to a
depth of 60 cm below surface.
Building remainssandy-clay daub, wrought-iron nails, and brick fragments
make up less than 5% of all artifact fragments that were recovered. The very small
number of wrought iron nails at the site may indicate that metal fasteners were used
in some building construction. Most of the brick fragments in the test units were tiny,
and distributed in the first or second excavation levels (0
10 and 10
20 cm belowsurface), but not in close association with the features. Most larger brick bats, which
appeared to be modern, were found in the first excavation level (010 cm below
surface). Documents suggest that African Seminole residents lived in large cabins
Fig. 3 Test excavation blocks and Herrons(1994) surface collection area
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 215
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
11/33
and Seminole Indian thatch-roof chickees, constructed without metal fasteners
(Downs 1995; Simmons 1973; Waselkov and Braund 1995; Weisman 1989). We
should not rule out the possibility of African inspiration for timber, daub, and thatch
houses. According to one Tennessee volunteer who served in a military unit that
helped destroy Abrahams town,the settlement had small, pine houses, containingbeef and other items in the rafters (Irwin1836, p. 33).
A number of adjacent blocks were excavated in 10 cm levels, next to the most
western shovel test unit (2000N1979.8E), because it was the unit that contained the
greatest amount of African Seminole period artifacts. Test Units 2000N1981E and
2002N1981E contained the clearest examples of features (Fig. 4). Soil stains
illustrate their alignment, which could indicate the corners and walls of a structure.
Unfortunately, the property fence line and a tree prevented exploration of these
features in the northeast and western directions. Artifacts such as sand-tempered and
brushed earthenware pottery, blue-edged pearlware, and green glass were embeddedin some features. The nails that are depicted appeared to be wrought or cut, but high
levels of corrosion made it hard to be sure of their date or morphology.
Generally, the features and artifacts were most evident from 1925 cm below the
surface. Artifacts such as a bead, lithic flakes, green bottle glass, and ironstone or
Fig. 4 Test excavation block
216 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
12/33
whiteware pottery emerged in the test units at the same level as features, as well as
slightly above or below them. A number of faint soil stains, some with charcoal,
emerged in test units, such as in the middle of the southern half of test unit
2000N1983E. These stains quickly disappeared, within millimeters of their first
discovery. A feature in test unit 2000N1985E was more shallow than the others (1520 cm below the surface). It was unique because of its highly gritty consistency and
its uneven depth, ranging from 1 cm to 3 cm thick. The features in different test units
(see Fig.4) were discernable to the naked eye (using a Munsell chart) but they did
not emerge clearly in photos (Weik2002, pp. 130137).
The distribution and content of the archaeological record at Pilaklikaha has been
affected by a variety of factors. The settlement was destroyed by the U.S. military in
1836. According to General Abraham Eustis (1836) On my reaching Pilaklikaha, I
found the villages abandoned, and no sign of their having been occupied for several
weeks
cattle and ponies however were abundant in the neighborhood. The housesand fences were burnt by my order. It is not clear from Eustiss report why he
referred to multiple villages, as opposed to one settlement. A later section of this
paper will address neighboring settlements. African Seminole residents probably
removed many things of value as they evacuated Pilaklikaha. Modern land use has
created major archaeological disturbances. For example, agricultural (e.g., plowing)
and road building (paved and dirt) activities have altered a major strip of the highest,
most level parts of the site. Most artifacts and features were well within the plow
zone (Weik2002). These alterations may be one reason that relatively few postholes,
trash pits, or other features were found at Pilaklikaha. In addition, disturbances werecreated by two small stands of large oaks that demarcate the western and eastern
edges of the hammock. A slight depression forms a shallow pool of standing water,
in the central-eastern portion of the hammock, during rainy summers. Similar issues
and post-depositional processes characterize Seminole Indian sites (Weisman 1989,
pp. 137142).
Shovel test and surface finds are a primary form of evidence for the spatial extent
of the main activity areas of Pilaklikaha (Fig. 5). Positive shovel tests are defined as
units containing artifacts most likely to indicate African-Seminole material culture.
Positive, in this instance, means that at least one diagnostic artifact was present in
the unit. Brushed and Sand-tempered earthenwares, creamwares, pearlwares,
whitewares, green bottle glass, lead shot, and pipe fragments are items most
indicative of African Seminole occupation. Fourteen percent of the shovel tests bore
artifacts that are classified as positive. Ironstone, white and brown stoneware, and
porcelains were excluded from the shovel test map, as well as from Herrons (1994)
surface finds that are noted on the shovel test map. The exclusions have been made
because of the possibility that these modern Euro-American ceramics were produced
into the twentieth century, and may have been used by nineteenth- or twentieth-
century residents of the hammock. Twelve percent of the shovel tests contained
ironstone, stoneware, or porcelain, which are distributed mostly on the southernmost
test units of the 1990E and 2020E lines, or on the eastern end of the hammock. The
surface finds identified in the 19982002 fieldwork and in Herrons (1994) study,
confirm this generalization about modern Euro-American pottery distributions.
The distribution of positive shovel test units at Pilaklikaha, suggest that the main
archaeological remains are concentrated in a 5,000 m2 area on the western half of the
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 217
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
13/33
hammock. However, outlier artifact fragments (e.g., lead fragments, dark green
bottle glass) on the eastern end make it likely that the whole hammock was used byAfrican and Indigenous Seminoles. The most extensive concentration of African
Seminole-period artifacts is in the far western corner of the study area grid, and on
the 2,030, 2,060, and 2,100 east lines. Herrons surface findsbrushed and sand-
tempered plain indigenous pottery, and pearl, cream, annular and white waresseem
to aggregate on the southern ends of these three east lines. Together, the positive
surface find and shovel test locations seem to hint at lines or arcs that surround areas
relatively free of artifacts. Depressions, sinkholes and drainages, situated within 50
100 m of the African Seminole habitation area, probably limited much past
expansion or peripheral habitation. The standing water that is depicted (see Figs. 4
and5) was only present during a very wet summer visit (2006). A visit to Pilaklikaha
during a wet season provides one with an appreciation for how inundated the land
can get, down slope from the archaeological remains (Fig. 6). These hydrologic
features probably served a moat-like defensive function, like the Withlacoochee
Cove did on a macro scale. The environment was also conducive to rice agriculture,
which fed residents at Pilaklikaha (McCall 1974).
Pilaklikahas archaeological record has not produced the specific structural
remains that would suggest clear-cut spatial signatures of social differentiation,
ceremonial space, or other aspects of human organization. The gaps and clustering
are difficult to generalize from because the area encompassing them has not been
excavated as a continuous block (see Figs.3, 5). For instance, the shovel test units
were conducted at 10 m intervals. The site map is based on a variety of test
excavation strategies and recovery techniques that do not collectively guarantee
uniformity in artifact and feature distribution. However, only a small portion of the
total human occupation area has been excavated. Therefore, future testing could
Fig. 5 Shovel test excavation units and Herrons(1994) surface finds
218 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
14/33
further clarify the overall settlement layout of Pilaklikaha, and its range of
architectural forms and sizes. Field research could also determine whether the
remains represent a single, generation-long occupation of many houses, or a more
intricate process of building and demolition, immigration and emigration. It is
possible that Pilaklikaha was occupied seasonally or during intermittent occupations,
as were other African Seminole towns (C. Brown, pers. comm.; Kersey1981).
The sole painting of Pilaklikaha suggests that there were over ten structures that
resembled log-cabins by 1836 (Fig. 7). This depiction was one of several sketches
from the U.S. war with the Seminoles that was advertised in the Charleston Mercury
on July 11, 1836, under the title Illustrations of Florida.The depiction was drawn
by J. F. Gray (1836), a South Carolina soldier who volunteered for service in
Florida. According to the Charleston Mercury, the picture was to be engraved by
Mr. W. Keenan. Besides the simple mention of houses, General Eustis described
the presence of fences at Pilaklikaha (Weik2007, p. 327). Micanopy lived in a two-
story house at Pilaklikaha (Cohen 1964). Contrary to Grays depiction, which
suggests that structures covered the hammock, archaeological remains are
concentrated on high ground in the western section of the rise. This discrepancy is
probably the result of the shallow clay and limestone deposits on the east part of the
hammock, which prohibited building in this less-well-drained area. It is not known
exactly how much effort that Gray put into trying to replicate the actual sizes and
distribution of buildings. The structures, people and animals are drawn in a
simplistic manner. Grays depiction is a part of a series of images that portray
mundane and dramatic images of the war (see commentary by Bird 2005,
Fig. 6 Pilaklikahas main concentration of physical remains and local environment
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 219
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
15/33
). The depiction may have been intended to showcase
U.S. victory more than preserve a realistic memory of the final moments in the life
history of Pilaklikaha.
A description of Pilaklikaha suggests that it was laid out like the towns in a
civilized country
(Irwin 1836, p. 33). It is possible that this quote connoted thatthere was some kind of symmetry, as a number of European and U.S. towns featured
rectilinear layouts. African Seminole may have based their ideas about the social
organization of space on African compounds that they inhabited before becoming
enslaved (Weik 2004, pp. 4042). It would seem that those people who had
memories of life in slave rowswould not have sought to recreate a rigidly defined
community. Depictions and descriptions of Maroon towns in the Americas suggest
that they had both rectilinear and unaligned settlement layouts (Weik2004, p. 42).
The Muskogean squareground is another possible spatial arrangement that may
have been manifest at Pilaklikaha (Weik2004, p. 42). Powells Town, located 13 mi
(20.9 km) west of Pilaklikaha, makes for a good archaeological comparison that
speaks to the relationship between sociocultural organization and space. Weisman
(1989, p. 142147) argued that the Powells Town site was constructed in a manner
similar to Muskogean towns or indigenous Seminole domestic compounds, which
featured a central squareground or space surrounded by four structures. Powells
Towns central square, which is devoid of artifacts, is surrounded by four main clusters
of surface and subsurface artifacts. The fact that no features (e.g., postholes) were
found adjacent to the artifact clusters at Powells town leaves room for speculation
about the structuresexact positioning. However, the overall site plan conforms to the
general artifact distribution that one would expect for a layout of human activity
remains that surround a central open area. There may be multiple reasons why artifacts
were scarce in the central area of Powells town. Cleanliness, which may have
motivated residents to perform regular yard sweeping (as in African American historic
places), was both a virtue and a pragmatic means of minimizing refuse that
might attract vermin or wild animals. There may have also been political and
Fig. 7 Burning of Pilak-Li-ka-ha by Gen. Eustis (Gray1836)
220 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
http://www.johnhorse.com/http://www.johnhorse.com/ -
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
16/33
spiritual reasons why this area was devoid of artifacts. More will be said on this theme
and Weismans interpretation of it, later in this paper.
Demographic Features of an African Seminole Settlement
There are few eyewitness descriptions of specific African Seminole Towns. The
Seminole Indians did not freely disclose information about African Seminole. U.S.
government agent John Logan discovered this type of resistance to documentation
when he was denied information for an 1830 census (Bell 1952). During the 1820s,
George McCall and Horatio Dexter made the most extensive descriptions of
Pilaklikaha (Boyd 1958; McCall 1974). There are other possible sources of
information about this settlement, such as the lists of negro prisoners from the
Second Seminole War that the U.S. military sent to Congress that span the period183638 (United States 25th Congress 1838). These lists feature the names of
captives along with their presumed town, owner, or nation. Ninety-nine African
Seminoles are listed with chief Micanopy as their owner. These African Seminoles
linked to Micanopy, and listed on the government inventories of prisoners, almost
match exactly in number the 100 runaways from Georgia that McCall claimed
lived at Pilaklikaha in the 1820s (McCall 1974). Many runaways escaped from
Georgia to Florida on well-worn routes through the Okefenokee Swamp (Nelson
2005, pp. 2439). Two other figures for Pilaklikaha160 by Dexter (Boyd 1958)
and 75 in
Lieut. Yanceys Notes
(United States Indian Affairs 1824
1853)
areworth considering. These different population counts may have resulted from
different estimation methods, errors, speculation, or actual population fluctuations.
Nonetheless, it is possible that the prisoner lists represent at least some of
Pilaklikahas former inhabitants.
However, it is hasty to assume that all of the African Seminoles that were
identified as Micanopys slaves on the congressional documents resided at
Pilaklikaha (United States 25th Congress1838). The population estimate of 99 that
was derived from the list is a snapshot, not a full account of all the people who
resided or interacted there over time. If we were to consider the number on these
government lists that were not born when McCall and Dexter passed through
Pilaklikahathe individuals who were born after 1823then it would be necessary
to account for at least 40 other individuals that were not there during the days that
McCall and Dexter visited the settlement. Some leaders mentioned by McCall are
not on the lists. Several people on the lists are not matched with their spouse(s) or
mate(s). The missing mates may have resided at Pilaklikaha temporarily or lived at
another settlement. Likewise, Micanopy, his two wives, and other African Seminole
lived at both Pilaklikaha and a nearby settlement called Okehumpka (Boyd 1958).
This type of trans-settlement migration was also common in other indigenous and
Maroon communities (Bateman1990; Perz2000; Worth2000).
An examination of the African Seminole list suggests that the population was
undergoing growth (generated from United States 25th Congress 1838). Almost 56%
of the population was female, in contrast to the high male-to-female ratio that
impeded reproduction among Maroon societies in their formative stage. Fifty-five
percent of the residents were less than 15 years old, and 1/3 of the population was
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 221
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
17/33
less than10 years old. Children probably contributed economically, as they did on
plantations, Seminole Indian settlements, and later tenant farms (King 1995;
Weisman 1999, p. 108). The average age of these African Seminole is 18.6 years,
closer to the average age of female (19) rather than male (26) runaways in the South.
The average age of nineteenth-century Florida runaways was 29 (Franklin andSchweninger1999; Rivers2000). If 1550 years old is any indication of the period
of productive adulthood, then 42 of 99 African Seminoles constituted the parents,
soldiers, farmers and leaders of Pilaklikaha. Two elders, who were 55 years and
60 years old, and three unidentified individuals comprised the rest of the list.
Names listed on the congressional documents (prisoner lists) present opportunities
to hypothesize about identity, cultural affiliation, and traditions (United States 25th
Congress 1838). Most (89) of the names on the list appear to have Anglo origins.
One name, Ishmael, may be of southwest Asia (Arabic or Judaic) derivation. A
young teenager named Wan,
probably could trace his name from the Spanish Juan,as did Juan Caballo (John Horse), the famous leader who had an African (or African
American) mother and Seminole Indian father (Porter 1996, p. 100; Rivers and
Brown1997). Caballo married the daughter of July,a leader at Pilaklikaha. July is
a name of a month, but it may also relate to African practices of naming people for
significant events, ancestors, or times, such as the Akan practice of day-names (e.g.,
Cudjo) (Mulroy1993; Turner2002; Weik2005).
A female on the government lists (United States 25th Congress1838) named Tena
may have been able to trace her name to Africa, from Twi and (or) Kongo languages,
based on Lorenzo Turners(2002) study of Gullah names. Linguistic studies and thelong history of African escape from low-country North America to Florida, support
my use of comparative data from the Gullah. Turners detailed twentieth-century
investigation of Gullah language and names was one of the most tangible
illustrations of cultural linkages between descendant communities in the United
States and their African heritage. Turners study illustrated how many names had
similar forms that could be found in more than one African society. It is necessary to
account for the differences between the African societies from which the Gullahs
first enslaved ancestors were taken and Turners African sources, mostly late
nineteenth- and twentieth-century ethnographic cases and missionary writings.
Historic migrations of ethnic groups, the nature of the slave trade (circulating
people through numerous transportation routes, destinations and departure points)
and various cultural changes complicate the delineation of the African origins of
enslaved people (Lovejoy1997).
Family groupings are visible in this sample of African Seminole prisoners of war
(United States 25th Congress1838). Family size ranged from two to 11. Six families
had the modal family size of four individuals. Defining family and kinship is
complicated by a variety of issues: the extent to which members are blood or
intermarried kin; adoptive, fictive or symbolic kinship; the ways that roles and
identities are gendered; the relationship between family and household. Kinship
networks have been a primary force in the creation of Black Seminole identities
and communities (Bateman1990, p. 17).
Fourteen family units appear on the congressional documents (United States 25th
Congress1838). These records define family units minimally, identifying one or two
(mates) adults and any of their children. It appears that there are ten families related
222 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
18/33
to at least one other family. Extended family and interfamily ties may have played an
important role in fostering linkages across the society, as they did in Oklahoma
descendant communities. Husband, wife and children are listed in ten families.
Oklahoma African Seminole and Black Carib (Garifuna) communities featured
characteristics such as fluid household composition, diverse family forms, andfemale headed households. The existence of polygamy in African Seminole
descendants in Oklahoma precludes a conclusion that Pilaklikahas inhabitants were
all monogamous (Bateman 1990, pp. 2627). It is likely that African (central or
west) or Seminole Indian polygamy and matrilineality influenced the African
Seminole (Miller 1988; Vansina 1990; Wilks 1993). The disruptive impact of
enslavement (e.g. rape, sale of kin) must also be factored into an explanation for the
diversity and fluidity of family patterns.
The model of African Seminole demography and family relations that has been
constructed in the preceding paragraphs must be viewed with caution as it is onlyone of various scenarios that can be constructed from the 25th U.S. Congressional
Document (1838) upon which it is based. The congressional record and official
military reports are subject to various filters or censors that limit what kinds of
information is released for public viewing. It is likely that some of the Anglo names
that have been recorded were Anglicized (e.g., Wan was probably the Spanish
word Juan). It is also likely that chroniclers only recorded one of many names by
which individuals were known to their peers. Chroniclers cultural lenses affected
the ways they assigned names to people.
Leadership and Government
One way that many societies define rights and responsibilities, and ensure stability is
to assign, elect, or allow the self-appointment of leaders. Autonomous African
Seminole settlements were probably organized in ways similar to other Maroon
societies. Local military and kinship concerns were primary factors in the
organization of Jamaican Maroon societies. The Aluku of Guiana participated in
more regional clan and chiefdom systems (Bilby1996). At Pilaklikaha, documented
leaders included Abram, July, and August, and a subchief named Billy John.
The above-mentioned congressional documents list some other Indian Negro
leaders who can be linked to Pilaklikaha (United States 25th Congress 1838). Ino
and Ben were important and influential military commanders who were
allegedly owned by Micanopy. It is likely that many of the names of the Maroon,
African Seminole, and Seminole Indian towns on historic maps refer to leaders
(McCall1974; Mulroy1993).
There is evidence that certain African Seminole leaders had disproportionate
influence in their communities. According to historian Kenneth Porter, Abraham was
the leader of over 500 African Seminole in Florida (Porter 1971). Abrahams
authority derived from his role as the interpreter for chief Micanopy, during the
Seminole Indians treaty negotiations with the U.S. government, as well as from his
role as a religious and military leader. Around 1818, Captain Hugh Young (U.S.
military engineer) described Neros Town, an African Seminole settlement on the
Suwannee River (Young1953). Young concluded that the leader at that town ruled
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 223
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
19/33
only through the respect and affectionof his peers. Youngs comments suggest that
it may have been hard for Pilaklikahas leaders to impose authoritarian rule over
residents, as many had escaped slavery to be free of violence and coercion.
In light of the other influential leaders mentioned above, there is no reason to
assume that only one African Seminole led affairs at Pilaklikaha. Decentralized,settlement-based governments with numerous leaders would have been beneficial for
different communities. If a leader was killed, captured, or bribed by enemies, others
could lead resistance maneuvers. Conversely, if leadership failed and collective
strategies were not implemented, the group would have faced starvation, capture, or
death. In Florida, Native American and African leaders, soldiers, and interpreters
were captured, and coerced or convinced to aid U.S. troops in finding settlements of
other U.S. foes (Porter1996, pp. 68, 82; Rivers and Brown1997). However, as one
officer noted, certain guides became unreliable, escaping at the first opportunity
(McCall1974).It is possible that factions developed within the community, based on political and
economic interests, family ties, or personal ideologies, as they had within Creek,
Seminole and African societies. Interpersonal disputes were also capable of
disrupting communities, as in a historical example of an African who lost a
competition over a mate, and got revenge by giving colonial authorities the location
of the maroon settlement where he had lived.
All of the individuals mentioned above as leaders were identified by Euro-
American chroniclers, whose biases and motives must be considered when assessing
leadership at Pilaklikaha. Euro-Americans worked to simplify and manipulatenegotiations so that they could convince Native Americans to sell land and move
west. Similar colonial tactics were used against the Black Carib and the Cherokee
(Fabel 2000). Major gaps exist in our understanding because documents are silent
about how people became leaders, thought about leadership, made decisions, and
harnessed power at Pilaklikaha. Women are absent from most chroniclers
discussions of African Seminoles, except in cases where they and their children
were moved to evade U.S. troops, or in cases where women and their children were
being held by U.S. troops during wars. Nineteenth-century maps allude to Mulatto
Girls town, suggesting female and perhaps biracial leadership existed at some
locations (Mulroy1993).
There is little documentation or material expression of Seminole Indian socio-
political organization at work in African settlements, outside of claims that the
African Seminole gave tribute to Seminole Indians. Chroniclers claimed that tribute
ranged from 1/3 of livestock and crops at Pilaklikaha, to ten bushels of crops given
by African Seminole settlements in general, to 23 bushels given by African
Seminole living at Canadian Fork (1840s), Oklahoma (McCall 1974; Porter 1996,
p. 112). It is unclear whether these tribute payments were taken from each resident or
whether the amounts represented a collective contribution from the whole settlement.
Specific evidence for tribute payment has not been closely examined or presented for
other African Seminole settlements in Florida. We also need to consider if Africans
living in Seminole-controlled towns gave tribute, and if some African slave labor(as
Euro-American chroniclers saw it) was considered as tribute by the Seminole Indians.
Cultural and historical nuances make it hasty to assume that all African Seminoles
gave tribute or gave the same amount. The Native American precedent for tribute in
224 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
20/33
the Southeast, like Africa and other places in the world, involved vanquished warriors
being forced to provide prestige goods or crops (Dye 1995, pp. 289316; Martin
1991). Further, Muskogean groups gave a portion of their crops to their chiefs
periodically, for communal storage or as gifts. During the late eighteenth century,
Bartram observed that the Seminole Indians of Alachua had family plots that theycultivated. They gave a small portion of their crops to the public granary (Spellman
1948). Thus, in some cases, African contributions may have not varied greatly from
the Seminole Indians contributions to the communal storage sheds (Weik2002).
A final political issue that begs for attention is the extent to which African
Seminole towns were integrated within overarching governments. Pilaklikaha (also
called Abrahams Old Town) was located within 5 mi (8.0 km) of Abrahams
New Town and Charlies town, two African Seminole settlements that
archaeologists discovered in archival sources (Carr and Steele 1993). To date, no
evidence for regional or multi-settlement African Seminole political integration, suchas accounts of meetings which established the Seminole Nation from the three
tribes, has been brought to light (McCall 1974, p. 152). African Seminole
descendants who lived in different Oklahoma settlements were autonomous. They
met in political bodies to discuss issues of their band, their representational unit at
Seminole Indian government meetings (Bateman 1991). Conversely, it is possible
that Abrahams New Townwas founded after an ethnogenetic fissioning event that
began at Pilaklikaha. Fissioning was a type of ethnogenetic process that created new
cultural groups, as in the case of the Seminole Indians who branched off from
ancestral Muskogean populations (Sturtevant1971).
Exchange, Labor, and the Politics of Economics
People of African descent impacted the politics and economics of Florida in various
ways (Rivers 2000; Simmons 1973, p. 137). Slavery did not become a primary
economic mode in Florida until the eighteenth century (Schafer 1995). The brief
transition from Spanish to British colonial rule (176383) and concurrent Anglo
immigration brought thousands of enslaved Africans to Florida. Free people of
African descent worked as domestics, cowboys, scouts, pilots, and militia (Landers
1999). In the Seminole territory, the economy was shaped by subsistence strategies
and various forms of exchange. The indigenous Seminole permanently settled in
Florida during the eighteenth century, taking advantage of the colonists demand for
animal skins and cattle. Spanish and British colonists allocated gifts of dishes,
clothing, food, and manufactures to indigenous Seminoles and their African allies, in
exchange for military, economic, and political support (Covington 1960, p. 71;
Landers 1999, p. 7273). British traders such as the Panton and Leslie Company
operated in Florida during the colonial period. Regional goods have been recovered
from archaeological sites such as the trade post called Spaldings Lower Store. Euro-
American towns such as Micanopy, and older colonial establishments at St.
Augustine, St. Marks, and Pensacola were key loci of economic activity (Lewis
1969; Sturtevant1971).
Many of the artifacts that were excavated at Pilaklikaha were probably acquired at
urban markets, transitory bartering encounters, or trade posts (Weik 2002, p. 112
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 225
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
21/33
121). However, the dangers of (re)enslavement, may have prohibited some African
Seminoles from directly shopping in Euro-American settlements (B. Weisman, pers.
comm.). Instead, they could have relied on Seminole Indian middle-men (and
women) who visited traders and urban markets. Like the self-emancipated African
inhabitants of the settlement called Angola, Pilaklikahas residents also had access toarms, rum, and molasses that were supplied by traders and Spanish fishermen
working around Tampa Bay (Boyd 1958, p. 92). The above-mentioned items were
sought by indigenous southeastern people, but songs, herbs and ritual knowledge
were also much valued in their exchanges. Both African Seminole and Seminole
Indians used herbs and wild plants to feed and heal their people (Duffner 1973;
McCall1974, p. 60; Martin1991; Snow and Stans2001).
By 1818, exchange was dramatically altered in Florida. The U.S. destroyed
indigenous Seminole and African settlements in north Florida during the so-called
Georgians Patriot Invasion
(1813), the First Seminole War (1816
1818), and the
bombardment of Negro Fort(1816). The Spanish conceded to U.S. political control
over eastern North America in 1821. As a result, U.S. forts, plantations, and settlers
expanded in Florida. Individual and collective conflicts were stimulated by raids, debts,
and land disputes. A group of Seminole Indian leaders, aided by their African Seminole
interpreters, signed the Moultrie Creek treaty (1823), which ceded millions of acres to
the U.S. government in return for money, an agreement to return all new runaways,
and their acceptance of a central Florida Seminole Indian reservation (Mahon1967). A
major result was that African and indigenous Seminole communities were prevented
from accessing coastal trade networks. The U.S. officials who helped facilitate the treatyhoped to confine the Seminole to areas with such poor agricultural land so that they
would become dependent on Euro-Americans for subsistence (Brown 1995, pp. 2122).
These forms of attack, containment and pressure may have impacted the way
Africans and Native Americans thought about Euro-American cultural items and
economic influences. As Weisman (1989, pp. 121122, 130) suggests, the Nativist
sentiments that existed in Seminole territory resulted in a rejection of European
(American) ceramics by more militant groups such as the followers of Asi Yahola
(also called Powell or Osceola). Redstick Creek soldiers and refugees, who
fled after their defeat at the hands of the U.S. military (in modern Alabama), infused
the ranks of Seminole after 1814. The Redsticks may have helped stimulate the
Seminoles to organize their resistance to various forms of European material and
martial influence. The Withlacoochee Cove sites, which formed a nucleus of
nineteenth-century Seminole resistance around leaders such as Asi Yahola, contained
no Euro-American-made ceramics (Weisman 1989, p. 121). Settlements like Asi
Yaholas (the archaeological site called Powells Town) differed from many earlier
and later Seminole Indian sites, which did employ a much larger proportion of Euro-
American ceramics (Table1).
The material record at Pilaklikaha does not suggest that European ceramics were
prohibited or avoided. Euro-American ceramics that may have been used by the
inhabitants of Pilaklikaha made up 44% of all ceramic sherds that were recovered
from Pilaklikaha, compared with 51% which were of Seminole or indigenous
production. Euro-American and Native American ceramics were distributed across
different parts of Pilaklikaha, which may suggest that there were no intra-community
differences in ceramic usage that reflected a rejection of Euro-American ceramics
226 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
22/33
(Weik 2002, p. 112121). An important caveat here is that the ironstone, white
stoneware, porcelain, and whiteware ceramics that comprise the Euro-American
portion of Pilaklikahas ceramics have periods of production that range from the
early decades of the nineteenth century until the twentieth century. The nineteenth-
and twentieth-century inhabitants of the location may have also contributed to the total
proportion of Pilaklikahas Euro-American ceramics. The difficulty of interpreting
these ceramics is compounded by the fact many are small and undecorated. Therefore,
the proportion of Euro-American sherds that were used by African and indigenous
Seminole at Pilaklikaha was probably less than the 44% stated above.
The issue that then arises, concerns what these artifacts reflect about Pilaklikahas
inhabitants attitudes toward their foreign- and indigenous-made objects. CharlesFairbanks (1978) suggested that people of African descent who lived in Seminole
territory may have acted as cultural brokers in Florida, because many had been
socialized through enslavement, forced to speak European languages and accept
Euro-American laws. Native Americans intermarried with Whites and participated in
plantation economies (Weisman2000). Thus, African cultural brokers were not the
Table 1 African- and indigenous Seminole-period assemblages (from Weik2002, pp. 134147)
Artifact Pilaklikaha Powells Town
POTTERY
Brushed 386 0
Sand-tempered 164 96
Pearlware 7 0
Creamware 106 0
Annular ware 3 0
Porcelain 16 0
Stone Ware 100 1
Trailed Slipware 1 0
Whiteware 34 0
Ironstone 204 0
OTHER ITEMS
Brick 71 0
Green glass 191 2
Pipe 8 0
Rose glass 21 0
Wrought Nail 27 0
Lead 3 1
Bridle Bit 0 1Iron Kettle 0 1
Peach Pits 0 3
Cow bone 0 1
Total 1,342 106
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 227
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
23/33
only agents of Euro-American cultural and economic influence. The presence of
Euro-American goods at Pilaklikaha is not necessarily indicative of African and
Indian Seminole assimilation into Eurocentric beliefs, consumptive patterns, or
material preferences. Lightfoot et al. (1998, pp. 199200, 209) have criticized North
American colonial and contact period archaeological studies which claim that highratios of Euro-American to Native American artifacts or the presence of Euro-
American artifacts indicate assimilation. The foreign items were interpreted through
indigenous peoples preexisting world views, motives, and structuring principles
(Lightfoot et al. 1998). Wilkie (2000, p. 11) has proposed a similar argument for
Afro-Bahamians, that they used African aesthetics to derive meaning from Euro-
American material culture that they possessed. Similarly, the meanings and uses that
any group of African Seminole applied to both European and Native American
pottery may have derived from African, as well as European and Native American
cultural frameworks.The political transitions that led to U.S. territorial claims on Florida (1821) did
not immediately change the role of free and enslaved people of African descent in
running a cattle raising system in Florida that had been the main source of the
Spanish colonial meat supply (Parker 2000, pp. 150167). An overseer named
Reuben Charles managed Moses Levys Pilgrimage Plantation, in northern Florida,
during the 1820s. Charles sought runaway and for-sale cattle from Pilacklicaha,
which was nearly 100 mi (160.9 km) south of the plantation. In 1825, he instructed
his agent concerning cattle purchases: Jumper is now directed to send them [Levys
runaway cattle] by Abraham with three or four other cowes for which youll paywhat is reasonable (Charles1825).
Cattle raising was one of many activities that constituted the division of labor in
African Seminole communities such as Pilaklikaha (Bateman1991, pp. 6667; Boyd
1958, p. 88; Gallaher1951; Porter1996; Weisman1989, p. 46). African Seminole
men hunted, raided plantations, raised livestock, traded, and fought wars. Women
were the main farmers and wild food collectors as they were in African, maroon, and
Seminole Indian societies. Enslaved women in the Americas often escaped to urban
areas more than men, and were merchants in cities. Thus, we should not
underestimate their role in obtaining non-local goods at Pilaklikaha. Both women
and men may have been potters. It is not possible to tell from documents who were
woodcarvers and weavers of items such as baskets.
African Seminole engaged in a variety of collective labor activities. They
subsisted by communal agriculture (Mulroy1993). Travelers referred to crops such
as groundnuts, beans, melons, and pumpkins. A chronicler claimed that their corn-
cribs were full and that they had livestock (Cohen1964). Figure7features evidence
for collective labor, including structures, fencing, and areas cleared of trees. Again,
we must always be wary of the artistic license, the intentions, and cultural biases of
the soldier who sketched Pilaklikahas landscape. General Eustis (1836), whose
troops burnt Pilaklikaha, described houses and walls, which involved group labor. It
is hard to say how residents chose or were selected to perform these labor tasks. In
classic anthropological and historical scholarship, large-scale public works and
surplus-generating agriculture were indicators of government administration, and
coerced, compensated, or voluntary labor. Perhaps kinship relations structured
African Seminole labor, as they did among Oklahoma descendants (18801920),
228 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
24/33
where co-wives and families cooperated in subsistence tasks or during hard times
(Bateman1991, pp. 24, 67).
The documentary record of the Second Seminole War, describes other coordinated
activities (McCall 1974, p. 403). Lieutenant Henry Prince encountered stone walls
built by the negroes that he fought (Prince1998). The evacuations of women andchildren from African and indigenous Seminole settlements under attack also hint at
group cooperation. In the Americas, Africans and Native Americans conducted
effective guerilla warfare against slavers and colonists. Raids on plantations and the
U.S. military brought livestock, arms, money and new recruits to African Seminole
communities (Mahon 1967; Porter 1943, pp. 390421; Simmons 1973, pp. 117,
xxxviii). In one case, a group of African Seminoles was captured who had been
supplied with cloth, needles, tobacco, and arms from St. Augustine. Perhaps the
tobacco pipe fragments, bullets, and porcelain 4-hole buttons discovered at
Pilaklikaha, were acquired through similar raids or underground economic activitiesinvolving free or enslaved people (Porter 1943; Usner 1999, pp. 2437). African
Seminoles amassed currency and took part in overt cash economies. For example, John
Horse accumulated cash from his sale of game and fish to U.S. soldiers. John bartered
his game and services to Euro-Americans in exchange for hooks and fishing line.
Abraham made a claim for $100 in lost silver coins in the Second Seminole war. It is
possible that Euro-American travelers paid cash to their Indian-Negro guides in
Florida. It is unclear what proportion of resources or money was acquired through each
respective method of resource acquisition (e.g., raids, paid labor, or cattle-dealing).
From a broader, comparative perspective, Maroon-European economic exchanges andmilitary alliances occurred from time to time, throughout the Americas (Parris1983).
African and indigenous Seminole people engaged in production and acquisition
within the local economy on a scale that allowed them to be self-sufficient. Goods
that they made in local settings included things that rarely preserve in the
archaeological record, such as baskets, wood spoons, or canoes (Downs 1995;
Howard2002, p. 76; Kersey1981, p. 171; McCall 1974, p. 222). Pottery is a more
durable and common artifact that was used for transporting goods (e.g., honey) to
markets, or for domestic (storage, cooking, or serving) and sacred practices. The
most abundant artifact category of the African Seminole occupation at Pilaklikaha is
a hand-made, sand-tempered, plain or brushed, grey-brown pottery (Fig. 8). This
pottery is common in Florida Seminole sites, as well as at those of their Creek
ancestors and contemporaries in Alabama and Georgia (Carr and Steele 1993;
Waselkov and Smith2000). Much work remains to be done to understand better the
production and distribution of these wares in hundreds of Florida sites.
Most low-fired earthenwares at Pilaklikaha with identifiable features appear to
have been globular, round-bottomed, small (e.g., 7 cm rim diameter), and thin-
walled (58 mm thick) bowls and pots (Weik 2002, p. 112121). Archaeologists
have taken notice of the dominance of bowls (and hollow-ware vessels) over
plates (and flat wares) in ceramic sub-assemblages across African American sites,
and the sole presence of hollow-wares(bowls, jars, and globular pots) in Seminole
Indian sites (Goggin1958; Weisman1989).
Leland Ferguson(1992, pp. 96100) argues that pots on low-country plantations
were used to make meat and vegetable stews and rich sauces, that derived from both
African and Native American food traditions. Large vessels were used for communal
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 229
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
25/33
stews and smaller vessels were used for dipping sauces or drinking beverages. He
sees colonowares as a creolized, multi-ethnic potting tradition having multiple
cultural origins, just as the creolized foodways were a blend of cooking methods,ingredients, and eating conventions from different cultural groups. Similarly, African
Seminoles probably employed African, Seminole Indian, and creolized foodways.
One traveler observed that indigenous Seminoles and African Seminoles shared a
cooking pot of Seminole soffkee, a soup-like dish, containing ingredients such as
corn (Weisman1989, p 123). Another dish was made from the roots of a wild plant
called Koonti (Sleight1953, pp. 4652). This culinary communion has been used as
a metaphor for the intimacy of African and indigenous Seminole relations (McCall
1974, p. 222; Porter1996). While the complexities of African and Native American
relations cannot be captured in a pot of soup, food was an important part of humaninteractions, such as sacred observances and ceremonies.
Communal Socialization and Ceremony
Cultural beliefs in rituals and participation in ceremonies were as significant as any
other factors that created affiliation, stability, and longevity at Pilaklikaha. African
Seminole cultural beliefs were marshaled by creolized Black, African, and Native
American residents. Contrary to views that privilege the influence and power of
Seminole Indians over African Seminole, is the position that skills, cultural practices
and traditions moved in various directions, between African Seminole and Indian
Seminole. Like their descendants in Oklahoma, the Florida African Seminole
participated in indigenous Seminole culture by speaking their language (as well as
that of an Afro-Seminole Creole language), eating a dish called soffkee, burying their
dead like Seminole Indians, and taking names. Africans influenced Seminole Indian rice
farming, words, stories, and coiled basketry (Bateman1991, pp. 6667; Opala1980).
Few rites of passage have been discussed for Florida African Seminole. In
African and Native American historical contexts, rites marked time and enculturated
society members as they took on the responsibilities and identities of their agecohort, engaged deities, and underwent (meta) physical transformations. Black
Seminole descendants practiced several marriage forms, including bride capture
and a ceremony with the Bible. Jumping-the-broomwas probably common among
the Florida African Seminole, as it was among African Americans in the South
(Mulroy1993; Porter1996, p. 147).
Fig. 8 Punctated, brushed
pottery excavated from
Pilaklikaha resting on a wrought
iron nail
230 Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
26/33
Within family and public spheres, oral traditions-songs, adages, stories,
prayers, and genealogies-helped people declare their identity and enact spiritual
principles. For centuries, African Seminole, and Seminole and Creek Indian oral
traditions have taught history, critical thinking, and morality (Heart and Larkin
1999; Jones 1990; Howard 2002, p. 43; Jumper and West 2000; Porter n.d.;Sturtevant1954). Seminole healing songs and prescriptive verses have been used to
diagnose and cure illnesses.
Central and West African and Native American beliefs were familiar to some
members of African Seminole populations. Africans and Native Americans
recognized divinity in cosmic forces, the environment, and ancestors (Martin
1991; Thornton2001). Some wore charms and obtained medicine to ensure success
during battles and hunting, or to protect themselves from evil spirits and harm (Boyd
1958, pp. 84, 92; Smith1976, p. 49). For millennia, Central and West Africans built
shrines for ancestors and divine spirits (Ray2000; Thornton2001). In the Americas,Maroons reconstituted African principles in shrines and ancestral graves, which
served as physical markers of genealogy and territorial claims (Agorsah 1994; Bilby
1996). The indigenous Seminoles constructed sacred physic houses and shrines,
which they hid during conflicts (Boyd1958, pp. 84, 92).
Priests, herbalists, conjurers, healers, and medicine men (and women) cured
ailments and dispensed wisdom in historic Africa and southeastern North America
(Hall1990; Kelton2004; Thornton2001). Military engineer Hugh Young observed
that there were few prophets in Seminole territory. Besides a man named Francis
or Hillishija, there was a
negro girl
who
commenced the process of divination bywrapping herself in a blanket, in which she made singular whistling sounds for
several minutes (Young 1953, p. 94). Young said she claimed to communicate
about the future with invisible beings. Divination guided Seminoles in major
decisions during war (Prince 1998, p. 60). Youngs description matches modern
ethnographic and historic descriptions of divination. Modern studies see divination
as a system of spiritual guidance, as well as a repository of cosmology, values, and
healing traditions (Winkelman and Peek 2004). Oral histories of African Seminole
descendants, praise John Horses healing powers, though it is unclear whether he
practiced divination (Portern.d.). One story describes Uncle Monday, a religious
and military leader who was said to have performed ceremonies and transformed
himself into an alligator (Duffner1973).
Divination was practiced in public ceremonies such as Busks that affirmed
world views, defined the social order, and enacted transformative events (Howard
and Lena1984; Hudson1976, p. 365). Busks (from the Muskogean word poskita,
meaning to fast), also known as the Green Corn Ceremonies, are purifying
events conducted by southeastern Native Americans. The ceremony celebrated the
appearance of new (green) corn, and may have had similarities with historic
African first fruit (e.g., yams) ceremonies, such as prohibitions on consuming the
newest crops, recognition of divinities, and affirmation of the political order.
Seminoles from different settlements came together to celebrate busks for several
days during May or June. One Florida W.P.A. oral narrative stated that enslaved
plantation workers participated in the Green Corn Dance. African Seminole may
have been even more likely to participate in Busks than enslaved Africans (Gomez
1998; Rawick1976).
Int J Histor Archaeol (2009) 13:206238 231
-
8/13/2019 Weik (2009) - FLORIDA - African-native American.
27/33
In preparation for the Busk, the indigenous Seminole squareground was swept
clean and a layer of white sand spread on it (compare with historic Muskogean
practices in Martin 1991). Cleansing rituals were performed, including the
destruction of older items such as fires and pots, and the creation of new ones.
Historic African and indigenous Seminole pottery use for medicinal preparations oras receptacles for sacred offerings present us with hypothetical spiritual functions for
pottery use at Pilaklikaha. Weisman (1989, pp. 111, 1999, pp. 6365) argues that
fragments of a globular, brushed pot that were buried in the clean white sand layer at
Flying Eagle Ranch were part of a Busk ground.
Beads and clay pipe fragments like the ones discovered at sites like Pilaklikaha,
were sometimes transformed from secular to sacred by their consecration in
medicine bundles, revered elements at Busks. Priests performed divination during
Busks, by consulting medicine bundles on the well-being of the community (Hudson
1976; Sturtevant 1954). Medicine bundles contained other items such as crystals,bones, and roots that were used in divination. Medicine bundles had explicit powers
that were invoked in reference to war. Ethnographic studies of indigenous Florida
Seminole show that some medicine bundles contained spark-generating stone flints.
It is worth considering whether stone items found at certain sites (as well as beads
and pipes) ever were part of early nineteenth-century sacred bundles or if the
presence of stone items in medicine bundles was strictly a twentieth-century practice
(compare with Weisman1989, p. 148). If stone inclusion in bundles was an ancient
practice, then we might inquire into whether stone flakes like the kind discovered at
Pilaklika