432 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1917. 



ing " runaways," was first applied to them about the year 1775. It 

 is often stated that they are a mixed race, owing to intermarriage 

 with refugee negroes ; but it is quite certain that those now living in 

 southern Florida (see pis. 61 and 62) are of pure blood, of fine 

 physique, and dignified mien, speaking a language allied to the Choc- 

 taw uncorrupted by English. It is not within the scope of this paper 

 to relate their history or to trace the causes which led to the Seminole 

 wars, and the removal of a large proportion of the tribe west of the 

 Mississippi. Those now living in Oklahoma have been organized 

 into what is called the Seminole Nation. Concerning those remain- 

 ing in Florida, much interesting information is given by Clay Mac- 

 Cauley in the Fifth Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 

 The reader is also referred to Mrs. Minnie Moore- Wilson's sympa- 

 thetic account of these Indians in her work entitled " The Seminoles 

 of Florida " ; and to the various works of Anthony Weston Dimock, 

 dealing with Florida adventure, especially " Florida Enchantments " 

 and " Dick Among the Seminoles." To Mr. Dimock the writer is 

 indebted for the accompanying illustrations (pis. 61 and 62). 



Unlike the Indians described by Dickenson, the Seminoles prac- 

 tice agriculture, cultivating maize, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, 

 squashes, introduced melons, peanuts, sugar cane, guavas, pineapples, 

 and various citrus fruits. Among the wild fruits eaten by them are 

 seaside grapes {Coccolobis uvifera) (pi. 57) and coco plums (Chrys- 

 balanus I euro and C. pdlocarpus) (fig. 32) ; but in MacCauley's list 

 the berries of the saw palmetto {Serenoa serrulata) -are conspicuous 

 for their absence. On the other hand, the Seminoles have an impor- 

 tant food staple not mentioned by Dickenson, though the plant yield- 

 ing it was very abundant in the region through which he passed. 

 This is the koonti or coontie, a kind of cornstarch prepared from the 

 roots of Zamia floridana (pi. 63), already described in this paper. 



So highly do the Seminoles esteem the koonti that they declare it 

 to be a special gift from God. An Indian named Ko-nip-ha-too re- 

 lated to MacCauley a legend in which it was declared that long ago 

 the " Great Spirit " sent Jesus Christ to the earth with the precious 

 plant from which it is prepared, and the place of his descent was at 

 Cape Florida, where he gave the koonti to the red men. 1 



them with the ancient Egyptians and the Hebrews. The evidence offered to establish 

 their relationship with the last named is that of a certain bishop, who heard a Seminole 

 choir repeat the name Jah-rcy, and identified it with that of Jehovah. The Indians 

 confirmed " the wonderful, yes, startling observation " made by the bishop ; and from 

 the use of this name, chanted in the depth of the Everglade, " one may work back to 

 the prehistoric ruined temples of Mexico and Yucatan, so similar to those of Egypt ; 

 and thus may find in Seminole speech a language link to connect the new world with the 

 old." It is scarcely necessary to state that there is no linguistic relationship between 

 the Moskhogean stock to which the Seminoles belong and the Aztecs of Mexico or the 

 Mayas of Yucatan. 



1 See Fifth Annual Report Bur. Am. Ethn.. d. 513. 1S88. 



