SURVIVING INDIAN GROUPS—GILBERT 
representative to the Florida State 
Legislature. The Federal Indian Of- 
fice maintains an agency at Dania, 
just north of Miami, with a school for 
the Seminole. 
Satisfactory knowledge about the 
Seminole is difficult to obtain owing 
to the wide dispersal of these Indians 
and the difficulty of access to the 
swamp country. Most of them have 
retreated to the inner recesses of the 
Big Cypress Swamp in the extreme 
south. When they emerge from the 
swamps they are treated as whites in 
most public places and facilities. In 
recent years, writers have become in- 
terested in the many survivals of 
Indian customs to be found among 
these people. 
Aside from the Seminoles there are 
certain other small mixed groups of 
possibly Indian descent in Florida. 
Around Pensacola are to be found the 
Creole mixed people of Escambia 
County and in the same area are 
certain groups of Creeks from across 
the border in Alabama. Some 100 
miles to the east near Blountstown in 
Calhoun County there is said to be a 
colony of Melungeons from Tennessee. 
18. Alabama 
According to the 1930 census there 
were 465 Indians in Alabama. Of 
these 1.7 were reported as full-blood, 
74.4 percent as mixed-blood, and 23.9 
percent were not recorded. About 36 
percent of these 10 years of age or 
over were reported as illiterate. Per- 
sons of Indian blood are concentrated 
in certain counties, notably Mobile, 
Monroe, and Washington in the south- 
western part of the State, where they 
are known as Creoles and Cajans; in 
Escambia and Covington Counties on 
the Florida border where they are 
known as Creeks; in Jackson County 
at the northeast corner of the State 
where they are Cherokees; and in 
Autauga County, just west of Mont- 
gomery, the State capital. 
Creeks —There are over 200 Indians 
of this tribe in Escambia County. An 
Episcopal mission has been maintained 
8173694982 
423 
for these people at the town of Atmore, 
and there is also an Indian school. 
The title to the land on which these 
Indians live is in dispute. It was ap- 
parently sold some years ago to lumber 
companies for nonpayment of taxes, 
but the Indians have continued to live 
on it. Recent suits have been insti- 
tuted in State courts to recover title 
for the Indians. The social status of 
these people is intermediate between 
that of Negroes and whites, and they 
are recognized locally as a distinct 
race. 
Creoles—The Creoles of Alabama 
are a mixed people who are possibly 
part Indian in blood. They are cen- 
tered in Baldwin County and Mobile 
in small colonies numbering several 
hundred people. They are a separate 
social class intermediate in racial 
status between the whites and Negroes. 
They have their own schools and in 
Mobile their own fire department. 
Their family names are mainly French 
and they are all Roman Catholic in 
religion. Their occupations are farm- 
ing, oyster shucking, and similar work. 
Some are found in the Pensacola area 
of Florida and others along the Missis- 
sippi coast. Educationally they have 
made considerable progress. Their 
chief family names are Allen, Andry, 
Belasco, Ballariel, Battiste, Bernoudy, 
Cassino, Cato, Chastang, Collins, 
Gomez, Hiner, Juzang, Lafargue, 
Laland, Laurendine, Laurent, Ma- 
zangue, Mifflin, Nicholas, Perez, Pon- 
quinette, Pope, Reid, Taylor, and 
Trenier. 
Cajans—These people are centered 
in the area of heavy woods and hills 
about Citronelle in upper Mobile and 
lower Washington Counties, and num- 
ber 3,000 or more. They are reputed 
to be part Indian and part white, while 
a certain number are also said to show 
Negro blood. Some show rather blond 
complexions while others are swarthy 
and black-haired. They live in small 
isolated communities which are very 
difficult of access. They subsist by 
lumbering and turpentine extraction, 
and are as a class rather poor. The 
