Miccosukee - History

History

The Miccosukee historically inhabited the upper Tennessee Valley in present-day Georgia, where they were originally part of the Upper Chiaha. Later they split: the Miccosukee (Lower Chiaha) migrated northeast to the Carolinas and the Upper Chiaha, also known as Muscogee, migrated west to northern Alabama. Under continuing encroachment pressure from European-American settlers, many migrated to northern Florida during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Chiaha or Creek formed a major part of the Seminole tribe, which formed in the eighteenth century in Florida through a process of ethnogenesis. More Upper Creek joined them after defeat in the Creek War of 1813-1814. The United States (US) government forced most of the Seminole/Creek from Florida under Indian Removal. Those who remained in Florida fought against US forces during the second and third Seminole Wars. Afterward, they moved into the Everglades to try to evade European-American settlement pressure. During this period, the Miccosukee mixed with the Creek-speaking Seminole, but many maintained their Mikasuki language and identity.

The tribe separated from the Seminole in the 1950s to become the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida; they were recognized by the state of Florida in 1957, and gained federal recognition in 1962. The tribe today occupies several reservations in southern Florida, principally the Miccosukee Indian Reservation.

The etymological roots of the Miccosukee tribal name have been debated for many years. While the origins have not been fully traced or documented, modern scholarship holds that the name originated among the first Spanish colonizers to reach the North Carolina Basin. In one of the few surviving journals of Juan Ponce de León, he records that his men called the natives they encountered there micos sucios. This is likely the earliest recorded version of the name that became "Miccosukee." He describes how the name originated:

When we arrived on the shores of the Northern islands we encountered an odd group of natives. They lead us to their village where they lived in hollow'd mounds and were fully covered in mud and refuse. My lieutenant, exclaimed 'Son como micos sucios' (they are like dirty monkeys). From thence forth, until we departed those cold shores, Mico Sucio was the means by which we referred to these happy natives.