Decentralized Authority: Many Groups, Diverse Governance
Following the Seminole Wars, a number of independent Indian communities were established around the Everglades in South Florida. The various camps and villages of Florida Indians who spoke Muskogee and Miccosukee––which were usually small due to the nature of the Everglades environment––formed separate autonomies. The widely spaced communities fostered more local, community-specific governance. Councils and religious leaders enforced their groups’ community and spiritual rules, but their influence over tribal politics was frequently limited to certain groups. Decisions on community issues were generally made by consensus among tribal members.
This sense of independence became evident as contact between the United States and the Everglades Indians was restored in the late 1800s. The various groups––not having a unified mechanism for political actions–– often dealt independently with federal agents. Attitudes toward the governmental agencies differed among the Florida Indian groups, but there was a lingering distrust of the “white man’s” government. The next several decades of tribal/U.S. relations would be affected by these diverse political relationships within the Indian communities.
