Section 7: The Legacy
To gain federal recognition, the Native Americans of Florida had to reorganize themselves to address the social and political challenges they were facing in a manner that would be acceptable to the U.S. government. To do so, representatives of the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians negotiated with the agents of the federal and Florida governments to ensure that their tribes would maintain their separate unique identities, while creating governing structures that would meet the needs of the Native Floridians. In some cases, this effort resulted in governmental concessions in favor of the tribal goals. Ultimately, the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes successfully adopted and employed western political and legal forums to establish contemporary governing bodies.