All about the ancient tribes
Chikee or Chickee (” house ” in the Creek and Mikasuki languages spoken by the Seminoles and Miccosukees) is a shelter supported by posts, with a raised floor, a thatched roof and open sides. Chickees are also known as chickee huts, stilt houses, or platform dwellings.
The Seminole people lived in houses called chickees. Seminole chickees were made of wood and plaster, and the roofs were thatched with palmetto fiber.
Chickees were platform houses, made of logs. The bottom floor was about 3 feet off the ground for protection from flooding and animals. The roof was slanted. Certain times of the year, people hung canvas curtains (walls) to keep out the rain and cold weather.
The Seminole are a Native American people originally from Florida. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, as well as independent groups.
The Europeans brought diseases with them that the Timucua easily caught and died from, since their bodies did not have natural resistance to the diseases. The Spanish taught the Indians how to live like Spanish did.
Seminole Indians lived in a home called a Chickee. A chickee was a house built on stilts usually about three or four feet above the ground.
Well, the Seminoles lived in houses called Chickees. They had to build their houses up on stilts so the alligators, crocodiles, and the snakes couldn’t get them on the lower surface. The houses had open walls because of the hot weather. The Choctaws lived in houses also called Chickees.
The food that the Seminole tribe ate included included wild turkeys, rabbits, deer (venison), fish, turtles, and alligators. Their staple foods were corn, squash and beans supplemented with wild rice, mushrooms, pumpkins and plants.
The Seminoles of Florida call themselves the “Unconquered People,” descendants of just 300 Indians who managed to elude capture by the U.S. army in the 19th century. Today, more than 2,000 live on six reservations in the state – located in Hollywood, Big Cypress, Brighton, Immokalee, Ft. Pierce, and Tampa.
Though indigenous peoples in other parts of North and South America have developed similar dwellings, it is generally agreed that the Seminole Indian technique and product are far superior. So popular, efficient and functional is the chickee that such Seminole architecture can be seen all over South Florida.
In what would become the state of Kansas the tribes that lived in earth lodges were the Pawnees and the Kansas. These houses were only used in the spring and fall as both tribes utilized the skin tipi in the winter and summer when they were on extended bison hunts in the short grass prairies.
The tribes that utilized the travois bred a wolf-like dog that was a larger breed so they could pull heavy loads. Often times carrying over a hundred pounds in a single load.
Why did the Seminoles welcome runaway slaves? An example of guerrilla warfare because the Seminoles made a quick surprise attack. At the end, the U.S. allowed the remaining Seminoles in Florida to stay in their land.
Almost all of the tribe’s $525 million in annual dividends flows from the Seminoles ‘ seven Florida casinos, which are worth an estimated $10.4 billion.
Once a month, every man, woman and child in the tribe gets a check for $1,000 – up from $300 a year ago. The money is generated from the tribe’s gaming tables, with revenue divided equally among members after expenses.