Editing Everglades (section)

===Native Americans===
{{Main|Indigenous people of the Everglades region}}

Humans arrived in the Florida peninsula approximately 15,000&nbsp;years ago. [[Paleo-Indian]]s came to Florida probably following large game that included [[giant sloth]]s, [[saber-toothed cat]]s, and [[spectacled bear]]s. They found an arid landscape that supported plants and animals adapted for desert conditions.<ref>McCally, p.&nbsp;34.</ref> However, 6,500&nbsp;years ago, climate changes brought a wetter landscape; large animals became extinct in Florida, and the Paleo-Indians slowly adapted and became the [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic peoples]]. They conformed to the environmental changes, and created many tools with the various resources available.<ref>McCally, p.&nbsp;35.</ref> During the Late Archaic period, the climate became wetter again, and approximately 3000&nbsp;BCE the rise of water tables allowed an increase in population and cultural activity. Florida Indians developed into three distinct but similar cultures that were named for the bodies of water near where they were located: [[Belle Glade culture|Okeechobee]], [[Caloosahatchee culture|Caloosahatchee]], and [[Glades culture|Glades]].<ref>McCally, pp.&nbsp;37–39.</ref>

====Calusa and Tequesta====
{{Main|Calusa|Tequesta}}

From the Glades peoples, two major nations emerged in the area: the [[Calusa]] and the [[Tequesta]]. The Calusa was the largest and most powerful nation in South Florida. It controlled fifty villages located on Florida's west coast, around Lake Okeechobee, and on the [[Florida Keys]]. Most Calusa villages were located at the mouths of rivers or on key islands. The Calusa were hunter-gatherers who lived on small game, fish, turtles, alligators, shellfish, and various plants.<ref>Tebeau (1968), pp.&nbsp;38–41.</ref> Most of their tools were made of bone or teeth, although sharpened reeds were also effective for hunting or war. Calusa weapons consisted of bows and arrows, [[atlatl]]s, and spears. Canoes were used for transportation, and South Florida tribes often canoed through the Everglades, but rarely lived in them.<ref>McCally, p.&nbsp;39.</ref> Canoe trips to Cuba were also common.<ref name="Griffin171">Griffin, p.&nbsp;171.</ref>

Estimated numbers of Calusa at the beginning of the Spanish occupation ranged from 4,000 to 7,000.<ref>Griffin, p.&nbsp;170.</ref> The society declined in power and population; by 1697 their number was estimated to be about 1,000.<ref name="Griffin171"/> In the early 18th century, the Calusa came under attack from the [[Yamasee]] to the north. They asked the Spanish for refuge in Cuba, where almost 200 died of illness. Soon they were relocated again to the Florida Keys.<ref>Griffin, p.&nbsp;173.</ref>

Second in power and number to the Calusa in South Florida were the [[Tequesta]]. They occupied the southeastern portion of the lower peninsula in modern-day [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Dade]] and [[Broward County, Florida|Broward]] counties. Like the Calusa, the Tequesta societies centered on the mouths of rivers. Their main village was probably on the [[Miami River (Florida)|Miami River]] or Little River. Spanish depictions of the Tequesta state that they were greatly feared by sailors, who suspected them of torturing and killing survivors of shipwrecks.<ref name="goggintequesta">{{cite journal | last1 = Goggin | first1 = John | year = 1940 | title = The Tekesta Indians of Southern Florida | journal = [[The Florida Historical Quarterly]] | volume = 18 | issue = 4| pages = 274–285 }}</ref> With an increasing European presence in south Florida, Native Americans from the Keys and other areas began increasing their trips to Cuba. Official permission for the immigration of Native Americans from the Florida Keys was granted by Cuban officials in 1704.<ref>Worth, John E. ''A history of Southeastern Indians in Cuba, 1513–1823''. Florida Museum of Natural History, 2004. (Pages 5–6)</ref> Spanish priests attempted to set up missions in 1743, but noted that the Tequesta were under assault from a neighboring tribe. When only 30&nbsp;members were left, they were removed to Havana. A British surveyor in 1770 described multiple deserted villages in the region where the Tequesta lived.<ref>Tebeau, p.&nbsp;43.</ref> Common descriptions of Native Americans in Florida by 1820 used only the term "Seminoles".<ref>Tebeau, p.&nbsp;45.</ref>

====Seminole====
{{Main|Seminole}}

[[File:Charley Cypress Seminole Everglades.jpg|thumb|upright|Seminoles made their home in the Everglades.]]

Following the demise of the Calusa and Tequesta, Native Americans in southern Florida were referred to as "Spanish Indians" in the 1740s, probably due to their friendlier relations with Spain. The [[Creek (people)|Creek]] invaded the Florida peninsula; they conquered and assimilated what was left of pre-Columbian societies into the Creek Confederacy. They were joined by remnant Indian groups and formed the Seminole, a new tribe, by [[ethnogenesis]]. The Seminole originally settled in the northern portion of the territory. In addition, [[free people of color|free blacks]] and fugitive [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] made their way to Florida, where Spain had promised slaves freedom and arms if they converted to Catholicism and pledged loyalty to Spain. These African Americans gradually created communities near those of the Seminole, and became known as the [[Black Seminoles]]. The groups acted as allies.

In 1817, [[Andrew Jackson]] invaded Florida to hasten its annexation to the United States, in what became known as the [[First Seminole War]]. After Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, conflicts between settlers and the Seminole increased as the former tried to acquire lands. The [[Second Seminole War]] lasted from 1835 to 1842, and afterward, the US forcibly removed about 3,000 Seminole and 800 Black Seminole to [[Indian Territory]] (now Oklahoma), west of the Mississippi River. Many others died in the war.<ref>Griffin, p.&nbsp;180.</ref> Conflict broke out again in the [[Third Seminole War]] from 1855 to 1859, when a few hundred Seminole fought off US forces from the swamps of the Everglades. The US finally decided to leave them alone, as they could not dislodge them even after this protracted and expensive warfare.

By 1913, the Seminole in the Everglades numbered no more than 325.<ref name="skinner"/> They made a living by hunting and trading with white settlers, and raised domesticated animals.<ref>Tebeau, pp.&nbsp;50–51</ref> The Seminole made their villages in hardwood hammocks or pinelands, had diets of [[hominy]] and [[coontie]] roots, fish, turtles, venison, and small game.<ref name="skinner">{{cite journal | last1 = Skinner | first1 = Alanson | year = 1913 | title = Notes on the Florida Seminole | journal = American Anthropologist | volume = 15 | issue = 1| pages = 63–77 | doi=10.1525/aa.1913.15.1.02a00070| doi-access = free }}</ref> Their villages were not large, due to the limited size of the hammocks. Between the end of the last Seminole War and 1930, the people lived in relative isolation from the majority culture.

The construction of the [[Tamiami Trail]], beginning in 1928 and spanning the region from [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] to Miami, altered their ways of life. Some began to work in local farms, ranches, and souvenir stands.<ref>Tebeau, pp.&nbsp;55–56.</ref> Some of the people who interacted more with European Americans began to move to reservations in the 1940s. These were their bases for reorganizing their government and they became federally recognized in 1957 as the [[Seminole Tribe of Florida]].

People who kept more traditional ways had settlements along the Tamiami Trail and tended to speak the [[Mikasuki language]]. They later were federally recognized in 1962 as the [[Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida]]. As metropolitan areas in South Florida began to grow, the two groups were closely associated with the Everglades. They struggled to maintain privacy while serving as tourist attractions. They earned money by [[Alligator wrestling|wrestling alligators]] and selling craftworks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/photo_exhibits/seminoles/seminoles4.cfm|title=Images of Florida Seminoles in the Sunshine State|date=c. 1880|publisher=Florida Memory Project: Tourism|access-date=2008-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603073231/http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/photo_exhibits/seminoles/seminoles4.cfm <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=June 3, 2008}}</ref> {{as of|2008}}, the Seminole Tribe of Florida had five reservations, and the lands of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians were collectively considered a sixth reservation. The two tribes have each developed [[casino]] gaming on some of their properties to generate revenue for support, services and economic development.<ref>{{cite web| title = Tourism/Enterprises| year = 2007| publisher = Seminole Tribe of Florida| url = http://www.seminoletribe.com/enterprises/casinos.shtml| access-date = 2008-04-30| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080203033514/http://www.seminoletribe.com/enterprises/casinos.shtml <!--Added by H3llBot-->| archive-date = 2008-02-03}}</ref>