A census of the Seminoles taken in 1822 gave a population of 3899, with 800 negroes belonging to them. The population of the Seminoles in the Indian Territory amounted to 2667 in 1881 (Ind. Affairs' Rep.), and that of the Florida Seminoles will be stated below. There are some Seminoles now in Mexico, who went there with their negro slaves.
The settlements of the Seminoles were partly erratic, comparable to hunters' camps, partly stationary. The stationary villages existed chiefly in the northern parts of the Seminole lands, corresponding to Southern Georgia and Northern Florida of our days. A very instructive table exists of some of their stationary villages, drawn up by Capt. Young, and printed in Rev. Morse's Report on the Indians of the United States (1822), p. 364. This table however includes, with a few exceptions, only places situated near Apalachicola river (east and west of it), in Alabama, Georgia and Florida; the list was probably made at a time when Florida was still under Spanish domination, which accounts for the fact that the county names are not added to the localities. Many of these towns were, in fact, Lower Creek towns and not belonging to the Seminole proper, all of whom lived east of Apalachicola river, mostly at some distance from it. Seminole and Lower Creek were, in earlier times, often regarded as identical appellations; cf. Milfort, Mém., p. 118.
The remarks included in parentheses were added by myself.
LIST OF SEMINOLE SETTLEMENTS.
Micasukeys—(In eastern part of Leon county, Florida).
Fowl Towns—Twelve miles east of Fort Scott (a place "Fowl Town" is now in Decatur county, Georgia, on eastern shore of Chatahuchi river).
Oka-tiokinans—Near Fort Gaines (the Oki-tiyákni of our [List of Creek Settlements]; Fort Gaines is on Chatahuchi river, Clay county, Georgia, 31° 38´ Lat.)
Uchees—Near the Mikasukey.
Ehawhokales—On Apalachicola (river).
Ocheeses—At Ocheese Bluff (Ocheese in southeast corner of Jackson county, Florida, western shore of Apalachicola river; cf. List).
Tamatles—Seven miles from the Ocheeses. (Cf. Tamá`li, in [List of Creek Settlements].)
Attapulgas—On Little river, a branch of Okalokina (now Oklokonee river, or "Yellow Water," from óki water, lákni yellow, in Hitchiti; the place is in Decatur county, Georgia. From ítu-púlga, boring holes into wood to make fire: púlgäs I bore, ítu wood).
Telmocresses—West side of Chatahoochee river (is Tálua mútchasi, "Newtown").
Cheskitalowas—West side of Chatahoochee river (Chiska talófa of the Lower Creeks, q. v.)
Wekivas—Four miles above the Cheskitalowas.
Emussas—Two miles above the Wekivas (Omussee creek runs into Chatahuchi river from the west, 31° 20´ Lat.; imússa signifies: tributary, branch, creek joining another water-course; from the verb im-ósäs).
Ufallahs—Twelve miles above Fort Gaines (Yufála, now Eufaula, on west bank of Chatahuchi river, 31° 55´ Lat.)
Red Grounds—Two miles above the line (or Georgia boundary; Ikan-tcháti in Creek).
Etohussewakkes—Three miles above Fort Gaines (from ítu log, hássi old, wákäs, I lie on the ground).
Tattowhehallys—Scattered among other towns (probably tálua hállui "upper town").
Tallehassas—On the road from Okalokina (Oklokonee river) to Mikasukey (now Tallahassie, or "Old City," the capital of Florida State).
Owassissas—On east waters of St. Mark's river (Wacissa, Basisa is a river with a Timucua name).
Chehaws—On the Flint river (comprehends the villages planted there from Chiaha, on Chatahuchi river).
Tallewheanas—East side of Flint river (is Hótali huyána; cf. [List of Creek Settlements]).
Oakmulges—East of Flint river, near the Tallewheanas.
From reports of the eighteenth century we learn that in the south of the Floridian peninsula the Seminoles were scattered in small bodies, in barren deserts, forests, etc., and that at intervals they assembled to take black drink or deliberate on tribal matters. It is also stated that in consequence of their separation the Seminole language had changed greatly from the original Creek; a statement which is not borne out by recent investigations, and probably refers only to the Seminole towns speaking Hitchiti dialects.
By order of the Bureau of Ethnology, Rev. Clay MacCauley in 1880 visited the Seminoles settled in the southern parts of the peninsula, to take their census and institute ethnologic researches. He found that their population amounted to 208 Indians, and that they lived in five settlements to which he gave the following names:
1. Miami settlement; this is the old name of Mayaimi Lake, and has nothing in common with the Miami-Algonkin tribe.
2. Big Cypress, 26° 30´ Lat.
3. Fish-eating Creek, 26° 37´; head-chief Tustenúggi.
4. Cow Creek, fifteen miles north of Lake Okitchóbi.
5. Catfish Lake, 28° Lat. The late Chipko was chief there, who had been present with Osceola at the Dade massacre in 1835.
Traces of languages other than the Seminole were not discovered by him.
In December 1882 J. Francis Le Baron transmitted to the Smithsonian Institution a few ethnologic notices and a vocabulary obtained from the Seminole Indians of Chipko's (since deceased) band, which he had visited in March 1881 in their village near Lake Pierce. The dialect of the vocabulary does not differ from Creek in any appreciable degree. On marriage customs and the annual busk of these Indians he makes the following remarks: "They do not marry or intermix with the whites, and are very jealous of the virtue of their women, punishing with death any squaw that accepts the attentions of a white man. Some Seminoles exhibit a mixture of negro blood, but some are very tall, fine-looking savages. Their three tribes live at Chipko town, near Lake Oketchobee, and in the Everglades. They have a semi-religious annual festival in June or July, called the green corn dance, the new corn being then ripe enough to be eaten. Plurality of wives is forbidden by their laws. Tom Tiger, a fine-looking Indian, is said to have broken this rule by marrying two wives, for which misdemeanor he was banished from the tribe. He traveled about one hundred miles to the nearest tribe in the Everglades, and jumped unseen into the ring at the green corn dance. This procured him absolution, conformably to their laws."