Reconceptualizing the Landscape

Abstract

The Seminole Indians of Florida are the descendants of a great number of prehistoric cultural groups from throughout the southeastern United States and have thus inherited a rich diversity of traditions. They were not passive receivers of these traditions, however; changing historical contexts enabled them to innovatively build upon their cultural repertoire to fit new ecological and social situations. The coalescence of the Seminoles provides a useful framework for historical ecologists to study rapid changes in the way a cultural group adapts to an environment and, concomitantly, adapts an environment to its culture. During the course of their history, the Seminoles faced an exceptionally long period of warfare with the United States. The continual practice of specific combat behaviors drastically changed their patterns of land use and settlement. Moreover, they adapted their mode of combat to the environment while adapting the environment to their specific tactical strategies.