The Role of Ethnogenesis and Organization in the Development of African-Native American Settlements: an African Seminole Model

Abstract

Archaeological research on a nineteenth-century settlement called Pilaklikaha addresses gaps in the theory of African-Native American everyday life, community composition, and social relations. By integrating analyses of human organization and cultural transformation, it is possible to construct dynamic sociocultural scenarios for African Seminole settlements that existed in what became Florida. In this region, residents and visitors encountered diverse world views that originated in Africa and the Americas. African Seminole cultural beliefs and practices were the product of both newly created and ancestral traditions. The ways that these beliefs were practiced affected a broad range of exchanges in the spheres of kinship, spirituality, ceremonialism, politics, economics and anti-slavery resistance. Within these realms, people of African and Native American descent recognized the importance of autonomy, cooperation, and alliance.

The vanishing Black Indian: Revisiting craniometry and historic collections

“…Its sheltering swamps acted as refuge and provided the backdrop for Black Seminole ethnogenesis . Terrence Weik's () investigations of colonial Florida have documented the archaeological evidence for these experiences and processes. But, as he also recognizes, sociopolitical relations between Blacks and Seminole Indians were complex and multi‐faceted—contoured by economics, procreation, desire, and combat (see also Katz, ; Littlefield, ; Mock, ; Mulroy, ; Porter, ).…”

Introduction: New Directions in African Diaspora Archaeology

“…Archaeological studies of cultural formation processes and landscapes center the agency of Black people and Black communities in spite of the institution of slavery and the further dehumanization of Black people within post‐emancipation contexts. Studies of communities founded by self‐emancipated Africans in the United States and Brazil examine material culture to demonstrate both cultural transformations in the North Atlantic and African influences on new forms of sociocultural organization (Funari ; Orser and Funari ; Weik , , ). Terrence Epperson's () analysis of Carter's Grove Plantation demonstrates how race is socially constructed and historically contingent by describing how plantation landscapes changed over time to normalize racial differences and exert power over the enslaved community.…”

Consumer Choice and Beads in Fugitive Slave Villages in Nineteenth-Century Kenya

“…For the best chance of success, Maroons needed to isolate themselves from some outsiders but connect with others. Black Seminoles in Florida (Weik 2009) and Palmares residents in Brazil (Allen 1998) both forged strong connections with local Native American groups. Ties were also sometimes formed between refugees from slavery and European missionaries or colonists.…”