Seminoles of the Everglades (1949)

[Music] [Music] the seol calls this land for the grassy water and the seol who knows the Everglades of Florida as no white man can has named them well this is a sea of s grass a dark primeval place whose Restless Whispering water is shadowy and often ominous life the sluggish thin blooded Al the lethal cottonmouth moxen the Vigilant Louisiana Heron the resplendant graceful Flamingo this is a land of Cypress swamps which gleam like the reflected image of a lost world here in the glittering light of the swamp all living creatures must be wary for or the faintest of sounds may be an overture to [Music] death nowhere else in the world is there anything like the sheer of abundance of wildlife nowhere else is the a inspiring spectacle of survival in nature so dramatic stated here Millions wood Ibis cant and a multitude of other species build nests lay eggs live and die here the brilliantly colored coral snake coils a deadliest creature in North America its bite will kill a man in 7 minutes the human Intruder is dazzled by the color he finds in the [Music] Everglades his eye is arrested by Myriad Hues so brilliant that they singe the sky and set it a flame each evening over the pah [Music] oi the simol knows the Everglades with a profound intimacy his paddles broke the Stillness of the swamp more than a century ago he took Refuge here from American troops who tried for 40 years to move him to Oklahoma but neither his Relentless enemy nor the equally Relentless swamp could break [Music] it [Music] left here to perish the seol had to learn how to live in the Great Swamp and he has become its master in this grim and shadowy World All Creatures hunt and are hunted and only the quick and the strong can endure [Music] he possesses a deep sensitivity to Nature and to him the pahi oi is a world of infinite variation and Beauty he drinks in the quiet loveliness of the Ros it spoon Bill probing the shallow Waters in search of food it is as though there were a bond of understanding between him and the exotic [Music] [Applause] [Music] bird he Marvels at the Miracle of Life at his boundless capacity to flower flower again here cued in the fingers of a dead Mangrove he finds two infant wood IIs STS less than 4 hours old their tiny throat still palpitating in the agony of bird is the rare Sand Hill [Music] with knowing hands he pulls his way Homeward in the late afternoon instinctively alert to both the Wonders and the dangers of his [Music] world [Music] resting in the moist mud and cushioned by a matting of weeds the alligator's Nest reveals itself to his eye this monstrous mother will kill to defend her young Simo Villages are built on patches of high dry ground called hammocks which rear themselves parodically in the swamp each Village is composed of one family its size depends on the number of married daughters for it is the custom of the tribe that husbands live with their in-laws their Huts are called chis and they are so built that when the hurricane howls about the hammock the winds will pass through great houses fall before the hurricane but the chi remains standing simol women are famous for their statuesque appearance and quiet dignity Tribal Law forbids them to speak to white people though rarely does a white man visit their Village they scale garfish speared by the men though inedible its silver armor is a rich prize these scales will be boiled bleached and sold to White Traders for eventual use as [Music] sequin the children are hand some but strangely quiet perhaps their silence is the result of their Heritage while in the dark years when the tribe was haunted children were trained from infancy never to betray their presence they are taught at an early age to care for their younger brothers and sisters and their responsibility is great for man is not the only creature who prefers to live on the high dry hammocks of the swamp the diac Rattler is a persistent vicious Intruder and these deadly poisonous snakes are not respector of age seol's independence of spirit is Legend he fought a great to a standstill for half a century to remain free he learned to survive in the swamp he is proud aloof unyielding but in the Indians culture there is a symbol that spells peace goodwi [Music] Brotherhood tobacco has always me these good things in the life of the Indian it has always meant the softening of hearts and it has not lost its meaning [Music] today the Indian gave tobacco to the world this man remembers when a ceremonial pipe smoked in Council signified the presence of a virtuous bond between men when Columbus came he found the Indian smoking with a hollow forked stick called called a Tobago it was from this primitive pipe the Tobago and not from the leaf itself the tobacco got its name and today the seol borrows the cigarette from civilization or he finds it serves him well the sewing machine is the second device they have accepted from the white man's world and operated models are found in virtually every chii in the Everglades this instrument has become the vehicle for their original art they sew brilliant geometric designs on narrow bands and work them together to make striking [Music] skirts behind the dazzling result are hours of intense labor and incredible patience and skill civilization's most extraordinary gift been the Airboat this flat bottom craft has endowed the Indian with the power of the bird and the fish driven by an airplane propell the boat cannot foul in the weeds it travels 40 mph in 1T of water as smoothly as over glass yes science has cut his weed chains and set him free made him the Undisputed Master of the pay oi the headlight is the fourth device he accepts it gives him a strange hypnotic power when he Glides over the swamp in search of frogs the light holds them transfixed freezes them as the spear darts among them and brings in as many as 10 in one catch frogs legs are a delicacy in demand by the great Resort Hotels they bring a good price and help the seol earn a living but he wouldn't consider eating one on Saturday afternoon the Frogger airboat will appear in the tamami canal today he has business in the white man's [Music] world Miami in the SOS language it means literally very large and indeed it is the largest place he has ever seen or dreamed of he comes here to the Fisheries to sell his [Music] frog with his business done he walks through the city Gravely contemplating this place of Commerce and concrete it has it it a inspiring [Music] Beauty and now and again he will find the friendly face or sign or S other world there are moments in this place called very large in which he doesn't feel so small and all alone but mostly the seol in the city feels trapped uncertain lost one must be wary for surely there is more danger here than in the Great Swamp yes this most self-contained in Fearless of Mortals Treads softly among the tall buildings confounded by the restrictions he finds on every [Music] side and at night he walks the city as in a dream the air is charged with weird and gising lights millions of multicolored eyes blink with such fervor that they sing the immensity of the night this is not for him some things he would take from the white man's world but this he rejects and he goes home content to the bahay O today the seol is again a haunted man but now it is the engineer and the farmer who penetrate the Great Swamp their drainage canals last at the landscape their torches burn off the stubborn brush their grumbling tractors ready the soil for planting yes the Everglades are disappearing where there was Wilderness yesterday today there are THS tomorrow crops each year thousands of Acres succumb to the white man's genius citrus fruits glimmer in the warm sunshine hanging heavy on the B this is gold for the white man but for the seol it is a symbol marking the Twilight of his world along the tourist routes of South Florida one may discern the decay of a proud way of life but even in Decay the seol displays the courage and dignity intrinsic to it alligator wrestling is extremely hazardous there could be a fatal slip before the reptile is stroked to [Music] sleep yes even in Decay he displays the qualities of a tragic hero the force which once was his bitter enemy has today become the seo's great friend the United States office of Indian Affairs through its agency at Fort Meers offers the tribe positive assistance the superintendent an Indian himself is the instrument of the government's patient and enlightened policy he can only offer assistance only invite the Indian to live on a [Music] reservation at Brighton reservation seven old children come out of The Hammocks to attend a day school here under competent teachers they will be better equipped for contact with the white man's [Music] world at school they are fed well bals often these children succeed in persuading their parents to improve the family [Music] diet [Music] together with Education Health is a Cornerstone of the government's Indian program at Dana reservation seol mothers bring their children to the government Clinic economically the government is endeavoring with much success to launch the seol in the cattle business at Big Cypress reservation where once there was swamp where once a hunting and fishing culture was possible the simol is reaping the Harvest of the range this branding was an his toric occasion it marked the division of profits and the repayment of the government's loan the [Music] Enterprise later in open meeting the government's policy was reviewed and approved then the leader of his people the Christian minister called upon them to face their changing world he read in the great transition through which the seol is passing the promise of a better life he saw the need for Spiritual help as well as for the great gifts of government but this too would come to the Swamp People he saw a vision of Promise poised above the Saw Grass and the whispering Waters he saw hope in the pay oi h