“For more than 200 years we kept our double African and Indian heritage alive. Our language and our way of life, our songs and dancing… all remind us of our distinctive roots.”

Charles Emily Wilson (char-ells eh-mih-lee will-sun)

leader Seminole Scout Association

IMAGE SOURCE: Photo in Miss Charles Emily Wilson, “The Black Seminoles.” Website. Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association. | TEXT SOURCE: Charles Emily Wilson. “Texas Seminole Scouts.” Booklet. Festival of American Folklife. Smithsonian Institut…

IMAGE SOURCE: Photo in Miss Charles Emily Wilson, “The Black Seminoles.” Website. Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association. | TEXT SOURCE: Charles Emily Wilson. “Texas Seminole Scouts.” Booklet. Festival of American Folklife. Smithsonian Institution. 1992.

QUOTE CONTEXT: “I can rest  now, knowing that (our Seminole heritage) has been recognized at last, and that future schoolchildren, both American and Seminole, will learn about the part we  have played in the growth of our great nation.”

QUOTE QUESTION: Who is responsible for keeping your heritage alive?


IMAGE CONTEXT: Miss Charles Emily Wilson at a gathering of the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association in Brackettville, Texas.

IMAGE QUESTION: Who are the elders who sit in places of honor at your family gatherings?


MEDIA LITERACY CONTEXT: The quote is from a Smithsonian Institution booklet. The photo is from the website of a cultural heritage association.

MEDIA LITERACY QUESTION: How do you decide which organizations are best suited to offer the words and images of your esteemed elders?


LEARN ABOUT THE BLACK SEMINOLES: https://folklife.si.edu/resources/maroon/educational_guide/66.htm

DOWNLOAD THE BLACK SEMINOLES SLIDE DECK FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES:

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“All the women they would get together and take out the crops… We go from one field to another until we get it done.”

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“This is a creole culture and what it takes is a great ability to adapt and a willingness to do so, and still hold on.”