Native Indians in America

http://www.seminoletribe.com/


I have chosen the seminole poeple as my first example, because ive been to a reservation and it was really quite something. The Big Cypress Seminole Reservation

http://www.swampsafari.net/


"Today Gaming is by far the number one economic enterprise in all indian country"

The tribal HeadQuarters is based in Hollywood, Florida, where they have a hotel and cassino complex. It seems much of the income for the seminoles like many indians is from gambling and tourism.

Looking at the website it seems the Seminoles are very proud of their history, where they came from is even part of a title on one page. But the webpage has links of timeline, geneology and future which suggests to me that the value of their roots and who they are matters just as much today if not more so.
The seminole believe they are an unconquered nation, and the fight is not against soldiers but against the courts, to maintian a sense of self and not to be conquered by obscurity and uncertainty of the present and future. The situation today is the issue of preserving their culture and preventing it from being lost within todays wider society and away from the "economic mainstream", stating that self-relience is a todays priority.

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http://www.mohican.com/index.htm

What with Last of the Mohicans being a favourite film of mine I've chosen the Mohicans as the 2nd example. Not quite as impressed as the previous website but just as interesting though.

I want to know how they live having been put under the microscope of Hollywood and its reputation for producing glorified in-accurate interpritations now and then. Going of the Website it seems that these Mohicans are a little bit more flexible in their attempt to be ecconomically stable, in the sense that they dont seem to be a tribe that relies on the gambling economy or tourism either.

So a difference to the Seminole, the website shows their is a Mohican LP Gas company, they have convience stores, golfcourse owners and RV parks. That not to say there isnt a cassino, there is, but there are other things. Which i find impressive given that it seems to based on this small Munsee-comunity of Stockbridge.

However in the history side link there is information about a great migration that Mohicans endured to Wisconsin via Indianna, as opposed to the Hollywood story of a dying breed much later than their supposed date of extinction. The Mohican history is actually one of great financial focus besides a huge migration that is so common amongst Native Indians.