Choice Review

In this book, Weisman combines ethnohistory and archaeology to reconstruct the culture history of the Seminole Indians of northern Florida. Weisman, an archaeologist, uses a number of sources, including a recently transcribed diary written by Henry Prince, who served in the US Army during the Second Seminole War. The tribe's development is documented from its beginnings in the early 1700s, when Creek Indians first began to move into the area from farther north and became identified as Seminoles, through the mid-1800s. During this time, the traditional social and political organization that had persisted for several hundred years was replaced by more adaptive cultural traits. These changes were effected first through the influence of Spanish and English traders, and later by the policies of the US government. Weisman demonstrates the consequences of these adaptations with archaeological data from several Seminole sites. Using the Prince diary, he was able to find the probable location of Powell's Town, occupied in 1837 by the Seminole hero Osceola. Weisman indicates that the archaeological record is consistent with the kinds of material remains expected at a site of this particular type. His book shows clearly the value of combining information from both ethnohistoric and archaeological sources in interpreting the culture history of the Seminoles. Footnotes, index, list of references are all useful, but the text would have been enhanced by the inclusion of additional maps. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -A. Rogers, Western Carolina University