The Seminole have always had a form of a democratic government. Each village had a chief,
or miko usually selected from the oldest or most respected clan in the village. Each
village had a representative that would meet in a council. This council would then vote
for the principle chief and "vice"-chief.This form of government is still used
by the Seminole.
Famous Seminole Chiefs and Leaders
Although he was not a chief, his ability and fiery spirit made him the symbol for resistance and a key leader in the Second Seminole War. He perhaps is most famous for taking his knife and slashing the peace treaty that called for the Seminole removal to Oklahoma. He was captured while under a flag of truce and died in 1838 while imprisoned at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. The soldiers that were his guards had so much admiration for him that they buried him with full military honors outside the fort.
This chief saved a number of white men from being killed after they had been taken prisoner. When he supported the plan to move the Native Americans west he was killed by dissenting Seminoles.
As one of the most important chiefs in Florida, he intensely fought against removal until the pressure of thousands of troops, disease and starvation wiped out his band of warriors.
He was considered a man of eloquence and influence among the Seminoles and advised his people not to accept the governments plan to move. The Governor of Florida, William DuVal, deposed him by refusing to recognize him as a chief of the Seminole.
He was the principle Seminole leader in the Third Seminole War. Bowlegs and his war-weary band of warriors surrendered on May 7, 1858. Thirty-eight warriors and eighty-five women and children, including his wife, boarded the steamer, Grey Cloud, at Egmont Key to begin their journey to Indian territory. Bowlegs died soon after his arrival.