Coacoochee's Bones: A Seminole Saga (review)

Prof. Susan Miller is a member of the Tom Palmer Band and Kacha (Tiger) Clan in the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and claims relationship to the famous Florida Seminole leader Coacoochee (Wild Cat) who was sent west as part of the federal government's infamous nineteenth-century Indian Removal policy. Miller believes that most historical interpretations of Coacoochee have been erroneously filtered through white perceptions, thus her stated goal in writing the book is to make "a contribution toward the decolonization of my tribe's history."

Coacoochee was born between 1808 and 1816 into one of the elite Seminole lineages. His father was Emathla (King Phillip), a significant band micco (chief). However, a child belonged to the mother's clan and Coacoochee's mother was a member of the Wind Clan from which the paramount micco of the Seminole nation was chosen. Although Coacoochee never became paramount Seminole chief, he was trained from childhood to be a leader and became "speaker of the council." The Seminole society underwent severe dislocations during the Second Seminole War (1835-42) and a syncretic band of Indians coalesced around Coacoochee's leadership. Following the capture and ultimate death of Osceola in 1838, it was Coacoochee who led the resistance for three more years before surrendering his band, and was deported to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Chafing under the treatment afforded Seminoles by American authorities in the Indian Territory, in 1851 Coacoochee accepted an invitation from the Mexican government and led a group of Indians and Africans across the Rio Grande. He died there during a smallpox outbreak in 1857, and his followers eventually repatriated to the United States.

The work's primary focus is on placing Coacoochee's leadership in a broader cultural context rather than detailing his role as a military commander—Miller strongly rejects the way he was portrayed by army officers, although some objections seem contrived. There is only passing mention that he was present at the 1837 Battle of Lake Okeechobee, the most significant engagement of the Second Seminole War, where a few hundred Seminoles and African allies effectively prepared the battlefield and dealt a punishing blow to Zachary Taylor's larger force of militia and regulars. It is known that he was among those who planned the Seminole defense. Similarly, the book notes that following the move to Mexico, Coacoochee and his followers fought effectively against the Plains tribes, though few details are provided on their strategy or tactics.

Miller has produced the first full-length monograph on this major nineteenth-century Seminole figure. However, whether it is decolonized history is more problematic. The work is definitely the product of sound western historical methodology. Scrupulously researched and fully cited, the longitudinal narrative utilizes both archival and secondary materials as well as indigenous insights to define Coacoochee, though occasionally the author offers only indirect evidence to cover missing elements in the historical record. This interesting book, if perhaps not the radical reassessment that the author sought, is long overdue and fills a gap in Seminole historiography of the period.