Peliklikaha (Florida)
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When: February-June 2001
Who: Black Seminole Maroon Research Project and the Florida Division of Historic Resources
Description: All phases of investigation fieldwalking, surveying and mapping the site, shovel testing, test excavation pits, artifact analysis, archival research. Site is located near Bushnell, Florida. It is in Sumter county, about half way between Tampa and Orlando.
Contact: Terry Weik, University of Florida. email: t366y@ufl.edu phone: 352-373-5824
Other Stuff: Open to volunteers
More Information: The Black Seminole Maroon Research Project focuses on a 19th century Florida site called Peliklikaha (1813-1836). A painting done in 1836 depicts the burning of Peliklikaha. Black Seminoles at Peliklakaha were mostly Maroons, "runaway slaves" from Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. They got the name Black Seminole Maroons because they were enslaved Africans who escaped and allied with the Seminole Indians. The African and Seminole alliance was so powerful that it forced the United States to a stalemate in the three Seminole Wars (1812-1855). We'll be exploring Black Seminole Maroon's genesis, the remains of Maroon daily life, and the exchange between Black Seminole Maroons, enslaved Blacks, and Seminole Indians.
Terry Weik has been conducting fieldwork at Peliklikaha since the spring of 1998. Fieldwork conducted this past year (1999-2000) has uncovered Seminole "Brushed" pottery, lithic flakes, glass, beads, charcoal, metal, and Euro-American ceramic remains. 19th century records for the area around Peliklakaha refer to it as "Abraham's Old Town." Abraham was an influential Black Seminole Maroon leader who was an interpreter for the Seminole Indians in their dealings with the U.S. army.
Florida is an ideal geographical focus for this study because it was home to some of the largest and latest occurring Maroon communities in the hemisphere. Florida's thick forests and swamps offered Maroons relative isolation from encroaching colonists or slave hunters. The subtropical climate, suitable croplands and plentiful natural resources were additional incentives for Maroon settlement in Florida. Peliklakaha is a unique colonial Florida site, because it emerged in response to alliances between Maroons and Seminole Indians, rather than between Maroons and European colonists.
