The Seminole

Seminole

The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...

 are an indigenous people of the Americas, living in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Their traditional music includes extensive use of rattle

Rattle (percussion)

A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...

s, bongos, and flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

s.

Seminole folk songs include those used to treat the sick and injured, and to encourage animals to be easily hunted. Hunting songs were a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 and call-and-response.

The two major ritual dances were the Corn Dance, held in June, and the Hunting Dance, held in October; other informal dances were held throughout the year, with some specific dances only performed in either summer or winter. Many dances were connected with an animal spirit, such as the Snake Dance

Snake dance

Snake dance is a term used to refer to a parade before or during a high school or college homecoming event. The parade includes floats built by each high school class, marching bands, students, and alumni. Snake dance may also be more narrowly used to describe the student parade or a celebratory...

, the Crawfish Dance and the very important Alligator Dance.