Micanopy
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Micanopy (c. 1780 – December 1848 or January 1849),[1][2] also known as Mick-e-no-páh, Micco-Nuppe, Michenopah, Miccanopa, and Mico-an-opa, and Sint-chakkee ("pond frequenter", as he was known prior to being selected as chief),[3] was the leading chief of the Seminole during the Second Seminole War.
Biography
His name was derived from the Hitchiti terms miko (chief), and naba (above), and consequently meaning "high chief" or the like.[3] Micanopy was also known as Hulbutta Hajo, (or "Crazy Alligator").
Little is known of his early life other than that Micanopy was born near present-day
Following the American purchase of Florida from Spain in 1819 through the Adams–Onís Treaty, and the subsequent appointment of Andrew Jackson as territorial governor in 1821, large numbers of American settlers began colonizing northern Florida during the next decade. Micanopy opposed further American settlement of the region. As conflicts arose more frequently between the Seminole and settlers, the Seminole were driven away from the Florida coast and into the extensive wetlands of the interior. By the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823, the Americans seized 24 million acres of Seminole land in northern Florida. The Seminole moved to central and southern territory.[5]
Slaveholders from Florida and neighboring states demanded that the Seminole capture and return slaves who had taken refuge with them. American development of large
While working to negotiate a peaceful resolution between the Seminole and local authorities, Micanopy refused to sign the treaty. He joined younger chiefs, such as
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/George_Catlin_-_Mick-e-no-p%C3%A1h%2C_Chief_of_the_Tribe_-_1985.66.300_-_Smithsonian_American_Art_Museum.jpg/334px-George_Catlin_-_Mick-e-no-p%C3%A1h%2C_Chief_of_the_Tribe_-_1985.66.300_-_Smithsonian_American_Art_Museum.jpg)
The Seminole had early success, but the elderly Micanopy became convinced of the futility of war as he realized the large number of American soldiers who could be sent against the Seminole. He surrendered in June 1837 and began negotiating to move his tribe to the Indian Territory, but he was kidnapped by Osceola. In December 1838, Micanopy was captured by General
Imprisoned at
Although Micanopy attempted to reestablish the Seminole as independent, he never regained his previous power. In 1845, he was one of the signatories of a treaty with the US, which gave the Seminole of western Florida semi-independence from the
As the Seminole had a
Legacy and honors
European Americans named Micanopy, Florida after the chief.[6] It was founded at the site of the chief's capital town, Cuscowilla.
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-89672-516-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-1255-8.
- ^ a b Simpson, J. Clarence (1956). Mark F. Boyd (ed.). Florida Place-Names of Indian Derivation. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Geological Survey.
- ^ Hatch, Thom (2012). Osceola and the Great Seminole War. New York: St. Martin’s Press. pp. 30–35.
- ^ Hatch, Thom (2012). Osceola and the Great Seminole War. New York: St. Martin’s Press. p. 184.
- ^ Frisaro, Freida Ratliff (Feb 21, 1988). "Indian heritage runs deep throughout Central Florida". Ocala Star-Banner. p. 63. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
References
- Johansen, Bruce E. and Donald A. Grinde, Jr., The Encyclopedia of Native American Biography, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997.
- Markowitz, Harvey., ed., Magill's Choice American Indian Biographies, California: Salem Press Inc., 1999.
- Sattler, Richard A. "The Seminole in the West", Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast, Vol. 14, ed. William Sturtevant, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004