Tribal leaders, officials commemorate signing of Treaty of Moultrie Creek

Renee Unsworth
·2 min read
Leaders from all four Native American Nations affected by this treaty came together to offer remarks and raise their respective nations' flags at the county park located off Wildwood Drive in St. Augustine, Florida.
Leaders from all four Native American Nations affected by this treaty came together to offer remarks and raise their respective nations' flags at the county park located off Wildwood Drive in St. Augustine, Florida.

St. Johns County hosted tribal leaders and state officials for a historic flag-raising ceremony to mark the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek signing on Monday at Treaty Park.

Leaders from all four Native American Nations affected by this treaty came together at this site with representatives from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida offering remarks and raising their respective nations' flags at the county park located off Wildwood Drive in St. Augustine, Florida.

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The Treaty of Moultrie Creek was an agreement signed in 1823 between the government of the United States and the chiefs of several groups and bands of Indians living in the present-day state of Florida.

The treaty resulted in the cessation of large swaths of tribal lands in Florida and the establishment of the state's first reservation for the Seminole Indians — a 4-million-acre reservation in central Florida.

About 425 Seminoles attended the original treaty meeting in 1823, and 32 chiefs signed the document, said Bill Adams in his book "St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Historical Guide." Adams is a historian and St. Augustine's former Heritage Tourism director.

"This is a very significant treaty," Adams told the St. Augustine Record in 2010. "This was the greatest of all Indian wars fought in American History."

Scheduled speakers at Monday’s event included:

  • Andrew K. Frank, Ph.D., Director, Native American and Indigenous Studies Center, Florida State University

  • Alissa Lotane, Florida Division of Historical Resources and Florida's State Historic Preservation Officer

  • Chairman Talbert Cypress Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida

  • Principal Chief David Hill, Muscogee (Creek) Nation

  • Principal Chief Lewis Johnson, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

  • Chairman Marcellus Osceola, Seminole Tribe of Florida

  • Christian Whitehurst, Chairman, St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners

  • Roy Alaimo, District 3, St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners.

Treaty Park, a St. Johns County public recreation facility, is located at 1595 Wildwood Drive. It is open daily from dawn to dusk.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Tribal leaders, officials commemorate signing of Treaty of Moultrie Creek