Seminole

'Seminole Indians in Florida were studied and comparisons were made with

skeletal material from pre-Columbian Indians in museums. Some Seminoles

still lived in relative isolation in the Everglades and cypress swamps; others

lived in contact with modern foods along the Tamiami Trail and near Miami

Several hundred pre-Columbian skulls from burial mounds of southem

Florida were examined; not one decayed tooth nor a single dental-arch defor.

mity causing crowded or crooked teeth was found. A comparison of the thick-

ness with that of recent skulls showed the older skulls were much thicker,

providing further evidence of superior physical development in the native

culture. Pre-Columbian skeletons showed no evidence of arthritic joint involve-

ment; many Indians eating modern foods had bony deformities from rheuma-

toid arthritis, along with tooth decay.

The original inhabitants of North America had great wisdom about wilk

ing foods native to the land. Most Indian cultures ate quantities of superior-

quality animals and seafoods to maintain resistance to disease, great physia

strength, and perfect, normal reproduction. As with the Eskimos, this often wis

focomplished on diets of mosily fish and wild animals, supplemented by plat