Sallie Tommie of Fort Pierce was the daughter of Chief Tallahassee,
left, and Polly Parker, above. Tallahassee peacefully led a band of
about 25 Creek Seminoles in the latter part of the 19th century. His
band originally came from Tallassee, Ala., and later made its base
in Central Florida. He is believed to have moved to the Treasure
Coast in the 1890s, although it’s possible that the family had been
visiting or living in the area long before. This 1884 photo of
Tallahassee shows him in full garb. His sash carried various ornaments
denoting his authority and standing in the tribe. Buckskin
trousers show under the traditional Seminole cloth shirt. Tallahassee
is also in the photo below, with two Seminole boys standing
next to him. Polly Parker played a role guiding soldiers away from
the Seminoles during the Seminole wars and is regarded as one of
the most important women in Seminole history. This photo of her
was taken in the early 20th century, when believed to be more
than 100 and was regarded as the oldest living Seminole.
Tommie, one of the family members who grew up in
the family’s chickee camp on Midway Road, about a
mile west of I-95. “When it rained, you got wet.’’
A REMARKABLE JOURNEY
At age 50, Shamy Tommie is the oldest of some 30
cousins with houses at Chupco’s Landing, a designated
Seminole Reservation. Shamy, who grew up speaking
Creek, said nobody knows how long his family has
been living in St. Lucie County. But he retells a family
story that goes back to the region during the Seminole
wars, which ended in the late 1850s.
“Soldiers were all around a Seminole lady, a little
girl, a baby and a dog. The soldiers were trying to get
runaway slaves and to capture Seminole Indians to
send to Oklahoma. They were in wetland covered with
grass. The lady and the little girl kneeled down and
held out right there. If the dog had barked or the baby
cried, they would have caught them.” The three
escaped removal because the soldiers couldn’t find
them.
“That’s what my grandmother said a long time ago,’’
Shamy said. “It was somewhere along State Road 60
in Indian River County in that area.’’
Shamy recalls another tale from his elders.
“The Indians originally ran away from Georgia to
the Everglades. The Indians went farther and farther
into the swamp. The mosquitoes kept all the soldiers
back. We were dealing with horses out there. The soldiers
were using big horses. Indians with their small
horses. The Indian horses could get around in the
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF FLORIDA STATE ARCHIVES
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY AH-TAH-THI-KI MUSEUM