Research Symposium

BIO

I am a first-year student here at Florida State University. I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. When I'm not studying and doing assignments, I enjoy reading comic books, cooking, and watching k-dramas in my free time. In the future, I hope to become a lawyer and open my own practice.

Florida's Pocahontas: A Changing Perspective?

Abstract

How has the perspective of White settlers in Territorial Tallahassee affected the stories told about the Muskogee tribe?
Many of the perspectives regarding the interactions between Native Americans and White settlers have been told from the perspective of White settlers. Many of these perspectives describe the Native Americans as “savages” and depict them with a negative connotation. This is evident in the story Governor William Pope Duval told of Chief Neamathla and shown in the way many of the White settlers referred to Milly Francis’s father and the rest of their tribe as “savage” and “cruel”. Milly Francis is depicted in a very positive light because she saved the life of Duncan McCrimmon. However, research reveals that this act of kindness and bravery towards a White man displayed by someone of the Muskogee tribe was viewed by Whites as an anomaly in Native American behavior. Milly Francis herself, however, saw her intervention on behalf of McCrimmon as a normal human response. These contradicting perspectives illuminate why the Muskogee have had no choice but to fight hard for their lives and their homes when provoked by White settlers.

Keywords: Native American, Tallahassee Turns 200, Milly Francis