SW042 Matt Griffin Uses Military Reenactment to Bring Alive the Black Seminole Warrior Spirit

First-time visitors to the annual commemoration at the Dade Battlefield in Bushnell, Florida, are sometimes startled to see -- amidst the melee -- a Black Seminole racing his war horse up and down the field of action. Likewise, groups escorted along the Dade Park memorial trail discover this same Black Seminole emerge from a concealed strategic position to converse with them.

The young man portraying the Black Seminole warrior is Matt Griffin. He is a native Floridian who traces his heritage back to the times of forced Indian removal during the Second Seminole War. He joins us to discuss what the alliance between Seminole and Black Seminole in that war signifies to him; what part Black Seminoles played in the Dade battle itself; what portraying a Black Seminole Reenactor for two decades has taught him about the war; and why we should know and still care about that conflict from nearly two centuries ago.

Peace in our Time? Black Seminole Matt Griffin casts a skeptical eye as a Seminole Swamp Owl shakes the hand of Maj. Gen. Thomas Jessup (Steven Rinck) at Fort Dade Capitulation Historical Reenactment Ceremony at the Pioneer Museum Dec. 19, 2020. Photo by Andrew Foster

 

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 

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