Micanopy

Micanopy (c. 1780 – January 2, 1849), also known as Micco-Nuppe, Michenopah, Miccanopa, Mico-an-opa and Sint-chakkee ("pond frequenter", as he was known prior to accession), was the leading chief of the Seminoles who led the tribe during the Second Seminole War.

His name was derived from the Hitchiti "miko" (chief), and "naba" (above), and consequently meaning "high chief" or the like. Micanopy was also known as Hulbutta Hajo (or "Crazy Alligator").

Although little is known of his early life, Micanopy was born near present-day St. Augustine, Florida, sometime around 1780. He succeeded Bolek as hereditary principal chief of the Seminole following his death in 1819; Micanopy soon began acquiring large amounts of land and cattle. As was common practice among elite Seminole, he hired more than 100 fugitive slaves to work his estates during the early nineteenth century. He encouraged intermarriage between the Seminole and blacks. Some of their descendants gained influence as an elite among tribal councils (including several war chiefs).

Following the American purchase of Florida from Spain in 1819 through the Adams–Onís Treaty, and the subsequent appointment of Andrew Jackson as territorial governor in 1821, large numbers of American settlers began colonizing northern Florida during the next decade. Micanopy opposed further American settlement of the region. As conflicts arose more frequently between the Seminole and settlers, the Seminole were driven away from the Florida coast and into the extensive wetlands of the interior. By the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823, the Americans seized 24 million acres of Seminole land in northern Florida, and the Seminole moved to central and southern territory.

Slaveholders from Florida and neighboring states demanded that the Seminole capture and return slaves who had taken refuge with them. American development of large plantations in Florida led to planters buying more slaves, only to see some escape. With pressure continuing against the tribe and Americans calling for removal following passage of the Indian Removal Act, a group of Seminole chiefs eventually agreed to the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832; they ceded more Seminole lands in exchange for reservations in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) on May 9, 1832.

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