Gender Issues

Many cultures have a distinction between men and women. The gender of a person determines their clothing and duties among their society. The Seminole tribe is not an exception to this type of culture. The men and women have different traditional roles and clothing. The men typically wore breechcloths which are also known as loincloths. It is a long rectangular piece of tanned fur or animal hide that looped between a belt covering the front and back of the mans lower body. The men also wear a full cut shirt. The Seminole women wore a wraparound skirt and a blouse. Women also wore jewelry to adorn their garments.
Gender Issues went beyond clothing and traditional roles were dependent upon gender. The duties of a man involved hunting and going to war, if necessary to protect the tribe. The women did most of the farming and took care of children and cooking. There was very little deviation from the typical role of your gender.
The Seminole tribe has 8 clans and your clan membership depends on your wife or mother. The husbands were supposed to go and live with the clan of his wife thus changing his clan. You could not marry within your own clan so the survival of the clan was dependent upon the women. This put increased attention onto the success and treatment of the women in the tribe as a whole.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida
       2013 Our Culture: A Women's Garmets, A Well Dressed Seminole Man. Internet Document.  Accessed April 12, 2013 http://www.semtribe.com/Culture/SeminoleClothing.aspx

The Seminole Tribe of Florida
        2013 Our Culture: Clans. Internet Document. Accessed April 2013.http://www.semtribe.com/Culture/Clans.aspx