Chickee

Chikee or Chickee ("house" in the Creek and Mikasuki languages spoken by the Seminoles and Miccosukees) is a shelter supported by posts, with a raised floor, a thatched roof and open sides. Chickees are also known as chickee huts, stilt houses, or platform dwellings. The chickee style of architecture—palmetto thatch over a bald cypress log frame—was adopted by Seminoles during the Second (1835–42) and Third (1855-58) Seminole Wars as U.S. troops pushed them deeper into the Everglades and surrounding territory. Before the Second Seminole War, the Seminoles had lived in log cabins.^[1] Similar structures were used by the tribes in south Florida when the Spanish first arrived in the 16th century.^[2] Each chickee had its own purpose and together they were organized within a camp-type community. Chickees were used for cooking, sleeping, and eating.

^ Seminole Tribe of Florida - Chickee Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 14, 2009
^ Austin, Daniel W. (1997). "The Glades Indians and the Plants they Used. Ethnobotany of an Extinct Culture." The Palmetto, 17(2):7 -11.[1] Archived 2006-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 30, 2012

[1] Seminole Tribe of Florida - Chickee Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 14, 2009

[2] Austin, Daniel W. (1997). "The Glades Indians and the Plants they Used. Ethnobotany of an Extinct Culture." The Palmetto, 17(2):7 -11.[1] Archived 2006-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 30, 2012

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