Before Florida was a state, it was a refuge. Long before the U.S. flag ever touched this soil, Indigenous nations — Calusa, Timucua, Apalachee — lived free on the land. When colonizers came, survivors fled south and forged a new identity in the swamps. They called themselves Simanóli — “runaways.” The world would remember them as the Seminoles. Florida’s dark history tries to erase them. We’re here to bring it back to light. 🌿 Seminole history, Indigenous Florida, Calusa, Timucua, Apalachee, Fl