"Way down South in the Everglades/

Where the black water rolls and the saw grass sways/

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The eagles fly and the otters play/

In the land of the Seminole."

— From "Seminole Wind" by John Anderson

The haunting refrain of John Anderson's 1991 hit "Seminole Wind" provides the perfect soundtrack for a drive through South Florida in search of Native American culture.

So blow, blow Seminole wind/ Blow like you're never gonna blow again."

Lamenting that the Everglades is going dry after being drained "in the name of flood control," Anderson hears "the ghost of Osceola cry" while sitting on a cypress stump in the swamp.

Listen closely and you, too, might hear the ghosts of the great Seminole leaders like Osceola, Micanopy and Billy Bowlegs.

And if you take the time, you can learn how the Seminoles and Miccosukees carved out a homeland they fought fiercely to retain.

Perhaps the tribes' most visible influence is the chickee. The open-air huts with thatched roofs of dried palmetto fronds supported by a cypress-log frame dot the landscape of South Florida — not only at Indian villages but municipal parks, roadside picnic areas, wilderness campsites and seaside bars and restaurants.

Don't miss these attractions, windows to the Seminole/Miccosukee culture.

Chickee on the Beach: It wasn't a Seminole wind that blew the roof off the landmark chickee restaurant overlooking the blue Gulf of Mexico at the Vanderbilt Inn in Naples. Although Hurricane Charley demolished the roof, the large pine tree in the middle of the restaurant survived. To the rescue came a Seminole craftsman, O.B. Osceola, who got the chickee ready to reopen in September.

"We were incredibly fortunate that he put repairs to our chickee at the top of his very long list," says Brian Shomacker, general manager of Vanderbilt Inn.

Chickee on the Beach opened in 1972 as a bar with 13 seats, and with several deck expansions, it has since grown to a full-service restaurant with seating for 280 and standing room.

• Information: 11000 Gulf Shore Drive North, Naples. 1-800-643-8654, www.vanderbiltinn.com.

Everglades National Park Boat Tours: By the time the Seminoles and Miccosukees arrived in southwest Florida in the mid-1830s, the Calusas, who had flourished in the area for hundreds of years, had vanished — most likely victims of deadly diseases brought by Europeans.

Living in what is now called the Ten Thousand Islands — off the coast between Marco Island and Everglades City — the enterprising Calusas adapted well to their watery environment. They built canals and earthworks and piled shells into mounds to form dry ground on which to live. They crafted tools, weapons and jewelry from the shells and dined on the bounty of the tidal rivers.

Unless you're inclined to rent a boat, canoe or kayak to explore the Ten Thousand Islands on your own, the best way to experience the mangrove wilderness is on a boat tour from the National Park Service Gulf Coast Visitor Center in Everglades City at the northwest corner of the park.

As we motor into Chokoloskee Bay, Capt. Amos Bolen points out the tangle of roots that are the mangrove islands.

"The Indians called the mangroves the walking tree," Bolen explains. "Eighty percent of sea life is hatched in mangrove estuaries."

Wildlife is all around us: great blue herons and roseate spoonbills on the shore, pelicans perched on channel markers, a bald eagle soaring high and an osprey tending her nest high in a tree.

Bolen spies a white ibis ("Chokoloskee chicken"), royal terns ("Mother Nature's weather vanes; they always sit facing into the wind") and a raccoon ("the only animal that can survive on the mangrove island," apparently because the critter licks dew off leaves).

The Ten Thousand Islands are a popular fishing area, with tarpon, snook and redfish the prize catches. Dolphins and manatees also frolic in the tea-colored waters.

If you close your eyes, you can imagine Seminoles moving between the islands and up the rivers in dugout cypress canoes.

• Information: Five miles south of U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) on Fla. 29, Everglades City. 1-800-445-7724, www.nps.gov/ever.

Historic Smallwood Store Ole Indian Trading Post and Museum: Ted Smallwood and his wife, Mamie, opened a trading post in 1906 for the Seminoles and white settlers on the island of Chokoloskee. In 1917, the store moved into the barn-red wood building that still stands on stilts overlooking Chokoloskee Bay. One of the oldest buildings in Florida, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and remained in business as a store until 1982.

Restored by Ted Smallwood's granddaughter Lynn McMillin, the store is now a museum and gift shop, a must-see for its artifacts relating to early pioneers and the Seminoles.

A 1928 photo shows Smallwood, who was also the postmaster, in a dark suit and hat standing next to Chief Charlie Tigertail in the colorful patchwork garb of the Seminole. Other photos include early Seminoles on Chokoloskee, among them Dave Pool Tiger and Billy Jim. There's also an impressive collection of baskets, carved wood items, clothing and dolls.

Ashley McMillin is minding the store ("My great-granddaddy was Ted"), but there's no doubt a gray and white cat named Mr. Watson is in charge. The tabby is named for Edgar J. Watson, a successful cane grower who was shot at the store dock by locals convinced he was killing his farm workers on payday to avoid paying them their wages, then feeding them to alligators. The story inspired Peter Matthiessen's 1990 novel "Killing Mr. Watson."

The Tigertail Gift Shop has books, videos, T-shirts, pottery and items handmade by the Seminoles.

• Information: 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily. $3; $2.50 senior citizens; under 12 free. 239-965-2989, www.floridaeverglades.com/chokol/smallw.htm.

Museum of the Everglades: As you learn about 2,000 years of human habitation in the Everglades, you'll meet the Episcopal deaconess Harriet M. Bedell, who was called "White Bird" by the Seminoles she came to work with in 1933. She remained at the Glade Cross Mission for 27 years. And you'll see a photo of Seminole Cory Osceola presenting a patchwork shirt to Harry S. Truman when the president attended the dedication of Everglades National Park on Dec. 6, 1947.

Other documents and artifacts about the Calusas and the Seminoles are displayed in the former laundry building that served workers who completed the Tamiami Trail and residents of Barron Collier's company town of Everglades. A short film documents the building of the Tamiami Trail from Tampa to Miami between 1910 and 1928.

• Information: 105 W. Broadway, Everglades City. $2 donation. 239-695-0008, www.colliermuseum.com.

Miccosukee Indian Village: "God told the Miccosukee if they left the Everglades, they would die," explains guide Juan Fernandez. Sounds like a pretty good reason to stay and fight.

Fernandez, who is not a member of the tribe, led a trio of visitors through the re-creation of a 200-year-old Miccosukee village 30 minutes west of Miami.

"There would be 20 to 25 people in the family who would live here," he says, as he explains that villagers slept on raised platforms in the sleeping chickee.

"The cooking chickee is the heart of the village," he says. The fire is never allowed to go out because one, the smoke keeps away mosquitoes and critters, and two, the women of the tribe cooked most of the day.

Today, even the most modern Miccosukee homes have cooking chickees in the back yard for gatherings and ceremonial events.

A two-centuries-old dugout canoe made from a single cypress trunk is on display. "This is a lost art," Fernandez says.

The living-history village — which features alligator shows and craftspeople making patchwork clothing, palmetto-fiber dolls, baskets, wood items and beadwork — is on the site of a camp dating to 1932. The tribe took it over in 1972.

Tribal elder Mary Billie, who does not speak English, sits under one of the chickees quietly weaving a sweet-grass basket. She also makes dolls and dresses them in bright patchwork clothing.

"She is always here," Fernandez says. "She is never idle."

Fernandez says the patchwork designs of the Miccosukee clothing became more intricate with the introduction of the first sewing machine from Europe in the early 1900s.

"When the ladies found out what that little machine could do," he says, "they fell in love with the little machines."

The Miccosukee Museum of Natural and Tribal History was closed for renovations when I visited in November. Founded in 1983, it features clothing, paintings, sculptures, photographs and artifacts from the tribe and a short film on tribal history.

Go across the street for an airboat ride deep into the swamp to see a typical hammock-style Indian camp, one that has been in the same Miccosukee family for more than 100 years.

• Information: Mile Marker 70, U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail). 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. 305-223-8380, www.miccosukee tours.com.

Miccosukee Resort and Gaming: Quite a contrast from the rustic authenticity of the Miccosukee village is the modern art deco-influenced hotel and casino at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Krome Avenue.

The 302 guest rooms are decorated in bold patchwork-inspired bedding in purple and sage, with custom tilework in the bathrooms. The furniture design and artwork take cues from Matisse. The custom-designed glass chandelier that hangs in the lobby atrium makes a futuristic statement.

After a day of airboat rides and alligator shows, the European Spa and Fitness Center, with its indoor, heated swimming pool and Jacuzzi and views of the tropical gardens, is a good place to chill until dinner — or time to hit the gaming floor. The spa offers sauna, massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, paraffin hand dips and other treatments.

Dining options include Empeeke Aaweeke, an international buffet open 6 a.m.-midnight; Hammocks Cafe, serving the $6.95 steak and lobster special 24 hours a day; and Empeeke Aya, the deli that never sleeps.

The white tablecloth restaurant is Empeeke-Cheke, an intimate room tastefully decorated in cool earthy tones with an understated tropical vibe. Native dishes such as venison, frogs legs, wild boar, buffalo, alligator and snook are featured. I tried the $16.95 surf and turf special — a three-course meal consisting of a salad (with excellent blue cheese dressing), grilled shrimp and a less-than-tender but fairly tasty prime rib and cheesecake-like Key lime pie for dessert. Good but not great. The fresh baked bread, however, was exceptional.

The gaming action continues 24/7 with 1,000 video pull tab machines, 58 poker tables, Lightning Lotto and high-stakes bingo.

• Information: Rooms, $109; suites, $135-$335 (plus tribal tax of 8.75 percent). 500 S.W. 177th Ave., Miami. 1-877-242-6464, www.miccosukee.com.

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum: Cattle ranching, citrus groves, bingo — all are successful enterprises of the Seminole tribe. But as you soon learn while watching the 17-minute film "We Seminoles" that serves as an introduction to the museum, the resourceful tribe has figured out how to cash in on tourism.

"We found new ways of trading with the white tourists who came to South Florida," says the narrator. They discovered people were "willing to pay to visit our villages and watch our men wrestle alligators. They also collect our crafts."

The museum, whose name means "to learn, to remember," shows the history and culture of the unconquered Seminoles through exhibits, rare artifacts and a 1.2-mile-boardwalk nature trail that leads to stickball grounds and a living history village where traditional cooking and crafts are demonstrated.

Dioramas with lifelike figures in colorful traditional dress offer scenes depicting hunting, everyday life, a wedding, the sacred Green Corn Dance, the stickball game and other tribal activities.

To delve deeper into the culture, spend some time at an interactive computer station to learn about religious beliefs and the cattle industry ("Indians can be cowboys and cattle ranchers, too"), hear counting songs by Seminole Tribal Council Chairman James Billie and hear Betty Mae Jumper explain doll and basket making.

The gift shop sells handmade Seminole arts and crafts — from $5 baby lapel-pin dolls to patchwork jackets from $300.

• Information: Take Exit 49 off I-75, then 17 miles north on Fla. 833. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. $6; $4 senior citizens and students; 6 and younger free. 863-902-1113, www.seminoletribe.com/museum.

Billie Swamp Safari on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation: Walking to chickee No. 10, I noticed a sign that read: "Mosquito Crossing." But it wasn't the skeeters that had me nervous about my night in the swamp. It was the allapattahs (alligators). I could just imagine them licking their chops. (This despite the fact that there's a fence between the huts and the swamp.)

Earlier, alligator wrestler Gus Batista — aka Wind Bear — had assured me that the snakes and gators he handled in his show "are not evil, but they're dangerous."

Visitors to Billie Swamp Safari, which encompasses 2,200 acres of native and exotic wildlife, can book Swamp Buggy Eco-Tours (offered day and night), airboat rides, "critter" shows, reptile and alligator shows and storytelling around the campfire at night. You can also sample gator tail, frogs legs and an "Indian burger" (ground beef baked inside fry bread) at the Swamp Water Cafe.

For the total experience, book a night in the rustic village of native-style chickees outfitted with two cots (linens provided), a trunk and a kerosene lamp. While it's a step up from camping, there's no electricity or water. The bathhouse is a bit of a hike. But it's an experience you aren't likely to find anywhere else. You'll fall asleep to a swamp symphony of frogs, gators and other creatures.

Best of all, you'll be in the midst of an amazing ecosystem and a vast wild landscape of hardwood hammocks, ferns, cypress domes and gum sloughs. During swamp buggy and airboat tours, be on the lookout not only for alligators and birds such as the graceful white ibis and noble great blue heron but wild boar, ostrich, American bison, water buffalo, red deer, Osceola turkeys and antelope roaming free.

And as the swamp buggy pauses at a 180-year-old campsite with sleeping and cooking chickees and a dugout cypress canoe, you can imagine what life might have been like for these remarkable people firmly rooted in the watery wilderness of the Everglades.

• Information: Open daily. Swamp buggy tours are $22; $20 ages 62 and older; $12 ages 4-12. Airboat tours, $14. Other activities $3-$8. Packages available ($30 day, $40 night). Chickee rental for one or two is $35 a night. Exit 49 off I-75, then 19 miles north on Fla. 833 to park entrance. 1-800-949-6101, www.seminoletribe.com/safari.