The Miccosukee people have inhabited the Everglades since the mid-19C. In an attempt to preserve their native culture, the Miccosukee Indians, now numbering some 500 people, have re-created a traditional settlement complete with chickees (palm-thatched, open-sided shelters), a tribal art and culture museum and an alligator arena, where modern Miccosukee "hunters" demonstrate bare-handed alligator-wrestling techniques.