The stories of how alligator wrestling began differ from person to person. Alligator wrestlers, often through the narration of their alligator wrestling, explain that American Indians had always hunted alligators for hides and meat. In order to have fresh meat, the alligator hunter would capture the alligator, tether it to a post in the campsite, and kill it when it was time for the meat to be harvested.Tomi Akinyoyenu, alligator wrestler stated in an oral history interview, “it was mainly made for, back in the day, how we would get food. We would trade hides and stuff. A freshly caught alligator was better than a dead alligator, so it was even a food source, if need be.

Tomi Akinyoyenu, alligator wrestler continues by saying, “I was told a long time ago, that tourists would come to see the Seminoles and Miccosukees when they were building roads by the villages. And the Indian man would go and capture these gators, and my people would capture these gators, and tie them up for food. They would trade their hides and deer hides to the settlers in the coastal areas for beads, gunpowder, guns, and other materials. …More tourists would come out and see these men tying the gators up, tying up three or four alligators to keep at the camp while the younger generation of men would go out to hunt. The elders would usually stay back at the camp. …What happened, this was passed down from elders, is that tourist said it looked like the Indian man was wrestling the alligator. Elders laughed and said, ‘these gators were tied up for hides and food and stuff.’ The tourist threw money at the Indian man. Instead of going out to hunt for four or five days, they went to the store and provided for their family the same day. …I tell that story before I wrestle an alligator because I just don’t want to be hurting the alligator and messing with him, so I tell them where I come from and why I am able to touch this alligator.”