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Never Surrendered... Always the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida

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Never Surrendered... Always the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida Old Ways in a Modern World When days are full of coaxing and wrestling gators, or crafting wares by hand, life is tough but the People are proud in the land of the Miccosukee Never Surrendered... Always The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida Photographs by Jennifer Caylor Story by Julie Kamp & Doug Novak Where the Alligator still roam Where the Blue Herons still wade... And where the waters still flow Buffalo Tiger Look closely… Cute & camouflaged, the newest predator in the Glades! Not all that glitters In the Glades….. is grass “There was no roads and it was very natural, traditional. You could live off the earth, you could drink the water. I remember as a kid, drinking the water out of the canal. And seeing all the fish and beautiful stuff. You don’t see anymore, all the water is dark” Lee Tiger, son of Buffalo Tiger. Widely used for food and medicine, wild oranges still found in the Everglades mark where previous tribes of Florida Miccosukee made their permanent camps. On March 1, 1954, the “Buckskin Declaration of Independ- ence” was delivered by Buffalo Tiger, Jimmie Billie and George Osceola, to Washington D.C. to be presented to Pres- ident Eisenhower. This was a declaration for the rights of the Mikasuki Tribe to be allowed to live their lives as their culture would have them. (excerpt of the declaration: We have, and have had for centuries, our own culture, our own customs, our own government, our own language, and our own way of life which is different from the government, the culture, the customs, the language and the way of life of the White Man. We do not say that we are superior or inferior to the White Man and we do not say that the White Man is su- perior or inferior to us. We do say that we are not White Men but Indians, do not wish to become White Men but wish to remain Indians, and have an outlook on all of these things different from the outlook of the White Man. We do not wish to own lands because our land is for all of us. We live on our land, which is the land of all of our Tribe, and we live from our land which is the land of all of our Tribe. We have failed to have your Indian Agent or your Secretary of the Interior or your other government officials understand our outlook” “At the end of the day we must teach respect, show the young girls how to take care of themselves, their homes and their families. Cooking, cleaning and all the everyday things that books can’t teach, especially how to love and be loved. The best way to teach is by example.” Images & quote from Miccosukee Indian Village Museum Buckskin Declaration - Courtesy of Mr. Lee Tiger, & Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is a small but successful tribe of Indians located around the Florida Everglades in an area known as the 40 mile Bend. The Miccosukee and Seminole Indians are the only Un- conquered tribe of Indians in the U.S. They never signed a peace treaty with the federal government and after the Third Seminole War remained peaceful with the white man for over 100 years. While generally thought to be part of the Seminole Indian tribe, they are truly unique in that they not only received federal recognition in 1962 as a sov- ereign nation themselves but also was the first native tribe to achieve “self determination”. They do not work with the federal government through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but contract and deal with governmental affairs on their own. Although “Miccosukee” is the official name of the tribe they have always referred to themselves as Eelaponke and speak their own language. They have their own constitution, laws, health care, school and govern- ment. They are self sufficient and do not rely on governmental monies to survive. The government consists of an elected business council who oversee the tribes corporate ventures, (like the casino and the Indian village) and a Tribal council with an elected chairman and all members of the tribe over the age of 18. The Miccosukee Reservation is a 5 mile long 500 foot wide piece of land on the Forty Mile Bend of the Tamiami Trail. Originally the Miccosukee didn’t want a reservation or any federal recognition, they just wanted to be left alone in the Everglades to live their life as they always had. But development started coming in with the ad- vent of the Tamiami trail in the 1920’s and their lives would forever be changed. Buffalo Tiger, the first elected tribal chairman, realized that the Miccosukee tribe needed to be recognized before the development took over their land and their life. They wanted to be left alone but they had no choice and had to learn to stand up and do what they needed to do to survive. It took years of struggle and hard work to build the Miccosukee tribe up to be self reliant and successful. Eventually Buffalo Tiger and a delegation of Miccosukee men decided to make a trip to Cuba to be recognized by Fidel Castro and upon their return the United States government decided to recognize the Miccosukee Tribe of Indi- an as a sovereign nation unto themselves with the stipulation that they never return to Cuba or have any communica- tion with them in the future. Miccosukee Indian Village Gift Shop Wayne Billie, traditional Medicine Man, tells this story of when he was young; “The people they live in islands, like this, they got a radio somewhere with a battery and took it back there to the island and they turn them on to country music like Hank Williams, Kenny Rogers. In the old days they wear big cowboy hats all the time, and Indian Jacket all the time. They never changed. The traditional guys lived in a different world. The elder generation, you are supposed to listen to and learn from them” Wayne Billie works to keep the knowledge alive and keep the traditions strong. Lee Tiger, son of Buffalo Tiger and Wayne Billie, Medicine Man “My thought is, I always felt we must keep traditional feelings, traditional practices, language, and culture. All that should be saved, be protected. Only way we could do that, we have to understand what’s going to happen tomorrow.” Buffalo Tiger. The Miccosukee have done well with their businesses, a casino, the Miccosukee Indian Village, alligator wrestling and Airboat rides through the everglades. They are satisfied with what they have and have strategized ways to opti- mize their land and tribe but they don’t want to push outside their boundaries. They do not want to cause reason for any gov- ernment intrusion. The white man’s world is creeping in all around them but there are a few traditional Medicine men and traditional women that work to keep the old ways alive and not forgotten. Even though the homes are built like all the other modern homes seen around southern Florida, every home has a traditional open air Chickee built in the back yard. These are used for celebrations, the traditional Green Corn Dance, and family get togethers. Family is very important to the Mic- cosukee and keeping a balance between the modern white man’s ways and learning and living as a Elaponke can be difficult at times. Very few speak the Miccosukee language any longer and it is not taught in the schools. They keep the casino and gaming off reservation land in order to keep out much of the white influence but that influence will always be there. Some feel that the money and the white man’s way has created greed in the tribe in some cases and more young people are killed now in automobile crashes from drinking. These are all newer problems for the Miccosukee than they are for the white man but they are working to deal with the issues. When asked why the Miccosukee seem to be so prosperous not only in business, but in their outlook on life, Wayne Billie and Lee Tiger both agreed. “The Miccosukee never lost their purpose. Identity doesn’t come from a book but comes from your family, your father, mother, grandparents and tradition. Your family’s life has to go with you all the way. People cannot become disconnected from the spiritual side of their life.” For now at least, the young people stay around, they aren’t leaving the area. The older generation is optimistic that in the years ahead the children will wake up and wonder where they came from, how they got here, and learn their history again. A modern airboat sits parked, waiting for the next tour group, in front of traditional Chickees that are available to rent -- for the more adventurous! Sunsets close in quickly in the Florida Everglades, land of the Miccosukee. Home awaits after the days work and travel. A good meal, loving family, a beautiful home in the wide open “River of grass”, what more can the People ask for? To continue living… Unconquered Proud Free To be continued: The Miccosukee ….. A special thank you to Mr. Wayne Billie Mr. Lee Tiger Mrs. Betty Osceola Buffalo Tiger Airboat Tours Our tour guide, Ernie The Miccosukee Indian Village and Museum And everyone else, who we have worked with so far and plan to work with in the future. Our heart is with the Miccosukee and you have all taught us a great deal about Life and what is truly important in our walk on this earth.
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