Seminole factions: Miccosukee Tribe emerges and two nations are recognized

 

Seminoles 1913, near Miami
State of Florida Archives

By Jane Feehan

A federal initiative to integrate the American Indian population with mainstream America was conducted between the end of Franklin Roosevelt’s era to the beginning of John F. Kennedy’s presidency. Laws were enacted to terminate the government’s trusteeship of Indian lands and to relocate them to cities where it was believed they would have more education and employment opportunities.

The Florida Seminoles, the only Indian tribe never to sign a peace treaty with the U.S. government, were not happy about integration efforts. President Eisenhower granted them their freedom but in a letter to the “great White Father,” the Seminoles rejected the plan. Through their attorneys they stated: “Request action giving us our freedom be reconsidered as we, members of the Seminole tribe, realize our limitations and know that we still need supervision and assistance in our affairs.”

Seminoles and Miccosukee in Tallahasse 1976
 State of Florida Archives/Florida Memory

All was not settled among the Indians who numbered about 900 during the 1950s. Two factions emerged in the debate about their independence. Buffalo Tiger, leader of the smaller Miccosukee group, wanted gradual withdrawal from federal jurisdiction. He wanted lands to be preserved on the Big Cypress and Brighton reservations where they raised beef herds.

Michael Osceola, leader of the other Seminole faction, said the Indians had to face the fact that the government couldn’t be their guardian forever. The two groups did agree on a few parts of the new law. One was the allowing Seminole women to have their babies in area hospitals. Neither faction was concerned about lifting the restriction of whiskey sales to Indians. It was never enforced anyway.

The two groups went their separate ways. The Seminole Tribe was recognized by the U.S. government in 1957. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians was recognized as a nation in 1962 ... after leader Buffalo Tiger flew to Havana to meet with Fidel Castro. Both nations live within several reservations in South Florida and each depend on sustainable use of the Everglades for agriculture and the raising of livestock.

The U.S. government abandoned the policy to integrate American Indians when it was recognized that there were distinct differences between Indian and Anglo-European cultures (and nationally, among tribal cultures). Today, in addition to the agricultural endeavors of each tribe, the Miccosukees run a large casino on their lands 30 miles west of Miami; the Seminoles run casinos throughout South Florida. Their separation is political, not cultural. They are self sufficent and self governing.

 

Sources:

Palm Beach Post, Aug. 30, 1953

Semtribe.com

miccosukee.com/tribe

Educational Resources Information Center

 Tags: Florida history, Seminole nation, Miccosukee nation