A Lifetime of Education, Advocacy, and Action: Louise Jones Gopher
In honor of Women’s History Month, Florida Seminole Tourism is again dedicating the entire month of March to highlighting some incredible Seminole women who have guided, shaped, and dedicated their lives to the Seminole Tribe of Florida. This week, we are focusing on another great educational trailblazer: Louise Jones Gopher. You may remember her name from last week, connected with the founding of Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School. Gopher, along with Lorene Bowers Gopher and Jennie Shore, is one of the three founding mothers of PECS. Interested in more Women’s History Month features? You can learn about Lorene Bowers Gopher, Laura Mae Osceola, Susie Billie, Jennie Shore, and more Trailblazing Seminole Women in some previous blog posts.
In our featured image, you can see Gopher giving the commencement speech at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business in 2014. She had shortly before received the President’s Distinguished Service Medallion from FAU President John Kelly. “Florida Atlantic University is proud to claim her as a graduate and applauds her dedication to her important mission,” Kelly said in an article about the commencement.
An Early Commitment to Education
Like so many of the amazing Seminole women we have talked about, Louise Jones Gopher knew the importance of education. From an early age, Gopher knew that education was the path forward; not only for herself, but for all Seminoles. Born in 1945 in a camp near Fort Pierce, Gopher grew up only speaking Creek. Both her parents were agricultural workers, with their camp located in the orange groves. “When I was a kid, I only spoke native language: Creek. No English. I guess my father knew a little to get by at work and my mother probably did, too, but I didn’t learn English until I started going to school.” Gopher shared in a Hard Rock Blog post.
She began school at the age of six, speaking no English. “Being a little 5-or 6-year-old, I didn’t realize what problems my father had to deal with getting me into school. He [her father] had to go to the school board to get us enrolled in St. Lucie County. This was back during segregation. You had white students and black students. Native Americans, where did we fit in? Finally, they put us in with the white kids.”
Gopher excelled at school, graduating from high school and moving on to then- Indian River Community College. “I lived in Fort Pierce, and a junior college had been built, Indian River Community College, and I finished two years there and then went to Florida Atlantic University. After a while, people kept saying, ‘She’s been going to school forever,’ but I knew the education was helping me.” Gopher shared. Gopher was the first Seminole woman to graduate from college, earning her bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University in 1970.
A Seminole First
In a full circle moment, Gopher gave the commencement speech for FAU’s College of Business 2014 Graduating class. In her speech, she touches on that achievement. “At the time I graduated, Billy Cypress – the late Billy Cypress from the (Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki) Museum – he was the first, I believe, to graduate with a four-year degree. Then I was probably the second, and the first woman. Then I think Max Osceola and other people (graduated),” Gopher shared. Below, you can see Gopher around 1970, the same year she graduated from Florida Atlantic University.
Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections
Gopher was again wading through uncharted waters. But, she knew that education was going to be her path forward. “When I enrolled at FAU in the late 1960s, it was a revolutionary thing for a Seminole Indian to go to college,” Gopher said. “It was even more revolutionary for a woman to become a trailblazer. But I had loved the world of education for as long as I could remember, dating back to my days as an elementary school student in the St. Lucie County public school system.”
After working for state agencies and other schools, Gopher always knew her place was to give back to her tribe. She emphasized that “The answer was that I needed to stay in the world of education to bring that great gift to the members of my Tribe, especially young people,”
In the same speech, Gopher thanked her father, who fought the school board to enroll her in school. “…I want to thank my dad, Willie Jones, for the value he placed on education and for instilling that value in me and his other children. Like all parents, he wanted us to have a better life,” she said.
Director of Education for the Seminole Tribe of Florida
Louise Jones Gopher would become the Director of Education for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, serving from 2003 through 2007. During this time, she was instrumental in helping push forward the Brighton Reservation’s Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School (PECS). She, along with Lorene Bowers Gopher and Jennie Shore, began with the pull-out program. “We took that crazy idea to Phoebe Raulerson, [superintendent of schools in Okeechobee County at the time], and she agreed right away,” Gopher said. “The Pull-Out Program opened a whole new world for them. They shared what they learned with their classmates and teachers, who couldn’t wait to hear what the kids learned at their Indian school.” PECS would come only a few years later, opening its doors in 2007, after Gopher and others carefully crafted the charter.
Gopher would spend her time as Education Director, focusing on educational programs, encouraging attendance and prioritizing language and culture.
Below, you can see Louise Gopher (back left) congratulating students at the Education Incentive Awards Banquet, circa 2006.
2015.6.20444, ATTK Museum
Florida Women’s Hall of Fame
The State of Florida inducted Gopher into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame in 2014. The Florida Women’s Hall of Fame honors women who have made significant contributions to the improvement of life for Floridians. Governor Rick Scott selected Gopher from a pool of over 70 nominees. “I think of all the other ladies who came ahead of me, like Betty Mae,” Gopher said of the honor. “I think of the women who lived during the Seminole Wars and how hard it was for them. It’s because of their strength that we are here today. I never want to forget them, our ancestors.”
Go ‘Noles
Florida State University awarded Gopher with an honorary doctorate in 2014. Gopher was only the third Seminole to receive the honor; “Betty Mae Jumper received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 1994 and Jim Shore received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2005.” The degrees “honor individuals of outstanding achievement who have gained national or international recognition or who have made a significant scholarly, creative, public, business or humane contribution to the country or to FSU.”
Gopher earned hers for advocating education, preserving Tribal culture and traditions, and being a devoted friend to Florida State University. “Being classified in the same group as Betty Mae Jumper is a big honor,” said Gopher. “I was there when both she and Jim Shore got theirs.”
Gopher’s relationship with FSU started much earlier, when she was encouraging her own daughters to go to college. She helped solidify the formal relationship between FSU and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. “When you graduated high school, you knew you were going on to college,” said Gopher’s daughter Carla Gopher. “She never said, ‘This is what you’re doing;’ it’s just something we always knew.” Her other daughter, Rita Gopher, added “It wasn’t a question of if you’re going to college; it was where are you going,” Rita received an associate degree from Indian River State College.
Louise Gopher also gave FSU’s 2014 commencement speech, continuing a year of excellence and recognition for her lifetime achievements. “I was near tears,” Carla Gopher said of the ceremony and speech. “I was thinking about how she stressed education all her life and here she is 60-something years old and still doing it. She is leading by example.”
Below, you can see Louise Gopher, left to right, with her daughters Carla Gopher and Rita Gopher. Carla won Miss Florida Seminole at the 1994 Seminole Princess Pageant and holds roses and a trophy. Only two years later, Carla would become the first Seminole to graduate from Florida State University (FSU).
2015.6.26927, ATTK Museum
Football Fanatic
Gopher nurtured her love of football, which continued throughout her life, and built a relationship with coach Bobby Bowden while Carla was at FSU. “While [Carla] was there, I guess I made a lot of contacts. I started taking kids up there, like on spring break. We would tour Gainesville, too, and go on up to Florida State, tour, and we’d always meet Bowden. They always rolled out the red carpet for us.” Below, you can see Louise Gopher (far left, grey shirt) with a group of Brighton students and staff. The group includes Jeff Osceola (black t shirt in the front row) with FSU football coach Bobby Bowden. A photographer captured the image in 1998 during a visit to Florida State University by Brighton Reservation high school students.
2023.25.1793, ATTK Museum
PECS and Gopher’s Continued Legacy
Today, Gopher’s continued legacy is incredibly evident in the many programs, educational changes, and the energy left behind. PECS has blossomed to over 200 students, and in 2022 the Brighton Reservation broke ground on a series of buildings that expanded the school’s campus. The new facilities replaced the portable classrooms previously used for some programs and now include a dedicated building for the immersion program, a separate complex for a new Boys & Girls Club, library, and community cultural center, an expanded school cafeteria, a chickee village for cooking and special events, and additional parking.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida honored Louise Jones Gopher, Lorene Bowers Gopher, and Jennie Shore at the groundbreaking ceremony. Louise Jones Gopher, who not only helped craft the Pull-Out program and pushed PECS into existence, also helped craft earlier cultural education programs. Her family, which were present at the ceremony, said “her focus was always to help retain Seminole culture and keep children in school.” Her daughter, Rita Gopher, spoke at the groundbreaking as well. “She worked tirelessly to help preserve our culture and our language. Her whole life was education,” she shared. “She always encouraged and pushed for the children to learn their language, learn their culture, learn who they were, where they came from.”
Gopher’s focus on culture and remembering your ancestors is one thread that is apparent throughout her life and will continue on in PECS and other programs she touched. In 2014, at both of the commencement speeches she gave at FSU and FAU, Gopher left the students with one thought. “To those of you who are graduating today, I say treasure your heritage whatever it may be, learn all you can about it and pass your knowledge on to your children,” she said. “We move most confidently into the future when we are grounded in the lessons of the past.”
Author Bio
Originally from Washington state, Deanna Butler received her BA in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Washington in 2014. Deanna moved to Florida in 2016. Soon, she began working for the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Deanna was the THPO’s Archaeological Collections Assistant from 2017-2021. While at the THPO, Deanna worked to preserve, support, and process the Tribe’s archaeological collection. She often wrote the popular Artifact of the Month series and worked on many community and educational outreach programs. She lives in Lakeland, FL with her husband, two sons, and dog.
