2nd Annual Big Cypress Indigenous Arts and Music Festival
Festival Season is here! This week on the blog, we are giving you the inside details on the first of three back-to-back events from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The 2nd annual Big Cypress Indigenous Arts and Music Festival will be held on the Big Cypress Reservation February 2 & 3, 2024. Both days gates will open at the Junior Cypress Rodeo Complex at 9:30 am and close at 6:00 pm. Admission is FREE for this exciting event. This year’s theme is “Honoring Our Youth.” Stop by for Indigenous performers, speakers, vendors, and more from throughout the United States and Canada. Below, you can see comprehensive profiles on many of the musical artists, speakers, and more! Master of Ceremonies: Chance Rush Chance Rush will emcee the event both days. Chance travels throughout the United States and Canada to work with Native communities in effort to inspire, heal, motivate, and energize. He has
A Journey Through Payne’s Prairie
Welcome back to our Seminole Spaces series! In this series, we explore places and spaces important to Seminole culture, history, and tourism. Last week, we talked about Seminole Cowkeepers, and learned a bit about the legendary Seminole Cowkeeper Ahaya. Ahaya amassed nearly ten thousand head of cattle, and drove them on the Alachua savanna near Gainesville by 1775. But, how did this Alachuan savanna become known as Payne’s Prairie? This week, we will explore Payne’s Prairie. There, the Seminole relationship with the land, as well as the landscape itself, has shifted and changed over time. In our featured image this week, you can see a shot taken from the observation tower at the Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park in 2022. Around 300,000 people visit the preserve annually to take in the wide grassy vistas and marshy woodlands. Home to hundreds of species of birds, fish, alligators, and even bison, Payne’s Prairie
Exploring Cowkeeper’s Powerful Legacy with the STOF-THPO
Join us to explore "Cowkeeper's Legacy: A Seminole Story", a new book from the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Tribal Historic Preservation Office!
Florida’s Flora in Focus: the Photography of JK Small
This week, we will look at the images captured by renowned botanist John Kunkel Small, who explored Florida for decades documenting its plants and people.