
Spotlight on the Brighton Seminole Reservation
Welcome to September! Over the next month, we will spotlight several of the Seminole Reservations around Florida. Last week, we travelled to the Immokalee Reservation. This week, we mosey on over to the edges of Lake Okeechobee to the Brighton Reservation. Rich with Seminole history, Brighton is home to some of the first organized Seminole cattle industries. Below, join us to take a look back at the history of Brighton, the men and women who built it, and what makes this community unique.
In this week’s spotlight, we are particularly focusing on the emphasis and encouragement of Seminole education at Brighton. From the Brighton Indian Day School all the way through to today’s Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School (PECS), the Brighton community has long demanded quality, culturally rooted education for their youth.
In our featured image, you can see an image of Charlie Micco, Tom Smith, and Dick Smith, featuring a Florida Seminole Indian license plate from 1956. Based on similar plates from the time, this plate was most likely blue with white text.
Cattle and Cowboys
For many, Brighton is synonymous with cattle and Seminole cowboys. In the 1930s, five Seminole men from Brighton would spearhead the efforts for a brand-new cattle program. Seminoles were struggling and needed new means of economic stability. In particular, they needed economic stability that was self-managed and could build the future of the tribe. Frank Shore, Charlie Micco, Naha Tiger, Willie Gopher, and Willie Tiger worked with U.S. Indian Agricultural Agent Fred Montsdeoca to learn modern ranching techniques. All five had previous ranching experience, as well as traditional knowledge. Seminoles have long been cowkeepers, although this history was fractured by violence and turmoil. Although the program got off to a rocky start, by 1939 there were over a thousand head of cattle on Brighton.
Red Barn was the center of the cattle efforts in Brighton. The five made it their home office for crafting plans for the Seminole Cattle Program. These plans would not only spur similar programs across other reservations, but also influence the formation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s government structure in 1957.
The Brighton Indian Day School
Beyond cattle, there is another incredibly important contribution the Brighton community has held steadfast to for decades: education. In 1938, Richard Osceola and other like-minded Seminoles pressed Assistant Commissioner H.A. Zimmerman for a school on the Brighton Reservation. Seminole children were not allowed in white schools, and there were no other educational opportunities for them. Edith and William Boehmer were hired as housekeeper and teacher, opening the school on January 9th, 1939. They would run the Brighton Indian Day School for the next 16 years, and it would eventually close in 1954. Below, you can see an exterior shot of the Brighton Indian Day School, taken by William D. Boehmer.

2009.34.1574, ATTK Museum
Through pictures, we can see many of the future leaders of the Seminole Tribe of Florida attending the Day school. Along with traditional education, we can see children of the day school participating in traditional learning: the care of cattle, farming, cultural events, and more. Brighton’s experience of education on reservation is thus a unique one; where what it means to be Seminole was embraced and encouraged along with learning math, science, and more. After the day school closed, students began attending local schools in Okeechobee.
Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School (PECS)
This dedication to education, and the demand for quality education for the Brighton community, is a thread that continued beyond the Brighton Indian Day School. The Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School (PECS) opened in 2007, born out of a “parents’ desire for their children to continue Seminole language and culture lessons throughout their educations. Once students left the reservation for local public schools, they lost the Creek they learned in the Tribal preschool.” It opened as the first Native charter school east of the Mississippi, with 123 students. The beginnings of this new charter school were fostered by Louise Gopher, an educator and Tribe’s Education director from 2003-2007 as well as Lorene Bowers Gopher and Jennie Shore. The trio established the “Pull-Out Program” in partnership with the schools of Okeechobee County. One day a week, students would remain on Brighton to learn the Seminole language and culture.

PECS eighth-grade girls show off their traditional hairstyles in a formal portrait at the Brighton culture camp April 17, 2019. Via the Seminole Tribune.
This single day program blossomed, eventually turning into the PECS of today. “I think it’s a big honor,” said Louise Gopher, “Learning their heritage and language made a big difference in students’ lives. Their self-esteem went through the roof, and they couldn’t wait to come to school.” PECS leaped forward again in 2015, with the formation of the Creek Immersion Program. There are only about 30 to 40 fluent Creek speakers in the tribe. Shore aimed the immersion program at teaching Creek speakers beginning in infancy. With continued direction from Jennie Shore, the immersion program is flourishing.
Further Expansion
Recently in May 2022, a monumental groundbreaking marked further expansion of the school and program. The brand-new facility houses the immersion program, as well as a library, cafeteria, community cultural center, and a chickee village. But, beyond buildings, the facility represents the preservation of language, and of the Seminole culture. “Most know that there is a large gap in those who speak the native tongue and those that do not,” Jennie Shore said at the groundbreaking. “It is something that wouldn’t be learned unless the person is immersed in it. Now for the first time in a very long time, the children are learning and playing all while speaking the language. It makes me happy.”
Seminole Scenes in Brighton

Children hold chickens as pose as part of a project at the Brighton Indian Day School circa 1950. Standing in the back are Elsie Jean Bowers, Stanley Huff, Coleman Josh, and Fred Smith. Kneeling in the front are Eddie Shore, Jimmy Scott Osceola, and Jerry Micco. 2009.34.1498, ATTK Museum.

Jack Micco sits on a Jersey Bull circa 1945. They purchased the bull from Henry Bass Dairy in Okeechobee with the idea of raising dairy cattle at the Brighton Indian Day School. This idea was later abandoned in favor of raising beef cattle. 2009.34.233, ATTK Museum.

Brighton Seminole Princess Shannon Holata rides in the Labor Day Parade in downtown Okeechobee. The Okeechobee News published the image on September 7, 1988. 2005.1.65, ATTK Museum.

Charlie Micco, as identified by his grandson Weems Buck, stands outside a chickee in 1967. The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum includes on their description these notes from photographer: Oldest Seminole on Reservation. Still antagonistic (This is an original characterization from the photographer), Brighton Reservation. 2005.27.1329, ATTK Museum.

Seminole royalty Teresa Gopher (left) and Carla Snow (right) on a parade float platform, wearing patchwork skirts and traditional capes. 2005.1.2526, ATTK Museum.

Seminole women and children sitting in a semi-circle of makeshift benches, with their backs to the camera, listening to someone speak. It is most likely a sermon, and Brighton Christmas 1952. 2007.117.35, ATTK Museum.
We hope you enjoyed this special inside look at the Brighton Reservation, and its importance and history. Looking for more Seminole scenes from Brighton? A small part of the Boehmer Collection is available online through the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum through a previous online exhibit. If you’re interested in visiting, we encourage visitors to stop by the annual Brighton Field Day Festival, held next year February 13-16, 2025. Join us next week for the next installment of our Reservation Spotlight series, as we fly down Alligator Alley towards the Big Cypress Reservation.
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.