Spotlight on the Seminole Impact in Washington

Today we are closing out election week by looking at an incredibly impactful, although non-traditional, Seminole space: Washington D.C. For generations, Seminoles have traveled from Florida to make their voices, their perspectives, and demands known in the nation’s capital. Seminole leaders have journeyed from Florida to Washington D.C. since before the formation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Join us to spotlight just a few examples of Seminoles in Washington D.C. As we look back at the Seminole presence in D.C., we hope that it underscores that the seat of the United States is, irrevocably, an Indigenous and Seminole space now and in the future.

In our featured image you can see Helene Buster and Michelle Thomas carrying the banner that led the Seminole contingent in the procession celebrating the National Museum of the American Indian opening in 2004. The Seminole color guard follows closely behind. Although this museum facility opened in 2004, its first location in New York City became part of the Smithsonian in 1989. It is also where the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum was chartered and began the process of building its extensive collection. The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum would open in 1997, and already had an extensive working relationship with NMAI and the Smithsonian.

 

Long Train Rides

In 1954 Laura Mae Osceola would board a train and change the trajectory of the Seminoles of Florida forever. Seminole leaders selected Osceola as interpreter for her people, at just 21 years old. She joined 11 other Seminole delegates as they traveled to Washington D.C. to argue against Indian Termination. Faced with the threat of losing their lands, community, and all federal support, they travelled to testify in front of Congress. Osceola was fluent in English, Mikasuki, and Creek, and educated in North Carolina. In a time when many Seminoles did not speak English she acted as their voice. During their time in front of Congress, she sat behind each elder, translating their words and sharing the Seminole voice with the United States government. “I was the only woman,” Osceola recalled. “But I had a big mouth, and I wanted to help my tribe” (09 Feb 1987, Tallahassee Democrat).

Additionally, Osceola herself testified, asking that Seminoles get a chance to build their own path to success. She pronounced, “And for my people I am pleading with you to give them more time….Maybe the children we have in school now will be able to come here as representatives or senators just like you white people do; maybe be a doctor or a lawyer, or whatever they want to be. But we, the women of the Seminoles, are trying our best to teach our children so that they can take that responsibility” (21 Mar 1993, South Florida Sun Sentinel).

The Seminole Tribe of Florida would gain federal recognition only three years later in 1957. Osceola was their first Secretary-Treasurer, working with the Tribal Council and leaving a lasting impact on the Tribe.

 

Seminole Princesses Make an Impact…

In some ways, Osceola was also the catalyst for the Seminole Princess Pageant. Lawmakers often asked Osceola if she was a Seminole Princess during her time in D.C.. Wanda Bowers (Miss Florida Seminole ’68 and ’69), spoke of the origin of the title with NPR in 2015. They’d ask, “’Is she your princess?’,” says Bowers. “She would always say ‘I’m the secretary-treasurer of the tribe. I’m their translator, their note-taker’ Finally she told the chief, ‘I’m not gonna be recognized as the princess anymore. I want you to start a princess contest so that we can have an official princess to be recognized as our ambassador.”

Although Osceola denied being a princess, the impact of her words can still be seen in the Seminole Princesses today. Many current and former princesses use their roles to affect change, including in Washington.

 

…Today and in the Future

In November and December 2022 Cheyenne Kippenberger (Miss Florida Seminole 2018, Ms. Indian World 2019-21) travelled to D.C. to participate in a number of events affecting Indian Country. This included the 2022 White House Tribal Youth Forum. Aubee Billie (Jr. Miss Florida Seminole) also attended. Kippenberger was there working as communications coordinator for the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) at the Aspen Institute. They hosted the event along with United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY). “[Native youth] have great insight into the solutions that we can implement into our communities to address a lot of these prevalent issues,” Kippenberger said in a Seminole Tribune article. “It was really important for me to represent, to be present, wear my dress proudly, and be able to have conversations.”

Kippenberger also attended the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit at the headquarters of the Department of the Interior.

 

USET

Like Laura Mae Osceola’s role in the long train ride to D.C. in 1954, the impact of other early Seminole leaders can still be seen in the Seminole presence in our nation’s capital. In 1969 Betty Mae Jumper, the first female Chairwoman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, would have a hand in founding the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. (USET).

The Seminole Tribe of Florida was one of the founding members. Founding members also included the Miccosukee Tribe, Eastern Band of Cherokee and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw. Today, the organization has grown significantly, with 33 member tribes. Several Tribal members have served as president of USET including Joel M. Frank (1986 to 1989), Michael Tiger (1978 to 1982) and Howard Tommie (1973 to 1975). Joe Dan Osceola was USET’s very first president, serving from 1969 to 1970.

 

USET Today

In the beginning, USET focused primarily on issues related to health and education. Now, they tackle not only those issues but a slew of others that affect their member tribes and Indian Country as a whole. USET is “dedicated to enhancing the development of federally recognized Indian Tribes, to improving the capabilities of Tribal governments, and assisting the USET Members and their governments in dealing effectively with public policy issues and in serving the broad needs of Indian people.” They also have become a powerful lobby and voice with state governments and in Washington D.C., where USET holds an office.

At the USET 50^th Anniversary Meeting, which also coincided with the late Joe Dan Osceola being awarded the Earl J. Barbry Sr. Lifetime Achievement Award, Chairman Marcellus Osceola shared the honor the Seminole Tribe of Florida holds in being part of USET. “I appreciate everybody who has fought and given, if they haven’t given all, they’ve given some,” he said. “And we appreciate just the honor to be here representing our people, as Native Americans, not just our Tribe, but Native Americans as a whole.”

 

Native American Veterans Memorial

After a decade of work, interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, a dream was realized for the late David Stephen Bowers. Bowers, a dedicated Vietnam veteran, worked tirelessly for decades in veteran’s affairs. In 2010 Bowers began working on a campaign to place another statue at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honoring Native American veterans. Unfortunately, Congress passed a bill in 2003 that would make this dream impossible. Pivoting, Bowers then moved to trying to get a memorial or statue placed somewhere else on the National Mall. “He went from [Florida] to every tribal nation he could go to, to attend tribal council meetings, to visit [tribal] chairmen, to get support and raise funds,” said sister Wanda Bowers in a Seminole Tribune article. “Then he started going to Washington to talk to different congressmen. He was very adamant.”

Eventually, the Smithsonian would take up the project. Kevin Gover (Pawnee), the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), asked Bowers to be on his advisory committee in 2015. Soon, a location was selected near the Capitol Building on the National Mall, adjacent to NMAI. The committee chose Artist Harvey Pratt’s (Cheyenne/Arapaho) memorial design in June 2018. Unfortunately, Bowers would pass away in 2020 prior to the opening in November 2020, and the memorial’s dedication.

 

Memorial Dedication

The Smithsonian dedicated the National Native American Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day, November 11, 2022. Over 1,700 Native American veterans attended the dedication along with family, friends, and supporters. The dedication included a procession that began at Smithsonian’s NMAI and ended with a ceremony near the U.S. Capitol.

A number of Seminole Tribe of Florida members were there to support and remember the work the late Stephen Bowers and other dedicated veterans put into the memorial. This included Tiffany Frank and family including Joel Frank Sr., Cheyenne Kippenberger, and the Battiest family. Spencer Battiest and Doc Native performed inside the museum as part of the event.

During the performance, Battiest took a moment to recognize Bowers. “I want to do a special shout out to someone who told me over a decade ago about the beautiful memorial they wanted to build here,” Battiest said. “His name is Stephen Bowers, who passed away recently and didn’t get the chance to come and see this. I know his family is watching now on a livestream, and I just want to say a special ‘I love you and I appreciate you and thank you. I carry him within my heart today as well as all the veterans.”

#NoMoreStolenAncestors

On a cold February day in 2020, the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s THPO Director Tina Osceola and Collections Manager Domonique deBeaubien went to the National Congress of American Indians and Capitol Hill. They went as part of the #NoMoreStolenAncestors campaign. The campaign fights for the repatriation of 1,496 ancestral remains held by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Committee from within the Tribe’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum started the campaign as an effort to increase awareness. The Seminole Tribe of Florida has been ardently fighting for the repatriation of the remains for a decade. The THPO designed the #NoMoreStolenAncestors campaign to highlight the issue on a national level. The committee hoped that it will gain traction in Indian Country and beyond.

“This is going to help all of Indian Country,” Tina Osceola said at a February 21 lecture at To-Pee-Kee-Ke Yak-Ne Community Center in Big Cypress. “What we did for Indian gaming, we can do for repatriation. Other tribes are ready to back up the Seminole Tribe and take it to the next level. We are sitting in a powerful position in a pivotal time.”

 

A Step Forward

In October 2020, the THPO NAGPRA committee announced that they had “received a revised repatriation policy that includes provisions to repatriate human remains and funerary objects back to affiliated tribes that the NMNH has previously identified as “culturally unidentifiable.’”

“The revised policy has been a long time coming and I feel generations overdue,” Tina Osceola said in a statement. “As our tribe continues to seek the return of our stolen ancestors, we will continue to work on behalf of Indian Country to pass better laws that can help to return more ancestors, funerary, sacred and objects of cultural patrimony…. There is still much work left to do.”

These examples are not an exhaustive list of Seminole impact in Washington D.C.. Rather, they represent just a small sliver of the ways that the Seminole Tribe of Florida and its members can, and do, affect change on a national level and in the capitol. They serve as proof that Seminoles not only deserve but have a right to a place at the table when policy decisions are made that affect not only the Seminole Tribe of Florida, but Indian Country as a whole.

 

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.