Spotlight on the Tampa Seminole Reservation
Welcome back to our Reservation Spotlight series! In the last few weeks, we have looked at the unique communities and accomplishments of the Seminole Reservations of Immokalee, Brighton, and Big Cypress. This week, we are heading just a touch further north to the Tampa Seminole Reservation. The Seminole Tribe of Florida only formally established it in 1980, thus making it one of the “newer” reservations. But Seminoles have been in the Tampa Bay area forever. The U.S. Army pushed the Seminoles southward and inland during the Seminole War period. This week, learn how the Tampa Seminole Reservation was established, how the community has sacrificed and changed, and what’s in store for the future.
In our featured image, you can see eight women sitting behind a table with a very large birthday cake at a powwow event on the Tampa Reservation. The cake reads “Happy Birthday Ruby Tiger Osceola” with red rosettes. The women are celebrating Ruby Tiger Osceola’s 103rd birthday celebration. From right to left are Linda O. Henry, Annie Henry, Frances Osceola, Ruby Tiger Osceola (red cape), and possibly Addie Osceola or Louise Billie (2015.6.12265, ATTK Museum).
The Tampa Seminole Reservation
Although the Tampa Seminole Reservation was established in 1980, you would be hard pressed to call it anything other than a reclaiming. Seminoles and Seminole ancestors have been in the area forever, and the reservation stands as evidence of that. In 1980, nine acres of land were designated in trust for the Seminole Tribe of Florida to be used as a reservation. In a 2014 Seminole Tribune article, then-Chairman James E. Billie remarked on how far it has come since then, stating “I never dreamed I would see the day when it [Tampa] would look like this.” Those nine acres off Orient Road now house one of the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s biggest casinos: the Tampa Hard Rock Casino and Hotel.
Billie went on to detail that stark contrast. He shared that: “We started out with a bingo hall that used to be on the other side of this behemoth Hard Rock Hotel building. The original situation here has really been cannibalized; I think. We started out with just a little old tin building, and I remember back in those days when we had finally got the reservation in place, and we were desperately trying to open up a bingo hall. We were literally pouring the concrete beams and watching the clock.
It was 24 hours and then you could put some weight on it. Well, after about 23 hours and maybe 59 minutes, the damn thing collapsed, so we had to build it all back up again.” And build they did!
The Reservation Grows
Those nine acres of land have seen many changes over the last 44 years. Below, you can see the Tampa Reservation Bingo Hall and Gift Shop circa 1983. In addition to the high-stakes bingo hall, the Seminole Tribe of Florida opened a museum and smoke-shop.
2015.6.190.14, ATTK Museum
Bobby’s Seminole Village, complete with alligator wrestling pit, was in the same complex. Below, you can see an aerial view of the early Tampa Seminole Reservation structures. The eight-pointed star-shaped building in the middle is the Coo Taun-Cho Bee Museum, surrounded by Bobby’s Seminole Village.
GRP1306.1, ATTK Museum
These humble buildings are a far cry from the Tampa Reservation of today. Soon, the Seminole Tribe of Florida opened a Four Points Sheraton hotel on the land. In 2000, they announced plans to convert it to a Hard Rock Casino and Hotel, catapulting the tiny reservation into the casino big leagues. Nearly 20 years later in 2018, the final beam was placed on a massive expansion that included a brand-new hotel. In a 2019 article about the ceremony, Jim Allen, the Chairman of Hard Rock International and CEO of Seminole Gaming shared just how large the Tampa Hard Rock had become. “The Hard Rock Tampa is the most successful casino in the United States and fourth [most successful] in the world,” Allen said. “And that’s not an exaggeration, those numbers are factually based.”
At the same ceremony, leaders honored the Tampa community for their sacrifice in making the Tampa Hard Rock a reality. “Thank you to the Tampa community for the sacrifice for your Tribe,” said Hollywood Councilman Christopher Osceola. “We’re seeing those blessings today across the board here. None of this would be possible without the sacrifices the Tampa community and Seminole Tribe has made.”
Ruby Tiger Osceola
There would be no Tampa Seminole community without Ruby Tiger Osceola. Born in the Everglades in 1895, she would watch the Seminole people go from a few hundred unconquered Seminoles in the aftermath of the Seminole War to the modern Seminole Tribe of Florida. Born to a traditional family, she grew up in the heart of the Everglades, living most of her life under a chickee. After the death of her husband, Tiger supported her seven children on her own by picking flowers and working in the agricultural fields. Soon, she relocated to Bradenton. As her children grew her family blossomed, and she became a revered matriarch to a robust family.
But she always stayed resilient and focused on preserving the Seminole culture and way of life. Bobby Henry, a respected Seminole medicine-man and Osceola’s son-in-law, called her “one of the very few last traditionals,” who dedicated her life to passing on and teaching the Seminole culture to her children and descendants. “She wanted to make sure they were all strong in their culture,” Henry continued (June 15, 2002, Tampa Bay Times).
Today, a bronze statue of Osceola carved by the Cooleys stands inside the Tampa Hard Rock Casino & Hotel. Erected in 2009, the statue honors her dedication to family, to her culture, and to the community. Osceola stands, one hand pointing outstretched, in front of an image of her six daughters. The other rests on a panther.
Ruby Tiger Osceola in 2001, at 105 years old. Tiger wears a red cape and beaded necklaces. 2015.6.275.87, ATTK Museum.
No Tampa Reservation Without the Pig
In 1980, then-Chairman James E. Billie would come to Osceola’s camp to ask for help. The new Tampa Reservation needed Seminoles. Originally, he asked Bobby Henry. But, after a year they had not come. In a 2014 article taken from Billie’s welcoming address at the 10th anniversary celebration for the Tampa Hard Rock Casino & Hotel, Billie explained that a pig almost derailed his plans.
“Back in those days Ruby Osceola was still alive. She was the matriarch of the family in the village. And Bobby Henry just comes over and says, ‘James, no one wants to leave here because we got a pig that we want to bring.’ So, I said to Bobby: ‘So how come you guys don’t want to come without this pig.” And Grandma [Ruby Tiger Osceola] walked up and said, ‘When we leave here, (the pig) is gonna have to be at the village.’” So, Billie got the pig to the village, and Osceola gave her final blessing for the move.
She would move with 17 of her family members, making up the core of the Tampa Seminole community. Family member Keith Simmons shared after her passing that: “Whenever there were any major decisions, she was asked first what her thoughts were. She moved everybody up here and it was a better life for them” (16 June 2002, News-Press).
Osceola lived to be 106 years-old, passing away in 2002. In an article about her life and legacy, the author notes that Osceola’s passing coincided with the closure of the residential area of the Tampa Seminole Reservation. With the construction of the Tampa Hard Rock, many living on the Tampa Seminole Reservation had to sacrifice their homes. “She opened it, and now she’s closing it,” granddaughter Lilla Henry stated (15 June 2002, Tampa Bay Times).
The Lakeland Seminole Reservation
In 1999, the Tampa Seminole community made a huge sacrifice in the name of progress. In order to make room for the new Tampa Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tribal leadership asked about 100 of people living on the reservation to relocate and tore down the existing structures. The community fractured as progress marched on. But there was always the promise of a new home.
In 2006 the Seminole Tribe of Florida purchased 900 acres in unincorporated Polk County, Lakeland. The Seminole Tribe of Florida put the property into trust in 2016. Today, plans are underway for not only more home sites but also a community center, government buildings, and recreational buildings. Those displaced from Tampa are first on the list for homes, now in phase 2 construction.
At the groundbreaking in 2019 then-Brighton Councilman Andrew J. Bowers Jr. shared the importance of this new home. “Families here want to get back together and live among themselves,” he said. “When the casino came in and they had to move out, they wound up scattered throughout Hillsborough County. We had to find an area they could get together. We searched long and hard and settled on this land.” Bowers has been involved in the project from nearly the beginning.
Tribal members at the groundbreaking expressed hope and gratefulness for the future. “We’ve been waiting and waiting,” Bobby Henry said. “I feel real good about today. I need to keep talking to the young people, they don’t know enough about the culture, I just want to make people understand. As I get older, I feel like I want to go faster and do more things. I’m going to keep telling our people’s story.”
Tampa community members Susie Doctor, Jane Osceola, Bobby Henry and Linda Lee Henry toss dirt on the site of future Lakeland community.
Seminole Scenes in Tampa
James Billie (far left) and Cecil Johns (cowboy hat) pose with four unidentified people at a groundbreaking on the Tampa Reservation in 1984. (2015.6.14028, ATTK Museum)
The Tampa Reservation Bingo Hall. A Cadillac Coup de Ville is parked under a banner reading “Drive Me Home!” The picture was taken in 1983, and most likely the Cadillac was a high-stakes prize for bingo-goers. (2015.6.19015, ATTK Museum)
Bobby Henry wears a turban, gorgets and bigshirt and shakes hands with an unidentified man in a cowboy hat and purple dress shirt. (2015.6.26653, ATTK Museum.)
A stuffed and mounted black bear, on a rock. The specimen was originally donated to the Tribe through the Tampa Reservation and was first held at the Coo Taun-Cho Bee Museum in Tampa, Florida. The Seminole Tribe of Florida moved it in 2002 to the Ah-Tah-Thi Museum, and it resides in the Curatorial Building. It is not part of the collection but does have a name: Vlad. (GRP1910.29, ATTK Museum)
Bobby Henry wrestles an alligator in a pit on the Tampa Reservation at Bobby’s Seminole Village, circa 1980s? (2015.6.8356, ATTK Museum)
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.
