AUGUST
1999
SEMINOLES WERE BRAVE , PROUD AND HARD TO DEFEAT
By Dana Peck
Special to the Florida State Times
The choice was clear in 1947 for students
at the newly created Florida State University for women and men:
would they be called Florida Crackers or Florida Seminoles?
Ultimately, by decree or popular vote, the Seminole Indian became
FSU's official symbol.
"We celebrate that symbolism," said Jim Melton, the
president of FSU's Alumni Association. "It represents the
history and spirit of an unconquered people."
Supporters, among them the Seminole tribe of Florida, say
they value the alliance: FSU supporters take pride in being represented
by a people who withstood the U.S. government's costly futile
attempts to drive them west, and went on to build a prosperous
way of life in the swamps of South Florida.
Likewise, the Seminole tribe of Florida, in the words of the
chief, James E. Billie, is proud to be honored by FSU.
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University leaders say the attributes of the Seminole people
are desirable character traits for students. Those traits in
Florida history are documented in acts of bravery, pride and
unyielding resistance to oppression.
A quick scan of the Seminoles' story of survival reveals incredible
resistance to the might of the United States of America.
During the 19th century, when the federal government forced
Seminoles, along with other Indian tribes in the Southeast United
States, to give up their land and walk the "Trail of Tears"
to Oklahoma, many of Florida's Seminoles said no.
Instead they took to the Everglades and, until 1842, practiced
guerilla warfare that cost the United States more than $20 million,
and resulted in the deaths of 1,500 soldiers.
Thirteen years later, during the Third Seminole War, with
no more than a few hundred Seminoles left in Florida, the United
States captured the Seminole leader, Chief Billie Bowlegs, but
eventually withdrew its exhausted soldiers from the war without
having secured a treaty.
Today the small group of Seminole survivors has grown tenfold,
to about 2,500 people settled on six reservations in Florida.
Through the decades, the tribe has built an empire of profitable businesses: aircraft construction, citrus farming, gaming and tourism. Each year the tribe also pays more than $3 million in federal employment taxes, and spends more than $24 million purchasing goods and services from other Florida vendors.
In addition, the Seminole tribe of Florida owns a broadcast
station and a newspaper and has recently opened Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki,
a museum of Seminole culture.
This year the Seminole Tribe of Florida joined FSU in sponsoring
a golf tournament with the Orlando Seminole Club to raise money
for the university's golf course.
As a gesture of goodwill, the Seminoles created a special chant
for FSU. When spoken, the chant is supposed to bring good fortune.
In addition, Chief Howard Tommie, Billie's predecessor, gave approval for FSU to establish what has become an annual tradition at home football games: Before the game begins, a student representing Osceola, one of the most illustrious of Indian leaders, rides onto the football field atop an appaloosa and holds a flaming spear over his head as if ready to go to battle. Although the drama is probably not historically accurate - Seminoles used rifles, not spears, to fight their battles - it's popular.
From time to time, there have been less admired uses of the
Seminole as a symbol of Florida State.
In the 1970s, there was an attempt to have "Chief Full O'
Bull" represent the university, and, more recently, there
was the emergence of a more cartoon-like "Sammy Seminole"
logo, and also a suggestion for a "Dr. Nole, the medicine
man." But those ideas were quashed with objections from
various groups of leaders as disrespectful.
Remaining, though, is the Scalp Hunters' Club, an unofficial
organization of young male fans. The group is not registered
with the university, according to Jon Dalton, FSU's vice president
for student affairs.
"That's why it's so hard to regulate them," Dalton
said.
In the past, young women had a Scalp Hunters' Club, too, but,
with the encouragement of university leaders, changed their name
to Spirit Hunters, out of respect for the Seminoles, who did
not traditionally resort to scalping. (The Spirit Hunters are
registered, Dalton said.)
The Scalp Hunters' Club is "terribly offensive" to Joe A. Quetone, a member of the Kiowa tribe and the executive director of Florida Governor's Council on Indian Affairs Inc. Nevertheless, Quetone is proud of the alliance of his alma mater, FSU, with the Seminoles. "Overall the university has made the attempt to keep out the offensive nonsense," Quetone said.
For more information about the Seminole tribe, go to www.seminoletribe.com.