On February 13, 14 and 15, the Seminole Indian Reservation will come alive with the recreation of an early native village at the culture camp. Native Americans dressed in their colorful patchwork clothing will demonstrate basket weaving, beadwork, and carving as the wonderful smell of traditional frybread and pork chops rise from stilted chickees. “This festival is all about our history for us,” explained Amos Tiger, who has been the director of the Fred Smith Rodeo Arena since 2007. “It is a way of life we try to bring back with the culture camp.” Called Florida’s ‘true natives,’ the Seminole people are an important part of the state’s history and will play a valuable role in its future. “There was a time period after the Seminole Wars, up to 1957 (when the reservation was established), that our people were rich in our heritage and rich in our culture, but to the outside world we were considered poor. That time period was a struggle,” said Norman “Skeeter” Bowers, assistant to the office of Seminole Chairman James E. Billie. Approximately 500 Native Americans, the majority of who are Creek descendants, live on the 36,000-acre reservation. Primarily a farming community, it has two grove operations and is headquarters for the Seminole tribe’s over 10,000 head cattle
Heartland LIVING February March 2015
PRCA Cowboys signing autographs to the spectators at the Signature Fanzone.
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