In August 1957
the Seminole Tribe of Florida received its federal recognition without the
Miccosukee people. A strong dissident faction had been developing throughout
the 1950s among the Mikisuki-speaking Seminoles living along the Tamiami Trail.
To demonstrate to the US government and force the government to recognize the
Miccosukee Tribe, their leader, Buffalo Tiger led a group to Cuba in 1959 where
they asked Fidel Castro for, and were granted, international recognition as a
sovereign country within the United States. The following year the State of
Florida gave the Seminoles hunting, fishing and frogging rights to 14,620 acres
of the Everglades. In 1961 the Indians living along the Tamiami Trail organized
themselves as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. On January 11, 1962,
the Secretary of the Interior approved the Miccosukee Constitution and the
Tribe was officially recognized by the US government as the Miccosukee Tribe of
Indians of Florida, legally establishing their existence and their sovereignty
within the US. Later they acquired several pieces of land in parts of the
Everglades and Miami areas to serve as their own reservation including much of
the 14,620 acres of land previously given to the Seminole. In 1967 there were
150 members of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and 200 unorganized
Mikasukis living in the area.
According to
the Miccosukee Constitution, the governing body of the Tribe is the Miccosukee
General Council which is comprised of adult members 18 years or older. The
officers of the General Council are: the Chairman, Assistant Chairman,
Treasurer, Secretary and Lawmaker. Each officer holds office for a four year
term. This group also has the position and responsibilities as the Miccosukee
Business Council.
On May 4, 1971,
officers of the Miccosukee Corporation, acting on behalf of the Miccosukee
Tribe, signed a contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs authorizing the
corporation to operate all programs and services provided for the Miccosukee
Community formerly administered by the BIA. The Tribal intent in negotiating
this matter was clear; the people wished to decide their own fate and gradually
develop total independence.
Membership in
the Tribe is open to individuals who have Miccosukee mothers and are not
enrolled in any other Tribe. They are direct descendants of those who eluded
capture. The Miccosukee service area is comprised of Tribal members residing
along the Tamiami Trail from Miami to Naples. The total population of the
Miccosukee service area is about 640.
Today the Tribe
operates a health clinic, police department, judicial system, day care center,
community action agency and an educational system ranging from a Head Start
pre-school program through senior high school, adult vocation and higher
education programs. Their programs incorporate traditional Indian and
non-Indian ways. All programs are located in the Tamiami Trail Reservation where
the Miccosukee Community resides.
The Miccosukee
enterprises include a Tribal restaurant and general store, service station and
Indian Village on the Tamiami Trail Reservation; an Indian gaming casino, bingo
and hotel complex and tobacco shop on the Krome Avenue Reservation; and an
outstanding golf and country club facility, full service gas station and
service plaza on the Alligator Alley Reservation.
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