MIAMI – CBS Information Miami’s Hank Tester not too long ago caught up with Tina Osceola at the Council Oak on the Seminole reservation, a classic gathering area for Seminole leaders. The tree and surrounding park are on the Nationwide Register of Historic Places and a great location to talk about Betty Mae Tiger Jumper.
Osceola, a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, serves as equally the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and the Director of the plan.
“Betty Mae is just one of the most profound women of all ages that we have, I assume in the Seminole tribe,” she explained.
In 1967, Betty Mae Tiger Jumper grew to become the to start with feminine chairwoman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
“Our lifestyle is matriarchal. Women are leaders and Betty is a frequent reminder of that,” reported Osceola.
Tiger was the first Florida Seminole to graduate from high college and a nursing application. Quite a few kid’s guides about her existence are still in print and readily available on Amazon.
For Betty Mae Tiger Jumper. it was a hard road. Born in 1923 to a white father and Seminole mother, Tiger Betty faced a huge challenge.
“She grew up at a time wherever currently being a 50 % breed, like, like, myself of staying half white, one thing that was not extremely common, was not supported both,” claimed Osceola.
Tiger could not go to “white educational facilities” for the reason that she was viewed as an Indian and she could not go to segregated educational facilities since she was not Black and was thought of white. So it was off to a boarding faculty out of point out. There she acquired English, finally attending nursing college in Oklahoma. In the late 1940’s she returned to take care of tribal users who were not always accepting of her or the “White Man’s Medicine.”
“So for Betty May to pioneer medication in that period of time is unbelievable,” said Osceola.
Tiger was a pioneer in preservation. She launched the to start with Seminole newspaper, later on serving as the editor of the award-winning Seminole Tribune. Osceola reported Tiger was all about preserving heritage, receiving it published down for foreseeable future tribal generations to take up. The Seminole Tribue was nominated for a Pulitzer prize.
“As a lady searching at, at that and staying elevated as a small lady observing Betty Mae go as a result of her life was the cause why I imagine several of us girls determined to get involved in tribal governing administration,” claimed Osceola as thumbed by means of e book about Tiger entitled A Seminole Legend: The Everyday living of Betty Mae Tiger. “Nothing at all saved her back. I suggest you can inform she was a force to be reckoned with.”
The e-book specifics a daily life of service, preservation, remaining robust, currently being acknowledged nationally, finding the tribe out of credit card debt, and however staying wholly grounded as a seller marketing Seminole arts and crafts at exhibitions and shows across Florida.
“She was a diplomat for the tribe way too. I imply prolonged following she was out of place of work right until she handed, she was a tribal diplomat and she was, she represented the tribe in Tallahassee,” mentioned Osceola.
She additional that Tiger was an incredible woman and had an remarkable story. Turned down as a small woman, she manufactured it to the leading of the Seminole tribe and left quite a legacy.
