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| Volume XXV, Number 11 | August 13, 2004 |
2004 Keeper of the Land Teachings Conference
By Iretta Tiger
ORLANDO, FL — Seminole families traveled to the Royal Pacific Hotel in Orlando, Fla. for the 2004 Ham-ma-ha-ye-key-ket Yak-nee-she-le-ha-lot-le (Keeper of Land Teachings) conference. The week-long gathering began on July 5.
Though the conference had not officially begun, many of the Seminole families participated in pre-conference events such as the legends storytelling and the making of traditional arts and crafts. Most of the boys were very enthusiastic about beadwork, but they tended to shy away from basket making and sewing.
Chairman Cypress and several tribal officials opened the conference with greetings and encouragement. Junior Miss Brittany Smith also greeted everyone and urged the girls to try out for the upcoming Miss Seminole and Junior Miss Seminole pageants.
A special guest was added to the agenda and she was the first speaker. Leatrice “Chick” Big Crow of the Pine Ridge Reservation lost her teenage daughter in a car accident. SuAne Big Crow was a straight-A student and gained national and international attention playing basketball for the National Indian Basketball team.
After SuAne’s passing, Leatrice created the SuAne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club on the Pine Ridge Reservation in SuAne’s honor. It wasn’t SuAne’s achievements that inspired Leatrice; it was her outlook on life.
“ SuAne was always doing something to make life better for those around her” said Leatrice “From SuAne, I learned that you have the power to change people.”
At the conclusion of the presentation, Hollywood Council Representative Max Osceola, Jr. and Josephine North presented Big Crow with a Seminole jacket.
Robert North and Herbert Jim introduced the Ultimate Warrior Challenge. This program is for the Seminole youth and it was created to teach them traditional values by taking them out of their comfortable surroundings and putting them into nature. A video was shown about the first group of Seminole youth who participated in a recent rafting trip in Idaho.
“ At first, the kids were kind of closed,” said North. “But the more they experienced and worked together, they opened up and started talking.”
To learn about the Ultimate Warrior Challenge read Seminoles Participate in Ultimate Warrior Challenge in the July 2, 2004 edition of The Seminole Tribune. The video will be shown on WSBC, the Seminole broadcasting channel.
Several times during the conference Bobby Henry, Victor Billie and Herbert Jim spoke about traditional ways. The topics ranged from the creation of the first man and woman to being respectful to each other. Max Osceola, Jr. gave a lesson on the history of the tribe.
The highlight of the conference was a trip to Blue Spring State Park, which is also a Timucua Indian Site. Each conference participant was given an information packet about the Timucua Indians.
At the park the kids canoed and swam in the spring. They saw alligators in the St. Johns River and manatees in the spring. The beautiful clear spring was too tempting to pass up so this reporter jumped in fully clothed. The 72 degree spring was the perfect solution to the Florida heat.
After lunch, everyone enjoyed a game of stickball. At first the game started out somewhat politely, but then the game really got underway, and it got competitive. The women really let the men have it and it would be fair to say that they dominated. This was very apparent when Virginia Osceola took on Victor Billie; poor Victor.
To cool off, almost everyone went swimming again, but the day was cut short by a bad thunderstorm.
One presentation that really stood out was the tribal career development program. The program is for the Seminole tribal citizens who want a career in the gaming industry and it offers the unique opportunity of hands-on experience in all levels of gaming.
Interns of the program spoke in turn about their experiences and how it has changed their lives.
“ It was a growing and learning experience. I have goals now, I’ve matured,” said Marlon Billie, who is in the second and final year of the program.
When the internship is completed, the person is placed in area they specialize in. If a position is not available in that department the person is kept on until a position is available.
Though the interns are tribal citizens they do not receive any special treatment and that was emphasized by the tribal council. The citizens represent the tribe and that fact is taken into serious consideration.
“ This program is impressive. These people are our present day warriors” said David DeHass, Hollywood Board Representative “We’ve got to take care of our businesses and that’s what warriors do is take care of the tribe.”
Every evening the conference would end with parents and children working into the night on arts and crafts. These crafts would be displayed at the closing ceremony.
Before we get to the closing ceremony there is one eventful evening that needs to be mentioned, the night of the luau.
Bobby Henry, Cody Billie, Alex Escobar and Skyla Osceola celebrated their birthdays during the conference. Cody Billie was brought to the stage and presented with a birthday cake. Henry was given a choice of the luau dancers, who sat him onstage and danced around him. Henry also received a personal dance lesson from one of the dancers.
Though not his birthday, Herbert Jim showed everyone why he’s the man when he unabashedly took on all the dancers. They told him to wave goodbye to his wife, and he did.
On the last day of the conference the children either participated in one of three skits or read the essay they wrote. In both the skits and essays they had to explain what they learned at the conference.
Jo North and Robert North presented Victor Osceola with a short sleeve Seminole jacket made by Virginia Osceola. Osceola had made the jacket during the conference at the arts and crafts session in the evenings.
At the end, everyone formed a big circle and each person spoke what was on their minds.
Jo North acknowledged Jasper Tommie, Mia Sapp, R.C. North, Austin Billie and Amber Jim for their contributions in organizing the conference. The implementation of these Seminole youths came from the encouragement of Max Osceola, Jr. North would also like to thank the steering committee.
Planning for the 2005 conference will begin in October of this year. Possibilities include the Okmulgee mounds in Georgia and gravesites in South Carolina. The purpose is to get the youth to experience history first hand.
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