American Royalty Sculpture Unveiled in Tallahassee

Tribal Council, Princess, Tampa Citizens Attend

By Wanda F. Bowers

TALLAHASSEE — Governor Charlie Crist joined Tribal Council representatives Chairman Mitchell Cypress; Andrew Bowers, Brighton representative; and Sally R. Tommie, Fort Pierce Liaison, at the unveiling of the American Royalty bronze sculptures on the morning of March 15.

The sculpture series now stands outside the R.A. Grey Building, located at 500 S. Bronough St. in downtown Tallahassee. It features three separate statues: a king and queen and their male servant, who carries the king’s deerskin robe.

Crist unveiled American Royalty to the public. The date chosen for the unveiling coincided with the fourth annual Florida Heritage Month, celebrated March 15 through April 15. Following the unveiling, Crist shook hands with the chairman and Bowers.

Miss Florida Seminole Brittany Yescas, Princess Chaperone Wanda Bowers, 2005-2006 Miss Florida Seminole Christine McCall also attended. The Tampa reservation was well represented with Tribal citizens Peggy Cubis, Susie Doctor, Nancy Frank, Maggie Garcia, Annie Henry, Bobby Henry and Linda O. Henry attending.

This is the third of four in a series of statues titled Indian Heritage Tableau, all created by the Bronze by Cooley team of Lamont, Fla. Bronze by Cooley, consisting of father Brad Cooley and son Bradley Cooley Jr., created the tableau as an homage to Florida’s native peoples.

All three groups of sculptures created to date can be seen outside the R.A. Grey Building. The final work in the series, to be housed at the same location, will feature Indians from the pre-Columbian era. It is slated for unveiling in March 2008.

American Royalty depicts Floridian Indians in the 1500s, the time of colonization by Europeans. The Cooleys studied drawings by 16th century French artist Jacques Le Moyne to maintain historic integrity when creating the sculptures. LeMoyne traveled throughout the Jacksonville area and artistically recorded the Timucuan people of the area.

The first set of sculptures, titled Movin’ On, features a Miccosukee family from the 20th century. Movin’ On was unveiled to the public on March 15, 2005. The second features a Seminole man, woman and child and is titled Seminole Family. This bronze likeness of 19th century Seminoles was unveiled on March 15, 2006.

After the unveiling of American Royalty, the group of Seminole citizens, several invited members of the public and museum staff went into the museum for refreshments. Cypress expressed his view of the day’s events and explained how important it is to continue this recognition of Native Americans in Florida.