April 8 - Seminole Tribe of Florida

The Seminole Tribune 13 April 8, 2005Chairman is Grand Marshallat Speckled Perch FestivalBy Nery MejicanoOKEECHOBEE, FL— On March 12, SeminoleTribal Chairman MitchellCypress was honored with beingthe Grand Marshal of theSpeckled Perch parade on March12. The event was part of the37 th Annual Speckled PerchFestival, held on March 11-13.In addition to the chairman,Stephen Bowers andCharles Hiers represented theSeminole Color Guard during thefestivities. Several Seminolefloats were entered and carriedmost of the Seminole royalty,including Miss Seminole JoJoOsceola, Jr. Miss SeminoleKrystle Young, Little MissSeminole Shalynn Josh, BrightonSeminole Princess StephanieSmith, Brighton Jr. MissSeminole Sheila Jones and LittleMr. Seminole Matthew Osceola.All wore beautiful and colorfulSeminole clothing and were a hitamong the many locals andtourist attending the parade.After the very wellattended rodeo at the Cattleman’sArena, Joe Nichols, a youngcountry music artist was theheadliner for an evening concert.This is the first year that a musicevent was added to the festival,and judging by the enthusiasticresponse, it was a success.The OkeechobeeChamber of Commerce hostedthis event and, in addition to theparade and the music concert, there were many moreactivities including a car show, arts and crafts andSubmitted by Lola JuarezTAMPA — Several Seminole seniorsattended the well-known Chippendale’s show at theHard Rock Hotel & Casino on Valentines Day.The ladies were treated to dinner at theNery MejicanoChairman Mitchell Cypress, Carmen Arango and Charles Hiers.many delicious foods offered at the downtown FlaglerPark.Seniors Attend Chippendale Show(L-R) Nancy Frank ,Linda Henry, Annie Henry, Susie Doctor, Maggie Garcia, Peggy Cubis, JaneOsceola. In red: Lola Juarez, Elder Affairs Program Project Coordinator and Jackie Smith,Assistant Project Coordinator having dinner at the Green Room.Green Room, presented with baskets, flowers andcandy.After dinner, the ladies were given theopportunity to go backstage, meet the Chippendalesand take pictures.Seminole Tribe Recruits at Nova Job FairBy Iretta TigerDAVIE, FL — On March 13, AngellaDixon and Anthony Frank, of the HumanResources department, represented the SeminoleTribe at a job fair at Nova SoutheasternUniversity. The Seminole booth was one of themost well received with Dixon and Frank collectingmore than 50 applications and résumés.“I go into detail about the history of theTribe and what the Tribe is doing now,” saidDixon “They’ve been asking general questionsabout the Tribe and about the Hard Rock Hotel.”The day-long job fair had more than100 people stopping by the Seminole booth.If you missed the job fair, do notworry; you can still check out what positions areavailable with the Tribe by visitinghttp://www.seminoletribe.com/employment.shtml.Iretta TigerTribal employees Angela Dixon (left) and AnthonyFrank (right) recruiting for the Seminole Tribe.Seminole wins Baby Miss Moore HavenBy Emma BrownBRIGHTON —Brighton youngster Alice MiriamOsceola was recently crownedBaby Miss Moore Haven duringthe Chalo Nitka Festival. The contestwas judged on appearanceand personality, and Alice dazzledthe judges with her smile andbubbly personality.By Vida VolkertTALLAHASSEE, FL — Movin’ On, agroup of life-size bronze sculptures depicting a travelingMiccosukee family of the 1930s, was dedicated atthe R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee on March 15.“There is no better way to show a time periodthan showing a family of the time,” said sculptorBradley Cooley.The Miccosukeefamily sculptures include afather carrying a sack, amother with a baby in herarms and a child walkingalong the path. The familyis wearing typical patchworkclothes, and the motheris distinguished by ahairstyle that shades herface like a bonnet and multiplebeads around her neck.Typically, these beds werehanded down to the womenfor generations.The figures weredesigned and created byCooley and his son BradleyJr., of Lamont, Fla. TheCooleys were commissionedto do the sculpturesby Miccosukee TribalChairman Billy Cypress,who attended the ceremonyalong with Seminole TribalChairman MitchellCypress.Members of the Florida Governor’s Councilon Indian Affairs staff, including its ExecutiveDirector Joe Quetone, Florida Supreme Court JusticeHarry Lee Anstead, and Secretary of State Glenda E.Hood, joined them.During the ceremony Hood announced thatMarch 15 has been proclaimed by Governor Jeb Bushas Florida Native American Day. This particular daywas chosen because it is the opening day of HeritageMonth. On the same day next year another group ofbronze figures representing the Seminole War periodare planned to be dedicated. They are a total of fourAlice is a lovely littleprincess from the BrightonReservation and is the daughter ofRussell and Holly Osceola, andthe granddaughter of Norman andDebbie Johns, and RussellOsceola Sr., all of Brighton.Alice’s family wishes to congratulateher and let her know howproud they are of her.‘Movin On’ Miccosukee Sculptures UnveiledSubmitted by the Housing DepartmentHOLYWOOD — On March 3 the SeminoleTribe of Florida distinguished guest and AssistantSecretary of the Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment (HUD)Michael Minoru FawnLiu visited the Tribalheadquarters. He metwith members of theSeminole Housingdepartment, theTreasurer’s Office andthe ExecutiveAdministrative Officer.Liu was in townto attend a jointConsultation meetingbetween HUD, theUSET HousingCommittee and the GreatLakes Indian HousingAssociation held at theSeminole Hard RockHotel & Casino. Duringhis visit, Liu expressedthe desire to meet withpertinent Seminole Tribalstaff to commend themon the Tribe’s historicand longstanding participationin various HUD programs. He specificallyapplauded the Tribe’s recent pioneering success inlaunching the HUD Section 184 Program.President Moses B. Osceola invited Liu intohis office for a private chat and photo opportunity in areciprocal gesture to convey appreciation for the gooddifferent periods, including the European contact periodand Pre-Columbian period.Cooley and his son Bradley Jr., were selectedto do the statues because of their expertise working onSouth Eastern Tribal sculptures. Their work can beseen in the homes of many Seminole Tribal citizensas well as in many Tribal office buildings.Vida Volkert(L-R) Miccosukee Chairman Billy Cypress with Chariman Mitchell Cypress.In the late 1990s, they were commissionedby the Seminole Tribe to do life-size busts of theSeminole Tribal Council. Some of these busts are keptin display at the Tribal headquarters in Hollywood.The Cooleys are the creators of the largestbronze Seminole sculpture which is on display at theBillie Swamp Safari, and of the Seminole medicineman Abiaka or Sam Jones.The Cooleys’ work can be found in permanentcollections of the Daytona Museum of Arts andSciences, the Collier County Museum in Naples, theAh-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum and numerous other museumsand private collections around the country.HUD Assistant Secretary Meetswith Tribal Housing Departmentfaith efforts put forth by HUD. Osceola also wantedcommended HUD for continuing to work closely withIndian tribes across the country in the critically neededareas of housing and economic development.Felix DoBosz(L-R) Dorian Lange, Housing Director Michelle Thomas, Kevin Fitzgibbons,Michael Liu, President Moses Osceola, and Peter M. Russo.Housing Director D. Michele Thomas,Assistant Director Peter M. Russo, HUD Grant/FundManager Dorian T. Lange and Administrator of theEastern Woodlands Office of Native AmericanPrograms Kevin Fitzgibbons also joined Liu in theoffices of President Osceola.