April 8 - Seminole Tribe of Florida

The Seminole Tribune 3 April 8, 2005Annual Cattle Drive Stops TrafficIretta TigerTrail boss Esther Buster (right) and the Chuck Wagon operator. InouyeContinued from page 1Though it is a tough undertakingto come up with a solution to a problem,such as the one Inouye says faces IndianCountry, he did offer a starting off point.He suggested placing a heavy amount ofemphasis on tomorrow’s leaders–the youthof today. Inouye suggested forming a committeeor think tank of Indian youth thatwill solely discuss going beyond casinosfor Tribal revenue.“It’s a big challenge ahead of us,”he said. “I don’t know what’s ahead of us,but I’d rather try and fail than not try.”Inouye, however, assured theTribal leaders at the conference that “I’mready to join; you just tell me when.”Trudell expressed confidence in Inouye’scommitment to Tribal economic developmentand said the senator has “alwaysbeen there for us.”Following his speech, the senatorleft quickly to get some rest before he hadto attend a reception in his honor hostedby the Tribe. He said he toured variousSeminole Tribe of Florida, Inc. businessventures and encouraged all conferenceattendees to do the same. The Tribeoffered an optional tour to interested personson March 23, the day after the conference.The evening reception that tookplace in the Hard Rock ballroom wasattended by the members of the TribalCouncil and Board and MiccosukeeChairman Billy Cypress. ChairmanMitchell Cypress and President Moses B.Osceola presented Inouye with a Seminolejacket and Hollywood CouncilRepresentative Max B. Osceola Jr. andHollywood Board Representative DavidDeHass presented him with a Hard RockHotel & Casino guitar. Miss IndianNations Bobbi Rae Sage also sung a traditionalsong in the senator’s honor.“I am deeply honored by yourdemonstrations of friendship,” Inouyesaid. “‘Aloha’ means ‘I love you all.’ Toall of you, I love you.”Himself a WWII veteran, Inouyealso took the time to recognized NativeAmerican war veterans. Inouye said of alldemographic groups in the U.S. at the timemore Indians per capita “put on a uniform”in WWII than any other group.“As long as I have breath in mylife,” Inouye said. “I will stand with you.”This year’s event honored pastfemale cattle ownersBy Iretta TigerBIG CYPRESS — On a beautiful, cool Saturdaymorning the swamp came alive to smell and sounds of cattle.Why were there cattle in the swamp? On March 19,the Cattlemen’s Association held its Ninth Annual JuniorCypress Rodeo and Cattle Drive. This year the cattle drivewas a “Tribute to three generations of women cattle owners.”Ester Buster, granddaughter of Junior Cypress,was the honorary trail boss.The cattle drive started three miles south of BillieSwamp Safari on West Boundary Road and began at 10a.m. At noon, the cattle drive took a break for lunch.Several tribal officials joined the cattle drive,including Chairman Mitchell Cypress and President MosesOsceola. Many other Seminole Tribal citizens also participated.“We do this to remind ourselves where we comefrom,” said co-organizer Richard Bowers Jr.Bowers then introduced two of the four womenfor whom the cattle drive is dedicated to. The first wasEster Buster, honorary trail boss.Bowers then asked Moses Jumper to introducehis mother Betty Mae Jumper. She shared her memories ofgrowing up around cattle. Moses Jumper Jr. next read apoem he wrote in honor of the cattlemen past and present.Chairman Cypress expressed his appreciation ofJumper and told of a time when she helped him to findclarity.“Betty Mae is a legend within the SeminoleTribe,” said Cypress. “She’s a very special person.”The two other women who were honored wereAgnes Cypress and Mabel Frank. Both were not present atthe cattle drive.The second half of the cattle drive went throughthe main street of the reservation and down Josie BillieHighway. The drive ended at the Junior Cypress RodeoArena, where everyone enjoyed a barbecue dinner followedby a rodeo that everyone enjoyed well into theevening.If you wish to participate in next year’s cattledrive, contact Big Cypress Cattle and Range at (863) 983-4141.Submitted by Wanda BowersDENVER, CO — Tribal citizenChristine McCall had the honor of representingthe Seminole Tribe of Florida asMiss Florida Seminole at the 31st AnnualDenver March Pow-Wow. She was veryTrail boss Esther Buster (left) leads the cowboys.McCall Represents Tribe at Denver Pow-Wowwell received at the Pow-Wow; when theyannounced her as being from Hollywood,Fla. she received loud applause.While dancing during the Pow-Wow, Christine made new friends and gotto say “hello again” to old friends fromChristine McCall (center) with other Tribal royalty at the Denver Pow-Wow.Cattle Drive participants make their way past the Ahfachkee School.Wanda BowersIretta TigerIretta Tigeracross Pow-Wow country. Christine wasone of 104 princesses from across thecountry who were there representing theirrespective Tribe proudly.The royalties were announceddaily at all Grand Entries throughout theweekend. The Pow-Wow started onFriday morning at 11 a.m. and did notfinish until 11 p.m. that evening; thiscontinued the same throughout theweekend. With the two hour timechange, you can imagine what a longday it was for her.On top of the long day,Christine had the added responsibilityof two jobs that weekend. The firstone was representing her Tribe and thesecond was to brush up on her dancecategory, which is dancing SouthernCloth. Southern Cloth is one of thecategories that she will be judged onduring the Miss Indian World Pageantbeing held in Albuquerque, N.M.,April 28–30.She was even selling her raffletickets to dancers and vendors inbetweenher dancing. The people therewere more then happy to buy a raffleticket to support her in the Miss IndianWorld Pageant.Christine got to dance onelast Southern Cloth and line up, beforerushing out, with her regalia still on, tothe airport to make her flight–whichshe made by the skin of her teeth.Battiest Reaches for the StarsNery MejicanoThe Arts and Crafts Store, better known as Mrs. Saide’s Store, falls to the ground.Mrs. Sadie’s Store DemolishedThe end of anera, but newstore will openBy Nery MejicanoBIG CYPRESS —On March 30, the Big CypressArts and Crafts Store, knownby most residents as Mrs.Sadie’s Store, fell beneath theweight of a bright yellowCaterpillar to give way to anew store, to open in April ofthis year. Mrs. Sadie’s storewas a historical fixture at theBig Cypress reservation, andfor many years one of the onlytwo stores in the community.Tommy Billie, Mrs. Sadie Billieand their daughters, Janice and CarolineBillie stood by as the tractor pushed theold familiar wooden building into a pile ofrubble that will now become part of thelarge parking lot of their new store.It was a symbolic and historicmoment seeing the familiar building whichfor many years was the first businessencountered by the community andtourists coming from Interstate I-75 intothe Big Cypress reservation. The smallstore sold an array of convenient foodsfrom early morning Spam® sandwiches tohot dogs, sodas and an array of handmadeSeminole crafts.Nery MejicanoThe Billies, (L-R) Tommy, Janice, Caroline andSadie watch the old store being demolished.Recently, Mrs. Sadie had a chickeebuilt next to the store to give the workersand visitors a place in the shade wherethey could enjoy the morsels and refreshingdrinks bought at her store. In contrastto the small wooden building, the newstore, a beautiful concrete building with ashiny blue metal roof, stands ready to openfor business in the next few weeks.The new store best illustrates theprogress of the Big Cypress reservation,which during the last few years has beenat the vanguard of change and developmentwhile, at the same time, maintainingthe integrity of the Seminole culture andits traditions.By Iretta TigerHOLLYWOOD — One of thegreatest things in life to witness is someonestriving for their dreams and watchingit come true; and it’s especiallygreat when it happensto a young person. SpencerBattiest, 14, was one of severalstudents chosen to representhis Miami school,the John Robert PowersSchool System.More than 600students auditioned andBattiest placed in the top 25of those invited to participatein Ipop. Ipop is a talentsearch which will take placein New York City in July2005 and will be televisednationwide.Before you thinkAmerican Idol, rememberthis: auditions are a part ofthe school’s curriculum andthese auditions are formajor heavyweight talentagents.On March 13,friends and family dined atthe Council Oak in celebrationof Battiest’s accomplishment.It’s an accomplishmenthe’s been workingtowards for more than ayear.Battiest first gotinvolved with acting at theChickee Church, butbecame serious when heheard an ad for DisneyChannel auditions andreserved a spot. He thoughtthe audition was for theDisney Channel, but itturned out that the auditionwas for the John RobertPowers School System.Out of 200 kids that auditioned,nine were picked and Battiest was amongthem. This was only the beginning; beforeBattiest could attend there were three moremeetings with the school, one of whichwas another audition.Battiest has been at the school fora year now and has been training in actingSpencer Battiestfor the last 15 weeks. He is excited abouthis upcoming vocal training.“I just want to be a role model forother Seminole kids,” said Battiest. “Iwant them to become successful.”If you’ve ever heard Battiest perform,one would think that the last thinghe needs is training. No one could forgethis incredible performance ata Florida Panthers gamewhen he sang the NationalAnthem.“I tell Spencer hehas to be authentic, be real,”said Junior Battiest,Spencer’s father.Battiest has such anatural acting and singingability, an agent in LosAngeles, Calif. is ready tomove him there today.His last auditionwas for renowned castingdirector Joey Paul Jensen.Jensen usually casts forDisney and Nickelodeon andwas the casting director forteen star Hillary Duff’smovie “Raise Your Voice.”Battiest didextremely well and receiveda huge star on his critiquefrom Jensen.The March 13 dinnerwas also a thank you tothose who have supportedBattiest; both Spencer andJunior thanked Trail LiaisonWilliam Osceola. Osceolasponsored a photo shoot withcelebrity photographer JohnBeckett.The photos havehelped Battiest in his auditions;he said he alwaysreceives compliments forthem.Iretta TigerThough Battiest’sfamily fully supports himthey took no credit for whatBattiest has accomplished.“He did it all on hisown,” said June Battiest, Spencer’s mother.“He found the school, auditioned, andauditioned for Ipop.”