Seminoles Defeat Government Troops at Kissimmee Slough Shootout

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The Seminole Tribune 8 February 6, 2004Shelley MarmorAfter several speeches explaining the importance of Snake Warrior’sIsland, politicians and other county officials prepared to officially openthe park. Included in the ceremony were Bill Steele, Deputy TribalHistoric Preservation Officer for the Seminole Tribe of Florida (3rd fromright), Broward County Mayor Ilene Liberman, (5th from left), andMiramar Mayor Lori Cohen Mosley (5th from right).Shelley MarmorElevated land area Bill Steele noticed in the early 1990s. After carefulstudy he and others were able to prove Chitto Tustenuggee once livedhere.Snake Warrior Honored With ParkThe Seminole Tribe’s DeputyTribal Historic PreservationOfficer plays part in provingSeminole warrior once livedthere.By Shelley MarmorMIRAMAR, FL — Chitto Tustenuggee, orSnake Warrior, inhabited what is now 6301 SW 62 Ave.in Miramar, Fla. about 175 years ago. On WednesdayJan. 21 Broward County and the City of Miramar dedicatedthe land to him at a now-public 53.3 acre parkcalled Snake Warrior’s Island Natural Area, located ineastern Miramar, north of County Line Road.The park consists of two distinct areas, a northand south island. Officials from the Broward CountyParks and Recreation Department along with theBroward County Office of Environmental Servicesteamed up to recreate what the park would have lookedlike when Tustenuggee lived there. Consequently, manyanimals that would have lived on the land duringTustenuggee’s time, including wood storks, ospreys andturtles, now regularly visit the park.The opening ceremony began with invocationby Matthew Lee Smith, Senior Pastor at the MiramarEvangelical Free Church. In addition, community officialsincluding Broward County Mayor Ilene Liberman,and Miramar Mayor Lori Cohen Mosley attended theceremony.“I think this park is a symbol of how we preservewhere we came from by still going forward,”Mosley said during her speech. “By having a marriageof the past and the present, we make the future for ourchildren tomorrow.”Bill Steele, Deputy Tribal HistoricPreservation Officer for the tribe, also spoke during theceremony. He informed the crowd of about 100 peoplethat Snake Warrior’s Island “is the oldest knownSeminole town that has been found.”Steele recalled noticing the land that is nowSnake Warrior’s Island in the early 1990s.While working on an excavation project at JoeRobbie Stadium he drove down County Line Roaddaily, which passes the site that is now the park. He saidhe noticed an elevated land area and began to wonder ifit had any archaeological significance.He recalls telling a fellow archaeologist, “Anelevation change like this really is where people live,because it’s a real change in the environment.”It turned out the elevated land did have significance;it was actually the north island at today’s SnakeWarrior’s Island.A crew from the Archaeological and HistoricalConservancy, where Steele worked at the time, beganexcavating the site in 1992 after the Trust for PublicLands and the Florida Emergency ArchaeologicalProperty Acquisition Fund paid $1.973 million andsaved the land from development. The crew uncoveredSeminole artifacts including kaskaskia fishing and huntingpoints, and glass beads.Though archaeologists uncovered these importantartifacts, Steele says a map from 1840 provided themost proof that the Seminoles actually used the area.This map showed a river passage that took travelersdirectly to Big Cypress from today’s Snake Warrior’sIsland, and had “passage for small boats across the evergladesas reported by the Indians” written on it.At the time this map was written, Florida wasmostly underwater, with only five of its 35 million acresabove water. Snake Warrior’s Island is located whereSnake Creek cuts through the Atlantic Coastal Ridge,and Steele said the Seminoles used this as their mainthoroughfare, canoeing on its waters, and walkingacross the land when the waters dried up.“From the earliest times that the Seminolesoccupied this part of South Florida, this has been theroad,” he said.Besides helping prove the Seminoles used theland, Steele also assisted in proving the land was onceChitto Tustenuggee’s island camp. He said one big cluecame from the Buckingham Smith report written in1848, which Tustenuggee is written about in. Accordingto Steele, this report, written by Smith, a St. Augustinearistocrat, is known among archeologists as “the beginningof scientific knowledge of the Everglades.”Proving Tustenuggee did in fact inhabit theisland also helped Steele with another important finding.Before discovering the Snake River’s Island site, mostpeople believed the Seminoles came to Florida muchlater than they actually did.Perhaps the most important finding at the sitewas a British Royal Marine hat insignia. Steele said duringthe War of 1812, many British officers providedsupplies to the native peoples in hopes of getting themto fight on the side of the British and against the U.S.He says this proves Seminoles must have occupiedSnake Warrior’s Island in 1812 or the hat insigniawould not have shown up there.“They use to think the Seminoles came here in1830,” he said. “This started to show they didn’t comehere in 1830, they were already here by 1813.”“This site was the beginning of our understandingthat the Seminoles had been in South Florida a lotlonger than we ever believed,” he continued.Though most archaeological sites and findingsusually spark debate among the archaeological community,Steel said this one did not. He said that was likelybecause they uncovered a “preponderance of evidence.”Steele says that while the park itself is significant,the significance really lies in the bigger historicalpicture the park helps provide. He says Snake Warrior’sIsland assists in helping people understand a “regionalinterpretation of history” of Seminoles in Florida.“We’re actually getting to the point where youcould do a tour of Native American history for theregion,” he said. “You could go from Okeechobee; youcould up to the Brighton reservation. You could go allthe way around and tell a story of South Florida in waythat no one has ever told it.”While the state of Florida technically ownsSnake Warrior’s Island and Broward County manages itthrough a lease agreement with the state, Steele says,“this park is almost 100 percent a Seminole park.”For more information on Snake Warrior’sIsland please call the Broward County Parks andRecreation Department at (954) 357-8100.
The Seminole Tribune 9 February 6, 2004Family Services vMeet the Family Services Staff: Who We Are, What We DoCrissie Carter, Marla Dale, Billie Napper and Laura Heritier met withEducation Department Staff during their community meeting inImmokalee. Here, Laura, Crissie, and Norita Yzaquirre discuss collaboratingwith some prevention services, such as SADD, MADD, SWAT, for thecommunity. Norita, Billie and Laura know that the stronger their relationship,the more advantages it provides to the young people of the Tribe, sothey continue to work on improving that relationship.Linda Knee, Tom Ryan, Crissie Carter, Cindy Corriher,Tony Bullington at Tampa Education Community Meeting.Marla Dale, Noella Nuñez O'Donnell, SGT. Phil Gonzalez, and BillieNapper plan a meeting to provide information to the seniors. Sgt. Philand the Immokalee Family Services Staff have established a goodworking relationship and through open communication are workingtogether to help the community be as safe as possible, especially for ourseniors.Family Services: Committed toHealthy RelationshipsRelationship is a word that inducesmany mental pictures, triggers memoriesand stirs emotions. It encompassesthe heart of family life, the domainof marriage, parent and child, and all mannersof friendship. Of all that can be said,healthy relationships are crucial to happinessand productivity in every realm ofsociety whether it be individually, the familyunit or the work place.The Family Services Departmentis dedicated to assisting community membersin developing healthy, happy and productiverelationships. Most of the servicesand programs offered by the departmentaddress issues intricately associated withrelationships. To provide quality services,the staff seeks to relate well with eachother, other departments and communitymembers.The Family Services staff meetstogether weekly to discuss schedules andplans for the week. Staff members participatein monthly individual supervisionwith the site supervisor and group sessionsto process personal issues. Bimonthly, thestaff meets for treatment team, to reviewcases and to receive input so that we canbetter serve the clients and family members.The staff regularly meets withmembers of other departments to discoverways to best serve the community.Medical and health issues are addressedwith the clinic staff and Health Educator,and the Education Department is often atmeetings to discuss student needs, communityactivities and assistance for parents.Family Services staff attends parent advisorycommittee meetings, coordinatesactivities with the Recreation Department,Seminole Police, Senior Centers, and more.The Family Services Departmentis committed to contributing to healthyrelationships for all community members.The staff is ready and willing to assist withresources and by modeling healthy relationshipsin the office and with otherdepartments.Shelly Walker, Director of the Pullout Program meets withBrighton Family Services Counselors, Kay Begin and HaroldBaxley.Marisol GarciaMarisol Garcia started working with the Seminole Tribe ofFlorida in May 2002 as a secretary for Family ServicesDepartment, in Big Cypress. With her organizationalskills she keeps the office running smoothly. She is friendly andoutgoing, always with a smile on her face greeting those whocome to her window. She keeps the family services staff on theirtoes helping them meet their deadlines. Her duties go beyond thefront desk. She also participates in organized activities, such assoftball games, halloween carnival, etc. and always willing tolend a hand. She is a mother of three kids, two girls and one boy.Family Services Counselors, Kelli Burgess and Lois Jenkins,meet with Barbara Boling, Health Educator.Crissie Carter, Family Services Department, and StanFrischman, Recreation Department working together on acommunity drug prevention project.Treatment Team Meeting in Brighton: Kay Begin, Lois Jenkins, Harold Baxley, KelliBurgess, Marla Dale and Tony Bullington.Characteristics ofHealthy RelationshipsHow many of the following attitudes and \behaviors are present in your relationships?Marjorie Halstead & Crissie CarterMarjorie Halstead is the Administrative Assistant for theFamily Services Department, working directly forCrissie Carter, for just over two months. Crissie is ahappy, fast-paced, quick thinking, understaning multi-tasker,while Marjorie is a little slower paced but sure, energetic,dependable, organized multi-tasker. The two personalities havedeveloped into a good working relationship, with trust andacceptance, and still learning about each other and workingtogether to keep the relationship a good one.Immokalee student Jade Tapia plays a math game while Billie Napper andChelsea Ford cheer her on. Billie’s relationship with the kids consists ofdoing fun things, and this allows the kids to become familiar with her sothat if they have a problem they will feel comfortable talking with her.Billie Napper graduated in 1987from Alabama A&MUniversity with a Master ofScience degree in CounselingPsychology.She has been a counselorfor 24 years and has worked in avariety of settings ranging from crisisline counseling to out-patientcounseling and education to a lockedCrisis Stabilization Unit and a longtermdrug treatment program.She was a CertifiedAdditions Counselor in the state ofBillie NapperJack VanCottAlabama, and was also certified bythe Department of the Army. Sheenjoys working with people, particularlyin non-traditional settings.Billie has worked in FamilyServices in Immokalee for the pastfive years and thoroughly enjoyslearning about the Seminole’s historyand traditions. Billie is married to AlBodway and they have eight childrenand five grandsons. They have threedachshunds to help keep them inline, and they are both members ofthe Coast Guard Auxiliary.My name is Jack VanCott and Ihave been working for FamilyServices as a Counselor sinceMay 2003. I am here for Seminole familiesto help with substance abuse andmental health problems.I have a master’s degree inCounseling and 10 years of experiencewith addictions. I visit clients at treatmentcenters, jails and at home. I lookforward to a long relationship with theSeminole community.Communication is open and spontaneous (including listening)Rules/boundaries are clear and explicit, yet allows flexibilityIndividuality, freedom and personal identity is enhancedEach enjoys doing things for self, as well as for the otherPlay, humor, and having fun together is commonplaceEach does not attempt to “fix” or control the otherAcceptance of self and other (for real selves)Assertiveness: feelings and needs are expressedHumility: able to let go of need to “be right”Self-confidence and security in own worthConflict is faced directly and resolvedOpenness to constructive feedbackEach is trustful of the otherBalance of giving and receivingNegotiations are fair and democraticTolerance: forgiveness of self and otherMistakes are accepted and learned fromWillingness to take risks and be vulnerableOther meaningful relationships and interests existEach can enjoy being alone and privacy is respectedPersonal growth, change and exploration is encouragedContinuity and consistency is present in the commitmentBalance of oneness (closeness) and separation from each otherResponsibility for own behaviors and happiness (not blaming other)Hun-Tahmo! I recentlybegan working withFamily Services. I ama licensed clinical socialworker, tribal citizen, andlong time resident of theHollywood Community.I have been in thesocial work profession since1995. It is my hope to helpstrengthen the relationshipbetween the Seminole communityand Family Services,as well as bring about moreunderstanding of Seminolebeliefs and lifestyle.In the past tenyears, I have worked mostlywith children as well as youngpeople, and adults of all agesand cultural backgrounds. Ibelieve in the communityTed Nelsonbeing involved and being therefor people.I welcome all tribalcitizens with an open door andear to listen. Shanabisha!Hi, my name is Mary Olitzky. Iam a licensed mental healthcounselor. I have been acounselor with Family Servicessince May 2002. I have a lot ofexperience with substance abuseproblems, and also working withwomen and teenagers.I run the Women's CircleMary OlitzkyMarla C. Dalegathering every Tuesday at 12:30p.m. in the Family Services conferenceroom. This group is for allwomen who need support in theirdaily lives. I really enjoy workingwith the tribal citizens and theirfamilies, and getting to know thecommunity.Marla C. Dale graduated fromTexas A&M University in1978 with BBA in management.She worked as an accountantfor eighteen years and aftera life awakening, she wentback to school andreceived her master’sdegree in social work fromBarry University in 1998.Marla becamelicensed as a ClinicalSocial Worker in the stateof Florida in 2001. InMarch 2001, she joinedFamily Services asHollywood’s SiteSupervisor and has recentlyhas been promoted toAssistant Director.Marla worked Marla Dale after a long, long day!with a variety of people indifferent settings prior to joiningthe Seminole Tribe Family Servicesalmost three years ago. She hasworked with the foster families andchildren at Boys Town, with thementally and physically challengedat a rehabilitation center, withGeriatrics and adults at a psychiatrichospital, and with adults at a drugand alcohol residential treatmentfacility.Marla is married, has onedaughter, three step children, threegrandchildren, and four dogs. Marlaenjoys her family, playing with herdogs, working out, reading, watchingthe sun rise, and working withthe Seminole Tribe of Florida.
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Seminoles Defeat Government Troops at Kissimmee Slough Shootout

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