The Enduring Seminoles From Alligator Wrestling to Casino Gaming Florida History and Culture

Florida Historical Society Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Award



A history of the cultural tourism activities of the Florida Seminoles



In
the early twentieth century, the Florida Seminoles struggled to survive
in an environment altered by the drainage of the Everglades and a
dwindling demand for animal hides. This revised and expanded edition of
The Enduring Seminoles, now updated with a new preface, discusses the
cultural tourism activities of the Seminoles over the decades that
followed.



By the 1930s almost all of the
Florida Seminole population was engaged in the tourist market. They
participated in fairs and expositions in Chicago, New York, and Canada.
In large commercial Seminole villages in Miami and Ocala, they sewed
brightly colored patchwork, wrestled alligators, and opened their
palm-frond chickees to the public. Their exhibition economy provided
income for families, and today, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida promote their tourist activities
to worldwide markets.



Drawing on interviews
with many Seminoles and extending to the Seminole Tribe's purchase of
the Hard Rock Café business in 2007, The Enduring Seminoles provides a colorful social and economic history of an unconquered people.