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| Volume XXIII Number 5 | April 5, 2002 |
Seminole Senior Gathering
By Alexandra FrankHOLLYWOOD - On Mar. 12, the Okalee Indian Village served as the meeting site for the Seminole Senior Gathering, an event hosted by the Broadcasting, Education and Language Departments. The event was held to help educate younger Seminoles about their forefathers’ lifestyle before moving to the reservations of today.
The seniors were involved because it is traditionally taught that a person seeking knowledge of their heritage must ask an elder for that knowledge, it is not given out freely. This event was also a chance for those who may have had a chance to experience traditional Seminole living when they were younger to recreate some aspects of the lifestyle for the younger generation.
Danny Jumper, Broadcasting Director and Josephine North, Language Coordinator wanted to re-introduce the Hollywood community youth to the traditional lifestyle that has all but been forgotten, due to the modernization of the area.
Max Osceola, Jr. also spoke about the importance of the event and remarked that this event and others of this format are a way to promote the pride and image of the Florida Seminole.
Josephine asked that some of the seniors help with pronunciation of the food that was being cooked and the name of certain structures that make up a traditional Seminole village. North received help from Annie Jumper, Jimmy Hank Osceola, and Betty Osceola.
The food traditional to the Seminole diet of days gone by before fast foods became the norm were either butchered, cleaned, mixed and cooked over an open fire. Workers from the three hosting programs, along with individuals who knew how to do such chores, all shared in the preparation of the events much anticipated meal.
This display of preparing the food before it is cooked and served showed how easy it is today for someone to go out and buy their supper, compared to how things were done only a few decades ago.
These examples give one a new respect on how hard it was for the Seminole forefathers to live day to day in the swamps, which were deemed unforgiving by non-Seminoles. It shed a new light on how strong those forefathers had to be in order to thrive in the unforgiving climate and surroundings of the Everglades. The provisions for the event "deer meat, garfish, catfish, rice, flour, and ah-pussh-kee" were provided by William Osceola, Trail Liaison, and Max Osceola, Jr., Hollywood Council Representative.
This event was, to say the least, an eye-opening experience many younger Seminoles who may never have the chance to live this way or may have had earlier experiences in their lives that they vaguely remember.
Personally, I had the good fortune to be raised by my family to respect that the food on the table should not be easily taken for granted. Hunting, fishing, and food gathering from the fields were a part of my past during the summer vacations from school. We had to live in Chickees in the backwoods, where there was no running water and no electricity.
If you wanted to play, you had to use your imagination and the natural elements around you to create toys to play with. We bathed in the canal and hauled water from the canal for our parents to use. It helped me to have a greater appreciation for where my parents and grandparents came from.
This event, which is a great learning tool for the generations who may have never experienced this type of living is a great tribute to those who had to live this way everyday. There are more events with this type of format in the planning stages for the future, and some will not only take place in Hollywood, but on other reservations as well.
If you are interested in participating in this type of event watch your local WSBC station, or look for posted flyers announcing up coming events. Being able to experience a part of your culture, which is vastly different from all those that surround us everyday, is a treat I hope many of you will want to share in.
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