Florida National Guard Honors Seminole Tribe

Submitted by Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum

BIG CYPRESS — The Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the Seminole Tribe of Florida is presently working with the Florida National Guard (FLARNG) and the National Guard Bureau to develop the Integrated Cultural Resources Management Plan (ICRMP) for the Guard’s lands in Florida. This is a historic preservation plan than will determine how the FLARNG will treat Native American archaeological sites located on their bases. The FLARNG presently has fifty-eight installations that range from a few acres to the seventy-two thousand acre Camp Blanding facility. There are ten bases in located south of Lake Okeechobee. These include sites at Snake Creek, North Miami, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Homestead and West Palm Beach. In honor of these negotiations, and the longstanding relationship between the Seminole Tribe and FLARNG, the Command of the FLARNG had an American flag raised over the Headquarters of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Camp Phoenix. This flag was presented by the FLARNG to the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Willard Steele, who in turn presented it to the Tribal Council at the April Council meeting. It has been turned over to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum where it will be safely stored and kept for the Tribe.

In addition to the flag, a coin was presented to the Tribe by the Guard representatives. This coin was minted in honor of Desert Storm, for the Seminole Battalion of the FLARNG. The Battalion received its name and motto through a 1960 Tribal Council resolution, signed by then Chairman, Billy Osceola.