Culture Day Teaches Brighton Youth Seminole Ways

Tribal Girls Learn Frybread Making, Boys Woodcarving

By Susan Etxebarria

BRIGHTON — On March 19 the Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School hosted Culture Day to teach Seminole youngsters two important facets of their culture — frybread making for the girls and woodcarving for the boys. About 150 students, in kindergarten through fifth grade, participated in Culture Day.

Making Indian frybread is a culinary art generally passed down from mother to daughter or from grandmother to granddaughter. The tasty bread is made without a written recipe which is why the taste and texture can vary depending on the bread maker.

“This is how our ancestors made bread a long time ago,” said Jenny Shore, culture education teacher. “They cooked fry bread in the outdoors and we want the girls to see how things used to be. Only the girls learn to make fry bread; the boys learn to carve. That’s our tradition,” she said.

There were numerous instructors and volunteers present for the interactive demonstration, held at the Cultural Village at the Fred Smith Rodeo Grounds. Lorene Gopher, Laverne Thomas, Selena Billie, Shirley Sampson, Amy Clay, Jenny Shore, Ginger Jones, Jo Leigh Jumper, Edna Tommie and Alice Sweat were all eager to train the girls how to mix the dough and cook it in a hot skillet over an open fire.

Each girl received a large bowl which the teachers scooped a handful of flour into before adding water to the dough and mixing it by hand. The preparation and cooking of the dough over a hot fire requires practice to achieve perfection.

The male students learned the art of woodcarving from Preston Baker, Victor Billie, Leroy Osceola and Danny Jones.

Other activities that took place included learning Seminole legends from storyteller Martha Jones, assisted by Cultural Education Teacher Nancy Shore. Jones captivated the youth with a puppet as she told the legend of The Mother Opossum and the Box Turtle. Jones told the children every legend has a moral, a message that guides a child to make the right decisions in life.

“It is important to know the legends if you are Seminole,” she said.

Jones asked the students if they knew any Seminole legends they would like to share and a number of children spoke up and shared.

Creek Language and Seminole History Teacher Jade Braswell played alphabet, number and word games in Creek with rotating groups of student. Another circle of students sat on the ground near a tree.

The students also took turns playing a game of “Fishing” with teacher Janelle Robinson. In the game, the children attempted to snag a paper fish with a magnet hanging from a string on a stick. Written on the fish was a Creek word and the student was asked to pronounce the Creek word and say its meaning in English.

Another teacher, Denise Welborn led the students in a Creek version of Duck, Duck Goose where the students had to state the words in Creek as they played the game.

Before the day was over all the students had a chance to eat the delicious frybread that was cooked over the fires under the chickee.

Louise Gopher, former Education Dept. director, also assisted with the Cultural Education Day.

The following day, March 20, the students had an extension of Cultural Day at a traditional Seminole lunch served at the charter school. Mary Jo Micco cooked the meal consisting of rice, Spam® and tomato gravy, frybread, sofkee and fruit.

“The Cultural Program is the other part of the charter school,” said the Cultural Education Program Director Lorene Gopher. “We teach our students how to speak, write and read our Seminole Creek language, and the arts and crafts of our people.”

Tribal-Wide Cultural Education Coordinator Shelly Walker said the department is seeking Tribal citizens to volunteer or apply for a job in a paid position in the cultural program at the charter school.

“A few elders are leading the way now but it is only when younger adults get involved that we can insure the Tribe’s cultural program will survive,” said Walker. There is hope the children learning today will become the future leaders of Seminole culture in the future but meanwhile there is a large gap in Creek language skills among 20-50 year olds.”

She said it can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience to teach the youth their culture and all who wish to participate will be offered teacher’s training. It will include Creek language training as well as instruction in teaching Seminole arts and crafts.

Currently the Cultural Education Department offers Creek language classes to teenage youth after school. In high school a student is required to study a foreign language such as Spanish, French or German. The Okeechobee County School Board has an alternative arrangement with Brighton to teach Creek classes at the reservation to fulfill the high school students’ requirement for graduation. It also counts as college credit.

“Maintaining our language has been my priority,” said Gopher. “Without the knowledge of our language we have no identity. My dream and vision are that the young children learn to speak their language. We strive for that each day.”