The Seminole Tribune is the official newspaper of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Published monthly, with a circulation of more than 4,000, the paper is distributed throughout the U.S. and Indian Country. The Tribune is generally regarded as one of the best publications in Indian Country.
The late former Chairwoman Betty Mae Tiger-Jumper discussed the history of the paper in her July 9, 1999 column “The Start of the Tribune.”
The 10-cent paper, first called Seminole News, began in 1956 by Tiger-Jumper and Alice Osceola, but after three months, other people took over the paper before dropping the project.
In 1979 at the request of former Chairman James Billie, the Alligator Times replaced the Seminole News and was run by Tiger-Jumper, Barbara Doctor and Twila Perkins, with Moses Jumper Jr. serving as editor. By 1982, Billie changed the name to the Seminole Tribune, and Tiger-Jumper took over the position of editor.
In 1989, the Seminole Tribune became the first Indian newspaper to win a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. The Tribune was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize that same year by the University of Florida.
The paper took home five awards by the Native American Journalists Association in 1997, more than any Indian newspaper.
Note: Articles submitted to the Seminole Tribune should pertain to the Seminole Tribe of Florida or to Native American issues, and must be signed and may be edited for publication.