Good-natured rivalry lasts a lifetime Sports by Eileen Soler - November 25, 2013April 13, 2015 PLANTATION — More than six decades have passed since first cousins Max Osceola Jr. and Moses Jumper Jr. were best friends playing pickup football games in a Hollywood palmetto field to prove who was bigger, stronger and better. Recently, while sitting in bleachers at a high school football game in Fort
Last volleyball game begins gym’s new life Sports by Eileen Soler - November 25, 2013April 13, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — The scent of new paint and wood floors was still thick Oct. 18 when Ahfachkee School’s Lady Warriors middle school volleyball team christened Big Cypress Reservation’s newly renovated Herman L. Osceola Gymnasium with the last game of the season. Gone from the 27-year-old facility was its old worn
Girls varsity b-ballers dominate from gate; boys varsity stumbles Sports by Eileen Soler - November 25, 2013April 13, 2015 DAVIE — If the start of the 2014 varsity basketball season is any indication, the Ahfachkee Lady Warriors team is bound for glory. The team, bolstered by a small but powerful roster, dominated Glades Day 47-17 in the season opener Nov. 14 in Belle Glade. On Nov. 18, the girls’ team
Power plant threatens Seminole life Community by Eileen Soler - October 24, 2013April 9, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — Cruising north on State Road 880 along stretches of pastoral farmland, a mammoth lineup of gray metal and smokestacks loom at the horizon 20 miles away. From 15 miles, the air takes on an unfamiliar stink that lingers and contradicts the bucolic breadth of cattle pastures, vegetable
Seminole, Swinomish secure first intertribal commerce Community by Eileen Soler - October 24, 2013April 9, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — Intertribal business has come a long way since historic days when neighboring Native American groups traded crops and other goods to sustain communities. In fact, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Swinomish Tribe, near Skagit County in Washington, have cemented the “first true native-to-native” business endeavor in
Council votes for more control over Tribal land Community by Eileen Soler - October 24, 2013April 9, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — The Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) was approved by Tribal Council to create an ordinance that will streamline the process of protecting and utilizing Seminole land. “It’s a mechanism for the legalities to go back into the hands of the Seminole Tribe,” said Paul Backhouse, a THPO officer
Think pink for breast cancer awareness Health by Eileen Soler - October 24, 2013April 9, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — Perky pink hues from bubble gum to bright magenta brightened a somber reason for the Big Cypress Reservation’s Wear Pink Day: breast cancer awareness. Amid cheery balloons, more than 50 Tribal members and employees in pink-ribboned T-shirts, skirts, hair ties and tiaras, mustered at the entrance of the
Native artist, one man show Community by Eileen Soler - October 24, 2013April 9, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — For the second time in less than two years, works by Seminole artist Elgin Jumper are in the spotlight at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum. Vivid colors flow like poetry from the first portrait to the last of Jumper’s 12 paintings featured on the Mosaic Gallery wall – a section
Community development about to soar Tribalwide Community by Eileen Soler - October 24, 2013April 9, 2015 For Adam Nelson, executive director of the Tribal Community Development Department, the next 12 months will be “an exciting year for community development” Tribalwide. Nelson said every Seminole reservation and community will be bolstered with new and improved infrastructure, long-awaited facilities and neighborhood enhancements. “Our priority list is housing, education, health and
Tribes unite for student stickball Education by Eileen Soler - October 24, 2013April 13, 2015 BIG CYPRESS — Native American stickball was played with heart and soul and plenty of fun Sept. 25 for the first time between Seminole and Miccosukee Tribal students. Nearly 100 students from Miccosukee Indian School in Miami and Ahfachkee School on the Big Cypress Reservation converged at Ahfachkee’s campus field and