Saturday Evening Post

February 1, 1964
by
Roy Bongartz
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“WHITE MAN WILL BLOW HIMSELF OFF FACE OF THE EARTH”

“…White man will blow himself off the face of the earth, leaving all the land free once more for the Indians. “We listen to our old people, “says a young Indian. “They say white man gone haywire.”

In a recent letter to Washington, the Miccosukee wrote: “The first white people who came to Florida were so few that the Indians could have killed them all before they reached shore in rowboats. But the chief of our people said, ‘Don’t hurt them. Let them come ashore, and we’ll find out what they want.’ ”

In the years since, the Miccouskee have learned a thousand times what the white man wants. But in that letter they hopefully asked once more for their land. They got no reply.”