United Nations
The Next
Miccosukee Seminole Nation Frontier
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CURRENT INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Pow-Wows Success,
Tribe Told
By Bert Collier, Herald Staff Writer
The Miami Herald
November 21, 1958
Four emissaries of the Miccosukee Seminole Indians returned from Washington Thursday with news that the tribe has a good chance of getting thousands of acres of Everglades land from the government.
Buffalo Tiger, chief of the delegation, said the tribe considers
the land its own, by ancient right. The Indians tried to get
that point over in talks with high officials, including Glenn
Emmons, U.S. commissioner for Indian affairs.
But the real ace in the hole, Buffalo Tiger said, is the
recent discovery of musty old treaties with England, Spain and France guaranteeing the Indians rights to certain lands.
Even the Louisiana Purchase Agreement is cited by the Indians in their Washington pow-wows. In This, Napoleon’s government demanded that the U.S. recognize the rights of “Spain’s Indians,” which the Seminoles claimed to be at that time.” Buffalo Tiger said he and his three colleagues will report results of their Washington talks to the tribal council and will receive instructions for further negotiations.
“I would say that the trip was a success,” said the leader of the tribal council.
Buffalo Tiger was accompanied by Sam Willie, medicine man and patriarch of the “Trail” Indians; Nelson Panther, Sam Willie’s son.
Morton Silver, the Miccosukees’ attorney, made the trip. The Indians also received aid from Mrs. Evelyn Harvey, head of the Miccosukee Seminole Indian Association.