Section 6: 1962-Present: Entering a New Era

Buffalo Tiger Pinning Badge on Don Osceola During Criminal Justice Graduation at the Miami-Dade Community College, 1977. Courtesy of Florida Memory.

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Members of the Florida Seminole Tribe and the Florida Miccosukee Tribe in the Florida Senate in Tallahassee, Florida, 1976. Courtesy of Florida Memory.

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Since the early 1960s, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida—which would become the Miccosukee Tribe’s official title--continued to engage the federal and state governments in a several decades-long campaign to define their respective forms of governance.  Winning federal recognition provided the two Florida tribes a stronger platform to assert land rights, economic sovereignty, and management of environmental resources. Through programs of self-determination initiated in the early 1970s, both tribes made efforts to ensure that they maintain as much control as possible over the initiatives that affected their communities.

In the 21st century, Florida Indians are continually exploring ways to expand their political options to better manage their interests in the ever-changing global landscape.  In general, this is an effort for which the federal and Florida governments have been supportive.