A Matter of Trust: The Indian Tribes Assert Their Rights

Letter dated June 10, 1957, from Robert D. Mitchell to Senator George A. Smathers (Florida).  Courtesy of the George Smathers East Library Special and Area Studies Collections.

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Telegram from Bill Osceola, Tribal Council member (and later president of the Seminole Tribe of Florida), to Florida Governor LeRoy Collins. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.

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As both Florida Indian factions prepared to officially assert the validity of their own separate governing structures, they lobbied the U.S. to take measures to ensure that they were treated as viable political entities.

Seminole Tribe:
The Seminole Reservation Indians voiced concerns about how federal and state officials were using tribal monies and land.  Securing tribal title to Seminole landholdings was also a significant concern.   Economic stability of the Seminole community was a primary goal, which would be a precursor to strengthening their political position.  Therefore, many reservation residents resisted programs that they thought were not of value to the Seminoles or that benefited non-tribal members.

Miccosukee Tribe:
The Miccosukee Trail Indians continued to lobby the U.S. to secure and designate territory in South Florida as their tribe’s homeland.  More pressing to some members, however, was their growing desire to have the U.S. government officially recognize them as a separate tribe.  They were suspicious that the mixed signals from governmental officials in Florida and Washington, DC were part of a delaying strategy.

Florida Indians voiced concerns that governmental officials were duplicating efforts working with both tribes and possibly favoring one faction over the other.  Each group tried to effect change by maintaining regular correspondence with key officials in the federal and Florida governments.