Taking Washington, DC By Storm: The Florida Indians Speak Out

Delegates from the Miccosukee Tribe, Along with Their Attorney Morton Silver, Traveled to Washington in March of 1954 for the Termination Hearing.  Courtesy of HistoryMiami.

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Statement Provided by Committee of Seminole Indians (Betty Mae Jumper, secretary) in Joint Congressional Hearing on the Termination of Federal Supervision Over Certain Tribes of Indians, March, 1954.  Courtesy of Florida State University Libraries.

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In the early 1950s, the U.S. government was considering the elimination of federal supervision and aid for several Native American tribes––including the Florida Indians.  Most Native Floridians feared that their rights and land use would be detrimentally affected.  In response, representatives from both the reservation and non-reservation Indians traveled to Washington, DC in 1954 to universally resist the swift three-year termination policy under consideration by a joint subcommittee of Congress.

Reservation Indians wanted federal support while they continued establishing the foundations for their own governmental structure.  Others who spoke mostly Miccosukee and resided on or around the Tamiami Trail, however, wished for more limited U.S. involvement in their community affairs.  Calling themselves the "Mikasuki Tribe of Seminole Indians"––which would eventually come to be written as “Miccosukee”––they sought to carve out a separate political identity that was independent from the Seminole Tribe.

No decision was made on termination of supervision at that time, but Native Floridians had demonstrated their desire to be involved in actions that dramatically affected their lives.