| Date: |
Friday, April 9, 1999
|
| Question/Topic: |
state seal
|
| Answer/Pointer: |
Information on the state seal can be found at the following
Web address: http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/symbols/seal.thml
Although there is a persistent rumor that the Indian is a
likeness of Milly Francis (a heroine who saved a white
militiaman during the First Seminole War), the female
Indian does not represent a particular person, but can be
read as a tribute to earlier residents of the area. As you
will see in the history of the seal, the Indian in earlier
versions of the seal was dressed in the costume of Indians
of the Great Plains, and although in a dress wore a feather
headdress worn only by males.
I have spoken to Dr. Patricia Wickman, historian of the
Seminole Tribe of Florida, about the statue. She says that
there is no such thing as a Seminole priestess. There are
shamans or medicine men or women, but she knows of no statue
of one. She mentioned that in the 1950s and 60s there was a
Museum of the American Indian at Marathon in the Florida
Keys. Portions of the collection were sent to other museums
when the museum closed. You might want to contact the
library in Marathon to see if they have any information on
the museum's collection.
George Dolzeal Branch
Monroe County Public Library System
3251 Overseas Highway
Marathon, FL 33050
305-743-5156
The new museum of the Seminole Tribe is called Ah-Tha-Ti-Ki.
|
| Librarian: |
SLF
|
| Comments: |
|
| |
|
|