iCross-Cultural Citizen Project- The Everglades: Miccosukee Style

Monday, July 22, 2013

Miccosukee Police

The Miccosukee Police Department was established in 1976. Each Miccosukee officer has to complete the same requirements that normal police officers do, except that once these Miccosukee officers complete these they are allowed to enforce all of the U.S. Title 18 crimes on the Indian Reservation. Every Miccosukee Police officer is commissioned by the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Being commissioned by these makes it possible for each officer to make federal arrests, within the jurisdiction of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida

The Miccosukee do not just have a police department, they also have a color guard that escorts on ceremonial occasions, a dive team that recovers weapons, cars and any criminal evidence from their waterways, a wildlife team that specialized in conserving the 300,000 acres of land on the reservation, a K-9 unit to uncover drug paraphernalia, a CSI unit and a Swat Team in case any high risk situations occur.

Miccosukee Police Reflection

I would assume that the Miccosukee Indians would not have a Police Department or any of these organizations, because they are an Indian tribe. When i think of the Miccosukee i picture a group of people having meetings once or twice a week, not an entire community separate from the people around it; but this was a surprising discovery. Now i know that the Miccosukee are not in danger from anyone trying to harm them and that their culture will not die for a very long time, if ever.

Miccosukee, Tribe of Indians of Florida
Police Department, Electronic Document, http://www.miccosukee.com/tribe-contents/police-department, accessed July 23, 2013

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Mission

Miccosukee Tribe of Indians is a federally recognized Indian Tribe residing in the historic Florida Everglades-an area referred to as a "River of Grass" by legendary environmental and social activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. In their own Miccosukee language, the Tribe uses the word "Kahayatle" to refer to the shimmering waters of this natural treasure. In fact, Ms, Douglas traces the etymology of the word "Everglades" revealing that it originates from the same description of the quality of light glimmering on the grassy waters.

Vision

Values

The Miccosukee Tribe is looking towards the future with great expectations. However, Tribal leadership recognizes much remains to be done to ensure that the Miccosukee people can continue to be themselves in a constantly changing world. A key to this cultural survival is in the values and underlying philosophy of the traditional way of life. Values and traditions will not flourish unless they are constantly renewed and entered into wholeheartedly by the younger generations. For this reason, the Tribe has developed Miccosukee cultural studies at a higher level through a secondary curriculum and expansive studies.

Background

The Tribe has a proud history, which predates Columbus. The Miccosukee Indians were originally part of the Creek Nation, and then migrated to Florida before it became part of the United States.

During the Indian Wars of the 1800s, most of Miccosukees were removed to the West, but about 100, mostly Mikasuki-speaking Creeks, never surrendered and hid out in the Everglades. Present Tribal members now number over 600 and are direct descendants of those who eluded capture.

To survive in this new environment, the Miccosukees had to adapt to living in small groups in temporary "hammock style" camps spread throughout the Everglades' vast river of grass. The Miccosukees stayed to themselves in the Everglades for about 100 years, resisting efforts to become assimilated. Then, after the Tamiami Trail highway was built in 1928, the Tribe began to accept the New World's concepts. To ensure that the federal government would formally recognize the Miccosukee Tribe, Buffalo Tiger led a group to Cuba in 1959, where they asked Fidel Castro for, and were granted international recognition as a sovereign country within the United States. On January 11, 1962, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior approved the Miccosukee Constitution and the Tribe was officially recognized as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. This legally established the Miccosukees' tribal existence and their sovereign, domestic dependent nation status with the United States Government.

On March 6, 1971, the Miccosukee Corporation was formed to receive and administer funds from private foundations as well as county, state and federal agencies for a variety of educational, employment, housing and social programs for members of the Miccoksukee community. The officers of the Corporation consist of a President, Secretary and a Treasurer. The Chairman of the General Council is also the President and the principal executive of the Corporation.