TALLAHASSEE Fla.
Florida State University student Daniel Lee learned in fourth grade most of what he knew about the Seminole Indians, namesakes of his school’s athletic teams. It wasn’t much.
“You get the puddle deep in-depth analysis,” jokes Lee. “I want to know why we chose the Seminoles and how our university’s policies embody the spirit and strength of the Seminole culture.”
Lee, a music education major, had to wait until his senior year to find out. He’s one of 22 students enrolled in a Seminole history class that was launched this year partly in response to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s attempt to force Florida State to abandon its nickname and mascot, Chief Osceola.
The Seminole warrior, astride his horse, Renegade, hurls a flaming spear into the turf before every home football game.
Offering the course was one of several steps university and tribal officials had considered over the years to cement the Florida State-Seminole bond. They never did anything about it, though, until the NCAA last year deemed the nickname and mascot “hostile or abusive,” barring the university from using them when hosting championship events.
The NCAA withdrew its order after university president T.K. Wetherell threatened to sue and the Seminole Tribe of Florida reiterated its support for the school’s use of its name and symbols.
University administrators, jarred by the controversy, asked history department chairman Dr. Neil Jumonville to make the Seminole history course happen.
Jumonville and other faculty members met with three tribal representatives. The Seminoles urged that the class include discussion of other Southeastern tribes that predated theirs.
The Seminoles began in the 18th century as an amalgam of mostly Creek Indians, but the tribe also included members of other tribes and escaped Black slaves. Their common bond was fierce resistance to White domination.
The tribe’s name is said to be derived from the Spanish word “cimarrones” that variously has been translated to mean “free people,” “rebels,” “outlaws,” “fugitives,” “wild ones” and “unruly.”
