Betty Mae Tiger Jumper spent her early childhood on the Seminole reservation in Dania. With no schools for Native Americans in Florida during the 1930s, she left home at 14, speaking only Creek and Miccosukee, to attend a boarding school in Cherokee, North Carolina. In 1945, she became probably the first Seminole to graduate high school. After further training as a nurse in Oklahoma, she returned to Florida to work among her people.

In 1957, when the Seminole Tribe of Florida adopted a constitution and established a two-tiered government system, Betty Mae Tiger Jumper served on the first Tribal Council. In 1967, she was elected Chairperson, making her the first woman to lead an American Indian tribe.

As a tribal storyteller, she appeared regularly at events like the Florida Folk Festival and authored two books--“And with the Wagon Came God’s Word” and “Legends of the Seminoles.”

Her numerous honors and awards include a Florida Folk Heritage Award, an honorary doctorate from FSU, and induction into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. Betty Mae Tiger Jumper died at the age of 88 in January 2011.

Courtesy of the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources