Earth Day Celebration

For the Miccosukee Indians, Earth Day is more than a holiday. It is a celebration of life. This year, the celebration, referred to as ‘International Big Mama Day,’ took place on Saturday, April 18, at their village near Miami.

Admission was free and everywhere you looked there was something to do, see, or experience. There were several chickee huts filled with Native American apparel, handmade jewelry, and crafts for sale. There were exciting alligator wrestling shows, educational lectures, workshops, and indigenous music and bands.

Kids enjoyed the coloring stations, bounce house, and obstacle course. Families tasted both native and local cuisine, as the delicious aromas were impossible to resist. If one needed a break from the heat, the Miccosukee Museum was open and available for self-guided tours.

Emcee of the event, Kendal Osceola, welcomed everyone. She said how special it was to share such good energy with visitors on their village land that has belonged to her mom’s side of the family for over one hundred years.

Councilman and lawmaker, Petties “Pete” Osceola Jr., expressed how sacred this day is for members of his tribe, “It's part of our DNA and everyday life,” said Pete. “In our culture, the teachings that we have are still from our elders. We believe we come from the Earth, the Mother, and we try to honor and respect it.”

Known as a woman of action, a passionate worker, a leader, and “a true member of the tribe,” Betty Osceola, the organizer of the day, talked about the origin of the event three years ago. One of her nephews, Garret Stuart (referred to as Captain Planet), had come to her and said that he wanted to throw a birthday party for Earth, but he wanted it to be different. “He said that it had to be different because ‘we should find joy and happiness on this Earth and everything about this creation.’ Being the woman of action that I am, I said ‘Let’s do it!’ In my culture, when you show the planet your love, when you show all the creatures and human beings love, it helps with the healing process of the Earth. So how we act is very important.”

One of the highlights of the event was a performance by the Ameyal Cultural Organization, led by Ms. Cecilia Ortega. They have been great friends of the Miccosukee, and their Aztec dancers have been performing on the village grounds for many years.

Visitors could see the passion and feel the energy emitting from the powerful displays of dance and culture.

After the dance, there was a prayer honoring and giving thanks for Mother Earth. “The only place that we have to live is nowhere else but this place.” The prayer also honored humanity and thanked moms. “We are honoring all this beautiful energy all around us and the life givers. We want to say thank you to all those mothers who brought us, raised us, because thanks to them, we got to have a life, and we got to be here.”