A Journey Through Payne’s Prairie
Welcome back to our Seminole Spaces series! In this series, we explore places and spaces important to Seminole culture, history, and tourism. Last week, we talked about Seminole Cowkeepers, and learned a bit about the legendary Seminole Cowkeeper Ahaya. Ahaya amassed nearly ten thousand head of cattle, and drove them on the Alachua savanna near Gainesville by 1775. But, how did this Alachuan savanna become known as Payne’s Prairie? This week, we will explore Payne’s Prairie. There, the Seminole relationship with the land, as well as the landscape itself, has shifted and changed over time. In our featured image this week, you can see a shot taken from the observation tower at the Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park in 2022. Around 300,000 people visit the preserve annually to take in the wide grassy vistas and marshy woodlands. Home to hundreds of species of birds, fish, alligators, and even bison, Payne’s Prairie
Exploring Cowkeeper’s Powerful Legacy with the STOF-THPO
Join us to explore "Cowkeeper's Legacy: A Seminole Story", a new book from the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Tribal Historic Preservation Office!
Florida’s Flora in Focus: the Photography of JK Small
This week, we will look at the images captured by renowned botanist John Kunkel Small, who explored Florida for decades documenting its plants and people.
Christmas 1837: Seminole Survival and the Battle of Okeechobee
This week, we are looking at a particular historic moment and space that changed the course of Seminole history, and highlighted their resilience, drive, and sacrifice to stay in their ancestral homeland; the Battle of Okeechobee.