The Enduring Semioles - (Florida History and Culture) by Patsy West (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Florida Historical Society's Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Award "This engaging short work of anthropology and Florida Indian history deserves a wide audience. . . . It is sophisticated enough for a university seminar but filled with appeal for anyone interested in Native Americans, Florida history or the interaction of tourists and native peoples."--Tampa Tribune Times "Should make some scholars look again at what they thought were the effects of commercial enterprises on the lives of American Indian people in this hemisphere."--American Indian Quarterly "Engrossing. . . . West has shown us just how vital tourism has been to the Seminoles and the Miccosukees."--Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel "Packed full of stories and details about Florida tribes and tourism."--Orlando Sentinel Early in this century, the Florida Seminoles struggled to survive in an environment altered by the drainage of the Everglades and a dwindling demand for animal hides. This revised and expanded edition is the only book available on the cultural tourism activities of an Indian tribe. Often told in the words of the many Seminoles interviewed for this book, this is a tale of unbelievable success against all odds as the Seminoles went from abject poverty to striking the first major international deal by a tribe with the purchase of the Hard Rock Cafe in 2006.

Review Quotes

"A unique social and economic history of the Seminoles and an insightful view of their cultural adaptation and cultural continuity that previously has not been appreciated or understood."

"Deserves a wide audience. . . . Sophisticated enough for a university seminar but filled with appeal for anyone interested in Native Americans, Florida history or the interaction of tourists and native peoples."

"Engrossing. . . . West has shown us just how vital tourism has been to the Seminoles and the Miccosukees."

"Packed full of stories and details about Florida tribes and tourism."

"Provides significant contextual information from a Native perspective that undermines facile assumptions about Indians as passive victims of an exploitative tourism industry, contributing to ongoing postcolonial debates about similar phenomena worldwide."

"Should make some scholars look again at what they thought were the effects of commercial enterprises on the lives of American Indian people."

"What West makes most clear is that the Natives quickly perceived the degree to which the tourists valued dramatic displays and they adapted the process over the years to serve their own economic ends."

About the Author

Patsy West, director of the Seminole/Miccosukee Photographic Archive in Fort Lauderdale, writes a regular history column for the Seminole Tribune, the Seminole tribal newspaper.