Evening star., 1925-01-18

invariably go barefooted. Medical
| science, nevertheless, has no record
| of any Seminole who has died from
being bitten by moccasin or rattler.
When the Curtis Bright Co. first
established a golf course at Hialeah,
/ it used the Seminoles as Caddies.
| This was the first regular work that
| the Indians ever did. They do not
| believe in manual labor but the game
! of golf appealed TO their sporting
| natures. These Indians made eX-
cellent caddies, because they were
| keen of eye and were not talking
and swinging the players clubs at
| every opportunity. Some of them at
! tanned proficiency as amateur golf
| ers by constant practice during the
! early morning before the course was
| in general use.
The skill of the SeminoIes as arch
ers led to the staging of many extra
! ordinary contests at Hialeah. Vari-
| Gus professional golfers of world
| wide prominence on different occa-
sions contested against the Indians.
The Indians would use bows and
arrows, while the golfers played with
| the orthodox equipment Of the links.
The Seminoles would literally shoot
| their way around the course. The
| side that took the minimum number
| of strokes won the match.
| In time they tired of caddying.
| What had been fun turned into work
| when the novelty wore off. That is
| how they happened to go into the
| show business -
| Willie Willie, one of the sons OF
| Chief Charlie Willie, organized the
SeminoleS into representative In
| dian village and inaugurated the eX-
| traordinary educational exhibit. After
! one season he found that he could
| not handle the financial and pub
| licity ends of the business and keep
| the Indians contented and happy.
| That was how it came that he fin
| ally hired Mrs. ACker to aid him and
| thereafter took her into partnership
| in the profitable project.
| An experience recently befell Mrs
Acker which is as unusual as though
| it were from the pages of fiction.
| Sometimes she accompanies the In
dian hunters on their trips into the
wild and matted Everglades after wild
| game. On this particular day, how
| ever, the Seminoles went without
| their guardian. When they were late
/ in returning to the village Mrs.
| Acker started out after them in her
| automobile.
| For a distance of approximately 40
| miles an improved highway leads
| from Miami into the 'Glades. In the
meantime the hunters returned in
| their dugour canoes When they
couldn't find Mrs. Acker either at the
| village or the Hialeah Hotel, where
/ she lives, they organized a searching
! party and combed the entrances to
| the Everglades. Finally they found
Mrs. Acker and her stalled automo-
bile.
| In this twentieth century there is
no other Washington woman who can
| boast of having been rescued from
| the Everglades wilderness by Semi.
| mole savages. AS a result of her kind
/ and fair treatment the Seminoles
| have come to like and respect Mrs.
Acker. They call her Washington
stage" which is the Seminole for
| Washington lady.
x = x <
| THE Seminoles of the Willie Willie
/ village make Indian goods, such
as fancy bags, gay-colored beads and
! similar articles, which they sell to
| tourists. The men hunt otter for their
| pelts and alligators for their valuable
| hides. The hides are converted into
| extraordinary leather goods, which
are also sold in the village. Some of
| these Indians have also been actors
| in motion pictures produced in the
| neighborhood of Hialeah. Willie
! Willie, who prides himself on his
stylish clothes and immaculate ap-
| pdTel, is the SemlnOle heaQHner OF
| F'loridafilmia.
! William Mckinley, grandson of the
| famous OSceola, is the champion alli-
| gator wrestler of his tribe, and also
has been filmed in many movie"
| scenes.
The Florida Indians use ordinary
| tin cans as money bags. They con-
ceal their wealth somewhere out in
the Everglades. Yes, these banks
are practically burglarproof, for the
most of modern highwaymen would
not even venture into the unmapped
| wilderness, where the Seminoles hide
their gold ana silver.
Hialeah is the Seminole for High
Prairie which describes the region
adjoining the village of Willie Willie.
The village site is property which the
| Seminoles hold in that neighborhood.
They refuse to sell 1t, despite offers
as high as $4,000 Cor the piece OF
land, which covers one-half of an
| acre.
During Midwinter the favorite
dances of the Seminoles are staged as
regular attractions. They include the
snake dance, fire dance and the won
derful sun dance-one of the most
brilliant of spectacles.
During the ceremonial dance sea-
son Mrs. Acker has to be on guard
constantly to see that none of the
/ Seminoles obtain any firewater.