Seminoles honor founding mother

Hard Rock honors Ruby Tiger Osceola with bronze statue

By Alina M. VieraA bronze statue of a revered Seminole matriarch was unveiled Oct. 23 during a private ceremony at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Created by Bradley Cooley and his son, the one-of-a-kind statue was commissioned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to honor the memory of the Tribal Elder that brought the first Seminole Family to the Seminole Tampa Reservation. It is permanently on display near the South entrance, inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.And:Ruby Osceola was born in the Everglades in 1896 because her grandparents were two of the famous “Unconquered” Seminoles--about only 200 people who escaped persecution and relocation by eluding soldiers for decades while all others were killed or captured and relocated to the American West.

Eventually she settled in Bradenton. But when the remains of early Florida Seminoles were found on a construction site in Tampa in 1980, the door opened for a new Seminole reservation. Then-Chief James Billie asked her if she would establish it with her 17 family members off Orient Road, where they built a high stakes bingo hall that grew into the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Why FSU's Seminoles Aren't Okay and The Facts About Indian Gaming.

Below:  I think the sculpture on the right is Ruby Tiger Osceola.