List of chiefs of the Seminoles

This is a list of chiefs of the Seminole, which includes military and civic leaders of the Seminole people, who today are enrolled in the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Leading chiefs (1750–1849)

There were four leading chiefs of the Seminole, a Native American tribe that formed in what was then Spanish Florida in the present-day United States. They were leaders between the time the tribe organized in the mid-18th century until Micanopy and many Seminole were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s following the Second Seminole War.

• Cowkeeper, 1750-1783
• King Payne, 1783-1812
• Bolek, 1812-1819
• Micanopy, 1819-1849

Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida were recognized by the state of Florida in 1957, and gained federal recognition in 1962 as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. ^[1]

• ca. late 18th c.–1819: Kinache, also Kinhagee (ca. 1750–ca. 1819), the last chief of the Creek of Miccosukee, Florida, who was defeated in battle in 1818 by US forces commanded by General Andrew Jackson. Later Kinhagee's people migrated south, maintaining their local village name Miccosukee as the name of the tribe.
• 1962–1985: William Buffalo Tiger, ^[2] also Buffalo Tiger ^[3] or Heenehatche, (1920–2015), first chief of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, led initiatives for self-determination ^[4]
• 1986–2011: ^[5] Billy Cypress, tribal chairman
• 2011 ^[5] –2015: ^[6] Colley Billie, tribal chairman, ^[7] ousted in 2015 ^[6]
• 2015–2016: Roy Cypress Jr., interim tribal chairman ^[6]
• 2015–2021: Billy Cypress, ^{[3] [6]} tribal chairman
• 2021–Present: Talbert Cypress, ^[8] tribal chairman

Seminole Nation of Oklahoma

• 1819–1849: Micanopy (ca. 1780–ca. 1849) ^[9]
• 1849–: John Jumper (ca. 1820–1896), chief of Confederate faction of Seminole
• 1882–1885: John Jumper, chief ^[9]
• 1866–1881: John Chupco (ca. 1821–1881), town chief, leader of Union faction of Seminoles, ^[9] Hvteyievike Band
• 1885–1901: John F. Brown (1842–1919), governor, ^[9] Tiger clan
• 1905–1919: John F. Brown, governor ^[9]
• 1922–1935: Alice Brown Davis (1852–1935), chief ^[9]
• 1935–1936: Chili Fish, chief ^[9]
• 1936–1946: George Jones, chief ^[9]
• 1942–1944: Willie Haney, chief ^[9]
• 1944–1946: Jeffie Brown, principal chief ^[9]
• 1948–1952: George Harjo (1886–1952), chief, Tvsekayv Haco Band, Bear Clan ^[9]
• 1952–1954: Marcy Cully, Nokuse (1910–1954), chief ^[9]
• 1955–1950: Phillip Walker, chief ^[9]
• 1960–1969: John A. Brown, principal chief ^[9]
• 1969–1972: Terry Walker, chief ^[9]
• 1972–1973: Floyd Harjo, chief ^[9]
• 1973–1977: Edwin Tanyan, chief ^[9]
• 1977–1978: Richmond Tiger, chief ^[9]
• 1978–1981: Tom Palmer, chief ^[9]
• 1979–1985: James Milam, principal chief ^[9]
• 1985–1989: Edwin Tanyan, chief ^[9]
• 1989–2001: Jerry Haney, principal chief ^[9]
• 2003–2005: Kenneth Edwards Chambers, principal chief ^[9]
• 2005–2009: Enoch Kelly Haney, principal chief ^[9]
• 2009–2017: Leonard Harjo, principal chief ^[9]
• 2017–2021: Greg Chilcoat, principal chief, Tusekia Harjo Band and Deer Clan ^{[10] [11]}
• 2021–present: Lewis Johnson ^[12]

Seminole Tribe of Florida

• 1957–1966: ^[13] Billy Osceola, inaugural holder. ^[14]
• 1967–1971: Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, first and only chairwoman of the tribe, editor-in-chief of the Seminole Tribune, ^[15] tribal communications director, ^[16] and the last matriarch of the Snake clan. Jumper spoke English, Mikasuki, and Muskogee. ^[17]
• 1971–1979: Howard Tommie, ^[18] political leader and two-term chairman of Seminole Tribal Council who initiated programs in the 1970s, including accepting the U.S. land claim settlement; successfully negotiated with the State of Florida for water rights for the Seminole reservations, and establishment of tax-free smoke shops and high-stakes bingo as revenue generators. Tommie speaks English, Mikasuki, and Muskogee. ^[19]
• 1979–2003: Jim Billie, suspended in 2001, officially removed in 2003. ^[20] Billie chaired during an expansion of Indian gaming and time of increased tribal wealth and economic development.
• 2003 ^[21] –2011: ^[22] Mitchell Cypress
• 2011–2016: ^[23] Jim Billie, re-elected and again removed by Seminole Tribal Council in a unanimous vote (4–0) on account of "various issues with policies and procedures of the Chairman's office."
• 2016–present: Marcellus Osceola Jr.

References

1. Mahon, John K.; Brent R. Weisman (1996). "Florida's Seminole and Miccosukee Peoples". In Gannon, Michael (Ed.). The New History of Florida, pp. 202–04. University Press of Florida. ISBN   0-8130-1415-8.
2. Tirado, Michelle (January 18, 2015). "Buffalo Tiger, Miccosukee Tribe's First Chairman, Walks On". Indian Country Today. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
3. "History". Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
4. Harry A. Kersey Jr., "Buffalo Tiger, Bobo Dean, and the “Young Turks”: A Miccosukee Prelude to the 1975 Indian Self-Determination Act", American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Volume 29, Number 1 / 2005, ISSN 0161-6463 (Print)
5. Gimlet Eye (July 10, 2011). "What is up with the Miccosukee Tribe?". Eye on Miami. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
6. Weaver, Jay (March 7, 2016). "Ousted chairman Cypress regains leadership of Miccosukee Tribe". Miami Herald. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
7. Funcheon, Deirdra (November 12, 2013). "Colley Billie Wins Re-Election as Miccosukee Chairman". New Times. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
8. Miccosukee Tribe. "Talbert Cypress, Chairman". miccosukee.com. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
9. "Seminole Nation Leaders". Seminole Nation, I. T. August 2, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
10. "Executive". Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
11. "The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma". Tribal Leaders Directory. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
12. "Lewis Johnson ousts Greg Chilcoat as Seminole Nation of Oklahoma chief". July 11, 2021.
13. Kersey, Harry A. (1996). An assumption of sovereignty : social and political transformation among the Florida Seminoles, 1953–1979. Lincoln [u.a.]: Univ. of Nebraska Press. pp. 118–119. ISBN   978-0-8032-2728-6.
14. "Seminole Timeline" . Retrieved January 14, 2015.
15. "About Us" Archived 2014-10-18 at the Wayback Machine , The Seminole Tribune, 2013
16. Betty Mae Tiger-Jumper and Patsy West, A Seminole Legend, University Press of Florida, 2001
17. Kersey (1996), p. 118
18. Harry A. Kersey, "Howard Tommie, Seminole", The New Warriors: Native American Leaders Since 1900, ed. R. Edmunds, University of Nebraska Press, 2004, p. 171
19. Kersey (1996), pp. 120–126
20. Testerman, Jeff (March 19, 2003). "Seminoles sack chairman James Billie". St. Petersburg Times On Line. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
21. Fogelson, Raymond D.; Sturtevant, William C., eds. (2004). Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 14, Southeast. Washington: Smithsonian Inst. p. 445. ISBN   978-0-16-072300-1 . Retrieved January 14, 2015.
22. "James Billie Once Again Chairman Of Seminole Tribe". CBS Local Media. Associated Press. May 11, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
23. Sweeney, Dan. "Seminole Tribe elects new chairman". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved March 5, 2017.