Roadside Reservations: Seminole Tourist Camps Along the Tamiami Trail

In recognition of Native American Heritage Month, Museum Manager Thomas Lockyear will explore the rise of Seminole (and later Miccosukee) communities along the Tamiami Trail following its completion in 1928 and their subsequent evolution from tourist camps to residential compounds. The shift from hunting, fishing, and subsistence living to tourism-based commerce reshaped the native culture and opened a new chapter in the future that is still being written. The change in perception of Native American patchwork and other handicrafts once sold as souvenirs to their modern-day recognition as works of art will also be discussed.