Indiantown in Martin County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Betty Mae Tiger Jumper

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2019

1. Betty Mae Tiger Jumper Marker

Inscription. Born in 1923, Betty Mae Tiger Jumper was the first Chairwoman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, elected in 1967. She spent her early life with her parents, Ada Tiger and Abe Partan, at the Seminole camp in Indiantown. Tribal medicine men threatened to put Jumper to death because her father was white. "I was a half breed. An evil one," she explained. To protect their children, the family relocated to the reservation in Dania. Segregation laws barred Seminoles from attending Florida schools. At age 14 Jumper was sent to an Indian boarding school in Cherokee, North Carolina. She was the first Florida Seminole to learn to read and write English, and the first to graduate from high school. She graduated from nursing school in Oklahoma in 1946, and spent 40 years improving and modernizing healthcare for the Seminole community. She co-founded the Seminole News in 1956, the Tribe's first newspaper. In 1994, Florida State University awarded Jumper an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters. A gifted Tribal storyteller, Jumper authored And With the Wagon Came God's Word, Legends of the Seminole, and a memoir with Patsy West, A Seminole

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Legend. She died in 2011, at age 88, Betty Mae Tiger Jumper walked on, leaving an enduring legacy.

Erected 2017 by The GFWC Woman's Club of Stuart, and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-1024.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Education • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1923.

Location. 27° 1.369′ N, 80° 28.189′ W. Marker is in Indiantown, Florida, in Martin County. It is at the intersection of Southwest Warfield Boulevard (Florida Route 710) and Southwest Jefferson Avenue, on the right when traveling west on Southwest Warfield Boulevard. Marker is located in front of The Seminole Inn. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 15885 Southwest Warfield Boulevard, Indiantown FL 34956, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Florida’s Treasure Coast.

It is also in the American South

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

Betty Mae Tiger Jumper Marker in the background and The Seminole Inn image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2019

2. Betty Mae Tiger Jumper Marker in the background and The Seminole Inn

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 2 other markers are within 15 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Hurricane of 1928 Mass Burial Site (approx. 7.2 miles away); Conners’ Toll Highway (approx. 14.7 miles away).

Another marker is no longer nearby. Jupiter Indiantown Road (was approx. 1½ miles away but has been confirmed missing).

Entrance to The Seminole Inn image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2019

3. Entrance to The Seminole Inn

Credits. This page was last revised on April 27, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 26, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,807 times since then and 69 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 26, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.