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.
Betty Mae Tiger Jumper. . 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 Legend. She died in 2011, at age 88, Betty Mae Tiger Jumper walked on, leaving an enduring legacy.
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 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
Location. 27° 1.369′ N, 80° 28.189′ W. Marker is in Indiantown, Florida, in Martin County. Marker 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.
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).
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2019
2. Betty Mae Tiger Jumper Marker in the background and The Seminole Inn
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 780 times since then and 78 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.
