 Can you find all the artifacts in this picture? ()
30" X 48" Oil Painting
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A Seminole family's arrival for the Green Corn Dance celebration.
Where the narrow waterway opens into the welcoming cove, the old ones and the chickees
of the reserve beckon the young family back to their tribal lands. It is the
season of the Green Corn Dance. The annual ritual is generally observed in Native
American cultures and the Tribe of the Florida Seminoles place great importance in
this springtime event when the stalks of brilliant green display their greatest promise.
It is a celebration of feast and thanksgiving. It's a time for atonement and forgiving. It's
a time for the tribe's accounting for their own affairs and for attending to the matters
of the community in the Big Cypress Tribal Reserve. For example, young couples who have eloped
during the previous year are welcomed back into their families and accepted into the tribal
clan of the bride.
The ancient rituals, the telling of the past times and legends, give spirit to the elders.
The folklore, dance, and songs bring delight to the young. For generations the tribes have
embraced the ceremonial drinking of the ÒBlack DrinkÓ during this celebration Ð a curious
and mystical practice that has always been a part of the seasonal event Ð and have likewise
embraced consultations with the tribe's Medicine Man.
With a sense of renewed spirit and ties to family and clan redeemed, the Seminoles will go
forth into another long and sweltering Florida summer, to be followed by what may be a severe
winter. Many trials to body and soul will tempt and temper their hearts until, once again, the
narrow waterway will open into the welcoming cove at Big Cypress.
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