Seminole Heritage Tour
Deep in the interior of the Everglades where the sawgrass prairies give way to the Big Cypress, you will find the proud heartland of the Seminole Nation. We invite you to discover with us, amidst the haunting natural beauty of this remote place, the history and traditions of the never-conquered Seminole people.
Our first stop is at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum where we will examine rare artifacts that show how Seminole ancestors lived in the Florida swamps and Everglades during the late 1800s. Drawing us outside of the museum, which is set in a beautiful 60-acre cypress dome, will be the nature trail winding feet above the water's surface, to the Seminole village where arts and crafts are demonstrated and great stories retold.
Down the scenic trail a ways, our mode of transportation transforms dramatically as we board swamp buggies and airboats that will take us through hardwood hammocks and sloughs in search of deer, water buffalo, bison, wild hogs, hawks, eagles and other rare birds. Of course alligators are quite common - there are even Florida panthers in the area.
At Sam Jones Camp, recreated for, and named after the medicine man and leader who led the Seminole resistors in the second Seminole War, you may try to coax the village elders into identifying the location of the nest Green Corn Ceremony. But good luck, because this remains an abiding secret that the Seminoles have kept from praying eyes for over a century.
