The enduring Seminoles : from alligator wrestling to ecotourism /

Indigenous peoples have been transformed into spectacle for more than a century, typically by nonnative entrepreneurs. This book is engrossing because it details a substantially different story: the transformation of Seminole subsistence into what the author terms an "exhibition economy." Like many other tribal societies on the margins of expanding national systems, the Seminoles lost control of much of their resource base, and native communities became fragmented and increasingly dependent on white settlers and less-than-sympathetic officials. In the aftermath of the drainage of the Everglades, commercial agriculture, and shady real-estate transactions the Seminoles turned visible and accessible parts of their culture into a commodity. By the 1930s, virtually all of Florida's Native American population participated in the tourist trade. Today, the tribe promotes ecotourism and cultural heritage to an international clientele. This linkage of Seminole economy and identity to the booming leisure markets of south Florida has exacted a cultural price, but one can argue that it represents one of the few available routes out of poverty and marginality. This is probably the only book-length study of tourism in a Native American society. Recommended at all levels. O. Pi-Sunyer; University of Massachusetts at Amherst

West, the current director of the Seminole/Miccosukee Photographic Archive in Fort Lauderdale, FL, deals directly with the problems and possibilities imposed upon the Seminoles by the rise of Florida as a tourist mecca during the 20th century. She clearly illustrates the Seminoles' resiliency in adapting to significant changes while still maintaining traditional cultural and social values. West documents the post-Civil War shift from traditional ways to their current position as a major economic force in the Southeastern United States. Significant challenges to the traditional Seminole economy have included the draining and dredging of the Everglades and the growth of the tourist industry. This book represents a positive and enlightening contribution to contemporary Native American ethnographies and how traditional cultures can be maintained in the face of increasing technological and informational change. Recommended for public and academic libraries.‘John Dockall, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.