The Seminoles and Miccosukees and the Transformation of the Florida Everglades
This year, the NAIS Center is supporting five undergraduate students conduct historical research on south Florida's Native American tribes and the transformation of the region's wetlands. They are participating in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), a campus-wide initiative of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement. UROP is designed to introduce first and second year students to research methods across the curriculum. The five students will be working on a research project-entitled "The Seminoles and Miccosukees and the Transformation of the Florida Everglades." The project is being overseen by the center's director, Dr. Andrew Frank, and it will proceed in conversation with both tribes.
The project examines the history of the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians in the wetlands of south Florida and the scientific policies and practices that impacted them in the early and mid 20th century. In particular we will examine the history surrounding the "draining" of the Everglades in the early 20th century and the creation of Everglades National Park in the middle of the 20th century. The goals of the project are to see how scientists, conservationists, developers, public officials, and/or other Floridians who were engaged in these events imagined the Indigenous homelands and the future of Indigenous Floridians.
We will posting updates about their research throughout the year on instagram and at the center. Each student will participate in the university's Undergraduate Research Symposium this spring.
About the Participants
David Aguilar
Graciela Macia
Shaelyn Taylor
Elizabeth Wall
Reese Weicht