"One such journey brought me to Jacksonville, Florida, where seven years later at the age of 19, I returned to the same place but this time I was alone. From there I traveled further South on a Greyhound Bus and stopped at Fort Myers, Florida at a Seminole trading post searching for information that would take me into one of the Seminole reservations in the Everglades. Within this last week, I was accompanied by a few traveling companions and visited a nearby Seminole development area and tribe called AH-TAH-THI-KI. They are located in the big Cyprus Reserves where we were hosted by some of their Seminole representatives. I could hardly believe that I was taken to this place beyond merely 50 years ago. But here is built a state-of-the-art museum and cultural center which is annexed to the Billy Swamp Safari.

I learned while I was there that the nearby reserve in the Everglades is called Brighton where I was taken 50 years ago through the guidance of a great, great grandson of the famous chief Osceola who is remembered for his warrior spirit and veracity as the chief of the Seminoles who never relinquished their freedom to the United States government by not signing an official peace treaty. For this bravery and stand, they are known today as the “Unconquered Seminoles.” I remembered being their guest on the Brighton Reserve as a lone traveler passing several days and nights in the old wooden church on their property. Here I was again in this place, at the Billy Swamp Safari, being taken to the launching pad of a deep water adventure.

As we boarded the small airboat manned by a Seminole guide, we entered a stretch of the Everglades teaming with live alligators. We even had to sign a release form attendant to any accident or liability that might occur as we pondered over the risks that were involved. It was a true, life adventure being in this type of wilderness environment, which is also home to a variety of venomous snakes, Black bears, panthers and other species of wild life. In following up from our last journey to the island of San Andros, we may remember that we visited with a Black Seminole village on the northwest shore in a vicinity called Red Bays. There we met some of its community leaders who traced the origin and history of their presence in San Andros having escaped persecution from the United States government.

While at the gift shop and bookstore, AH-TAH-THI-KI Museum, we were guided to purchase a book entitled: “The Black Seminoles,” by author Kenneth W. Porter. As we dive into life experiences, we learn about the wonders of our planet and of our universe and our divine creation from the mind and the thought of Almighty God Allah which covers the sphere of eternity. As long as we are mentally awakened and travel with universal consciousness, we are learning more and more about our immortality."

Get the Story:
Mother Tynnetta Muhammad: Black Seminoles in the Everglades Escaped U.S. Entrapment in the Early 1800s and Survive to this Day! (The Final Call 8/13)