Buffalo Tiger, 1920-2015. Photo from Lee Tiger / Facebook

Buffalo Tiger, a former chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, died on Tuesday. He was 94.

Tiger was fighting the federal government's efforts to terminate the Miccosukees when he and other tribal leaders went to Cuba in 1959 to meet with Fidel Castro, who had just risen to power. The trip drew national and international attention.

"When we got back, there were all kinds of phone calls from Washington. The government started dealing with us seriously then,” Tiger told The Miami Herald in 1997.

The Miccosukee Tribe officially gained recognition in 1962. Tiger led his people from poverty to prosperity between 1962 and 1985.

"Other important achievements of Chairman Tiger include designing the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 which strengthened the sovereignty of all tribes by allowing them to deal directly with the government, bypassing an Indian Agent," his son, Lee Tiger, said on Facebook.

Get the Story:
Former Miccosukee chief who met with Castro dies (The Palm Beach Post 1/7)
Buffalo Tiger, Miccosukee Leader, Dies at Age 94 (The Broward-Palm Beach New Times 1/7)