Exhibit Redesign

For the last 20 years the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum has shared Seminole culture and history with audiences from around the world. While our temporary galleries highlight current events and specific topics, our permanent galleries focus on Seminole life from the 1890s to the 1910s.

Thanks to the strong foundation laid by Billy Cypress and other key founders of the Museum, coupled with the strength of the Tribal community, our collection and research on Seminole history and culture have grown enormously over the past two decades. The proposed exhibit design will help tell a more complete story, one that showcases a longstanding history and a vibrant, living culture. It will reflect the voices, the stories, the history, and culture of the Seminoles.

The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum and Studio Tectonic thank all of the Tribal members who have shared and continue to share their time and knowledge.

We welcome visitors in a comfortable, accessible, and easy to navigate lobby. Design elements quickly communicate that this is our story: canoes – life-size reproductions dramatically mounted with large-scale imagery draw visitors to the admissions and retail desk. The open retail area reflects a trading post aesthetic with a modern interpretation.

Grandmothers’ Grandmothers

Our identity as Seminole people today is strong, and it goes back centuries. Rooted in the lives of generations who flourished here, our contemporary lives embody our unique history and our traditions.

Life Ways, Camp Life, Gathering Chickee & Story Time

We have strong oral traditions passed on by elders in a clan-based, matrilineal society with a long history in this area that goes back to when many languages were spoken across the lower Southeast – thousands of years.

Years of Conflict, Resistance and Removal

Strength and courage are at the core of our warrior spirit, rooted in the lives of the generations that came before, and visible in contemporary events and activities. We’ve survived lifetimes of war, despite immense sadness and upheaval, and we continue to fight today.

Sovereignty – Council Oak

Sovereignty means we govern ourselves. It means remembering the past to protect the future. We have many ways to express our warrior spirit and natural right to independence today as the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

In Our Words

Seminole people today contribute to the continuation of our culture and Tribe in a modern context.

In order to make the Museum redesign process a reality, we have embarked upon “Telling Our Stories,” a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign. Starting in FY2018, the Tribe has generously allowed us to allocate all of our revenue, including Museum admission and membership dollars, to kick-start this project.

If you would like to play a role in telling the Seminole story, please contact: Melissa Sherman, Visitor Services and Development Manager, at melissasherman@semtribe.com or at 863-902-1112 x12211.