Buffalo Tiger

William Buffalo Tiger (''Heenehatche''; March 6, 1920 – January 6, 2015 in Kendall, Florida) was a political leader of the Miccosukee Nation based in the Everglades area of Florida. He served as the first elected tribal chairman from 1962 to 1985, and before that was head of the General Council from 1957 and a chief. His activism led to political organization of the Miccosukee and their gaining federal recognition in 1962 as an independent Native American tribe. They wrote a constitution to govern their people.

In 1959 Buffalo Tiger led a delegation to Cuba and secured formal diplomatic recognition from the government of Fidel Castro of the Miccosukee. In 1962 the US Government recognized the tribe. Under his leadership, the tribe in 1971 was the first to take over responsibility to operate its social and educational programs, as was later encouraged by the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975. Buffalo Tiger and the tribe have used their sovereignty to preserve their culture and traditions in their homeland.

With historian Harry A. Kersey, he wrote an autobiography, ''Buffalo Tiger: A Life in the Everglades'' (2008). From the late 1980s he ran an airboat tour company in the Florida Everglades. Provided by Wikipedia