Last year, elders organized the Walk for Mother Earth to protest the development of a bike trail through the Everglades. Photo from Stop ROGG / Facebook
Two activists are leading the 80-mile Walk for Mother Earth to call attention to environmental issues in the Florida Everglades. Bobby C. Billie, who continues to maintain his independence through the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples, and Betty Osceola, a member of the Miccosukee Tribe, will kick off the march next Monday. Over six days along the Tamiami Trail, they will pass through the Big Cypress National Preserve, Monument Lake and other important sites in the homelands of the Miccosukee Tribe and the Seminole Tribe. "All three indigenous communities—the Independents, Seminoles, and Miccosukees—have already had their traditional way of life threatened by irresponsible development: first, when the Everglades was drained, and second, when toxic levels of mercury in the water, plants, fish, birds, and animals forced them off their tree islands deep in the Everglades," the leaders said on Facebook. The public is invited to participate and to gather at base camp on Saturday ahead of the march. Base camp is located at the Trail Lakes Campgrounds, 40904 Tamiami Trail East, in Ochopee. Last year, Osceola helped lead the Walk for Mother Earth to protest the River of Grass Greenway, a bike trail through the Everglades. Get the Story:
Join Indigenous Leader Bobby C. Billie on 80-Mile Walk Across the Everglades (The Broward-Palm Beach New Times 3/16)
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