Betty Osceola

Betty Osceola (born August 8, 1967) is a Native American grandmother, Everglades conservationist, anti-fracking and clean water advocate. She is a member of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida Panther Clan and of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Osceola was born and raised in the Everglades and is an airboat captain and operator of Buffalo Tiger Airboat Rides on Tamiami Trail near Miami, Florida.

In January 2019, Osceola revealed details about her childhood in an interview for the American Experience The Swamp series produced by PBS, stating that while she was growing up in the Everglades she lived in a chickee hut with four walls with her family and that her mother would move around Florida for employment sometimes working picking citrus around Lake Okeechobee and at tourist attractions making baskets and sewing quilts. She also shared that her people had once lived off the land planting corn and pumpkin in the islands but these days the waters are so polluted that they are not able to do that anymore.

Osceola along with her uncle Bobby C. Billie (1946-2018) founded the Walk for Mother Earth, a grassroots organization attracting Native Americans, Glades people, scientists, environmentalists, and concerned citizens. Billie, a spiritual and clan leader (whose official title was Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples) and Osceola lead an annual multi-day prayer walk along a proposed bikepathto be built on Florida State Route 41 between Naples and Miami which was designated as the River of Grass Greenway (ROGG) project. Osceola and Billie opposed this construction and set out to educate the public and government officials about the negative repercussions this project would bring to the Everglades ecosystem. Eventually, they spoke at public hearings at the Collier County Board of Commissioners' meeting followed by the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners which concluded in both counties rescinding the project.

Osceola with Holley Rauen , from Pachamama Alliance, organized and lead a group during a seven-day long and 140-mile prayer walkaround the perimeter of Lake Okeechobee to bring attention to the water quality issues. During the entire walk she carried a red bandanna attached to her walking stick to bring attention to the missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Osceola made two tripsfrom the Everglades to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation to deliver supplies to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She was accompanied by photographer JohnBob Carlos.

In January 2018, Osceola received the John V. Kabler Grassroots Organizing Award during the Everglades Coalition annual summit.