The Big Cypress Indian Reservation is one of the six reservations of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. It is located in southeastern

Hendry County Hendry County is a county in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,619, down from 42,022 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is LaBelle. Hendry County comprises the Clewiston, ...

and northwestern Broward County, in southern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States. Its location is on the

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. This reservation lies south of Lake Okeechobee and just north of

Alligator Alley Interstate 75 (I-75) is a part of the Interstate Highway System and runs from the Hialeah–Miami Lakes border, a few miles northwest of Miami, to Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I-75 begins its national northward jou ...

. It is governed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Tribal Council, and is the largest of the five Seminole reservations in the state. Facilities on the reservation include the tribal museum and a major entertainment and rodeo complex. The land area is 81.972 sq mi (212.306 km²), including the 12th-largest cattle operation in the country."Red Barn, Glades County, Florida"
, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, accessed 26 December 2011 A resident population of 591 persons was reported in the 2010 census. The reservation is also called "Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation" or "Big Cypress Reservation". It lies adjacent to the north side of the largest section of the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in western Broward County.

Climate

Tourism and entertainment

The tribe owns two tourist attractions here: Billie Swamp Safari, and Big Cypress National Preserve. The American rock band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

held their millennium concert at the

reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...

from December 30, 1999, to January 1, 2000. With 85,000 people in attendance, it was the earliest and largest sold-out millennium concert. Phish performed three sets of music on the 30th, an afternoon set on the 31st, and an unprecedented "Midnight To Dawn" set, which ran from 11:50pm until sunrise on January 1, 2000. The entertainment complex is surrounded by 350 acres for outdoor events, in addition to a newly renovated rodeo arena with seating for 3,000 people. Stables have stalls for 86 horses. The tribe constructed the

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki is a museum of Seminole culture and history, located on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation in Hendry County, Florida. The museum is owned and operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The museum itself was named in a Seminole langu ...

, which opened in 1997. In 2005 it was the first tribal museum to receive accreditation from the American Association of Museums (AAM), and is a

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Affiliate.

Education

The tribal school is the

Ahfachkee School Ahfachkee School, also known as Ahfachkee Day School, is a tribal K-12 school in unincorporated Hendry County, Florida, on the Big Cypress Reservation, with a Clewiston postal address. It is affiliated with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). ...

Notes

References

* Eda.go

Big Cypress Reservation, Florida
United States Census Bureau {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Cypress Indian Reservation American Indian reservations in Florida Populated places in Broward County, Florida Populated places in Hendry County, Florida Indigenous topics of the Southeastern Woodlands Seminole Tribe of Florida