Chief Joe Dan Osceola (December 20, 1936 – June 9, 2019) was the chief and ambassador of the Native American Seminole tribe. He was the appointed Seminole Tribal Ambassador, who held the position of the youngest Chief and Tribal President, elected in Seminole history. Chief Joe Dan Osceola was the great-great-great-grandson of Chief Osceola, "Unconquered Chief". Joe Dan excelled in football, basketball and track, and in 1957 he became the first Florida Seminole to graduate from high school; he would later become the first to graduate college as well.

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

, whose athletic teams are nicknamed the " Seminoles", offered him a scholarship to play quarterback. Instead, he elected to attend Georgetown College in Kentucky, where he ran track and cross-country. He was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, remaining close to his fraternity brothers throughout his life. After graduating, Joe Dan returned to the

Brighton Reservation Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, located in northeast Glades County near the northwest shore of Lake Okeechobee. It is one of six reservations held in trust by the federal governme ...

and worked with the federal government on Indian affairs. After being elected as the tribe's president and chief at the age of 30, he moved to the tribal headquarters on the

Hollywood Reservation Hollywood Reservation, formerly known as the Dania Reservation, is one of six Seminole Indian reservations governed by the federally recognized Seminole Tribe of Florida, located near Hollywood, Florida. The reservation is bordered by the commun ...

. He worked with the National Congress of American Indians, the biggest lobbyist group for Indians. He served as an Ambassador of the tribe. Chief Joe Dan was bestowed with honorary doctorate degrees from Georgetown College and Florida State University because of his diligent work throughout the United States, as he was the youngest president of any Native American tribe in North America and founded the United Southeastern tribes, a coalition of the Seminole, Miccosukee,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

and

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

tribes.http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/135705

References

*http://www.semtribe.com/SeminoleTribune/Archive/2000/Seminole%20Tribune%20~%20December%201,%202000.pdf *https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/06/11/united-south-and-eastern-tribes-mourn-pa.asp {{DEFAULTSORT:Osceola, Joe Dan 20th-century Native Americans 1936 births 2019 deaths Georgetown College (Kentucky) alumni Seminole Tribe of Florida people 21st-century Native Americans