Chief Osceola and Renegade
Encyclopedia
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
Seminoles. During home football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
games at Florida State, Chief Osceola, portraying the Seminole leader Osceola
Osceola
Osceola, also known as Billy Powell , became an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. He was of Creek, Scots-Irish and English parentage, and had migrated to Florida with his mother after the defeat of the Creek in 1814.Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance...
, charges down the field at Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium
Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium
Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium is the football stadium on the campus of the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. It is the home venue for the university's football team, nicknamed the Seminoles. The stadium was named for Doak S...
riding an appaloosa
Appaloosa
The Appaloosa is a horse breed best known for its colorful leopard-spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's color pattern is genetically the result of various spotting...
horse named Renegade, and hurls a burning spear at midfield to begin every home game.
Previous Mascots
Prior to the introduction of Osceola and Renegade, the Florida State SeminolesFlorida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles are the men's and women's sports teams of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State participates in the NCAA's Division I . FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1991, and competes in the Atlantic Division in any sports split into a...
used several different Native American-themed mascots. The first was Sammy Seminole
Sammy Seminole
Sammy Seminole was the first mascot of the Florida State University Seminoles. He was introduced in 1958 and was retired in 1972 in an effort to find a less insensitive mascot.-History:...
, introduced at the FSU Pow Wow in 1958 for football games. This mascot was portrayed by a white male member of the gymnastics or circus programs, who performed wild stunts in garish faux-Native American garb. The gymnastics program's sponsorship of Sammy Seminole ended in 1968, but the character was quickly reintroduced.
In the late 1960s Chief Fullabull emerged as a mascot during basketball games. Like Sammy Seminole he donned cartoonish Native American-themed outfits, and performed even more clownish stunts. Under protest from Native American groups the character's name was altered to Chief Wampumstompum, though this did nothing to assuage the concerns of protesters. The character was then replaced with a somewhat more traditionally dressed figure named Yahola, also known as the "spirit chief". All of these mascots were eventually retired, and officials decided to find a more respectful representative for the school's teams.
Development
Osceola and his horse Renegade were the brainchild of Tallahassee businessman and Florida State alumnus Bill Durham. Though he came up with the concept of a horseback-riding Seminole mascot as early as 1962, when he was voted into the school's homecoming court. He returned to the idea in 1977, and won the support of Ann Bowden, wife of head football coach Bobby BowdenBobby Bowden
Robert Cleckler "Bobby" Bowden is a retired college football coach. He coached the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons...
, who helped make the dream a reality. Durham provided the costume as well as the horse, Renegade, while Bowden helped acquire the various permits necessary to allow a horse onto the field.
Durham chose the original costume to be as authentic as possible, and he and his family remain in charge of selecting and training both the horse and rider. Students receive a scholarship for portraying Osceola, and are required to remain in character at all times and abide by a set of protocols when doing so. There is only one Osceola impersonator at a time; as of 2003, ten students had portrayed Osceola. Since the 1980s Florida State University has forged a relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida
Seminole Tribe of Florida
The Seminole Tribe of Florida is a federally recognized Seminole tribe based in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, it is one of three federally recognized Seminole entities...
, who have given the school their blessing to use the Seminole and Osceola imagery.
While the usage of Native American-derived names and mascots is opposed by many Native Americans and supporters, Florida State's use of Seminole imagery is officially sanctioned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida
Seminole Tribe of Florida
The Seminole Tribe of Florida is a federally recognized Seminole tribe based in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, it is one of three federally recognized Seminole entities...
, while for its part the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is a federally recognized Seminole tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the largest of the three federally recognized Seminole organizations, which include the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida...
does not oppose it. The traditional regalia worn by Chief Osceola and Renegade is designed by women of the Seminole tribe each year.
Chief Osceola through the years
- Jim Kidder (1978–1979)
- David Mays (1980–1981)
- David Williams (1982)
- Jeff Ereckson (1983–1984)
- Greg Ereckson (1985–1986)
- Jim Fairfield (1987–1988)
- Tom Sawyer (1989–1991)
- Allen Durham (1992–1994)
- Andy Taylor (1995–1996)
- Jason Mork (1997)
- Alumni Riders (1998)
- Daniel Kennerly (1999)
- Lincoln Golike (2000–2003)
- Josh Halley (2004–2007)
- Chris Gannon (2008)
- Drake Anderson (2009-present)