I'm their translator, their note-taker' Finally she told the chief, 'I'm not gonna be recognized as the princess anymore. 'She would always say 'I'm the secretary-treasurer of the tribe. 'They'd ask, 'Is she your princess?',' says Bowers. Pageant Director Wanda Bowers tells the story of the young secretary who was accompanying tribal elders to Washington, DC.
The Princess Pageant began when the Seminoles were working to gain federal recognition, back in the late 1950's. Betty Mae Jumper was the first woman elected chairman of any federally recognized American Indian tribe.
