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When Tina Osceola ’89 speaks about her career, she doesn’t just talk about herself. She talks about the aunt who was the first in her family to graduate from college before her. She talks about the family members who helped her and her cousins follow in those footsteps. She talks about the generations of ancestors whose legacy she’s helping protect through her role with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. And she thinks about the generations who will come after her, taking their own part in this story.

“It’s not a bad thing to feel small,” she says. “We carry so many ancestors with us, and we’re laying the groundwork for those who come after us.”

Osceola, who studied political science at Rollins, had intended to become a lawyer, but her college experience opened up her worldview.

“As I approached my senior year, I wanted to work, to do something real in the world,” she says. “The most important thing I got out of Rollins was the desire to never stop learning. I learned that real-life experiences were incredibly valuable.”

She went to work for her tribe as the chief historic resources officer. Through that work, she discovered she thrived in government and public service—a framework that helped her start building her career. Eventually, she went back to grad school for a master’s in public administration and took a public affairs position in the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. She enjoyed the work, but after nine years, she was drawn back to the Seminole Tribe. As executive director of the museum and historic preservation, Osceola was inspired in new ways.

“I’m only two generations away from great-grandparents who fought in the Seminole Wars,” she explains. “And here we are, not even two generations later, building a collection that tells those stories so they’ll never be forgotten. It’s a huge motivator and a challenge I fell in love with. The last 21 years have been about building experiences and knowledge to help the tribe do better, do more—and protect our sovereignty at all costs.”

Today, Osceola is the executive director of operations and the tribal historic preservation officer, overseeing 17 different departments and programs. She says the role, which is a federally defined position, is important not only for tribes but for historic preservation in the country as a whole. She points to repatriation as one of the biggest areas of growth, watching and helping as the Seminole Tribe has developed its position over time.

“We were a big part of the ‘No More Stolen Ancestors’ campaign back in 2019, which put a spotlight on the issue,” she says. “The reality is that our ancestors’ remains were taken out of the state, studied, and even mutilated. They were sent all over the world. Now, the tribe is in a much stronger, more assertive position when it comes to repatriation, and we’re leading many of those efforts. That’s one of the most rewarding things I can take away from my time with the Seminole Tribe: to know we really made a difference, moving from being overlooked to leading the charge to bring our ancestors home.”

Osceola says to this day, she still draws on things she learned at Rollins. She reflects on the encouragement she got from late president Thaddeus Seymour ’82HAL ’90H; she remembers opening her mind to new ways of thinking in English professor Rosemary Curb’s women’s studies class; and she thinks of putting issues in an Indigenous context while studying Latin American politics with political science professor Luis Valdes.

“I saw so many parallels between Indigenous peoples in Latin America and our own communities,” she says. “Fast-forward to today, and we’re able to occupy that space. I don’t think I’d understand it to the degree I do now without Dr. Valdes’ classes.”

Recently, Osceola was honored with Rollins’ Fred Rogers Global Citizenship Award.

“It was a full-circle moment that made me reflect on balance—how you want your decisions to have a positive effect but also not hurt anyone,” she says.

It’s given her an opportunity to reflect on her long list of achievements, the roles she’s played as a representative for the Seminole Tribe on various boards and other organizations, as an associate judge for the first Tribal Court, as executive director. And she’s also looking ahead to the legacy she’ll leave. 

“I started representing the tribe at a very young age,” she says. “Now, it’s time for me to open doors for others, just as others did for me. If 50 people follow that path, amazing. But if even one person does, I’ll feel like all the work was worth it.”

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