Susie Billie
Born1900
Collier County, Florida, US
Died2003
Big Cypress Indian Reservation
Other namesSusie Jim Billie
Known forMedicinal herbs
ChildrenAgnes Cypress
RelativesBuffalo Jim, Sonny Billie
Awards1985 Florida Folk Heritage Award

Susie Jim Billie (1900–2003) was a Seminole traditional maker of medicine and grand matriarch of the Panther clan in her region.[1] She was born at the turn of the last century in Collier County, Florida in the United States, and resided on the Big Cypress Reservation, where she practiced traditional healing arts for her community. Billie received most of her training in folk medicine from her grandfather and uncle, who were medicine men of the tribe. She knew not only the herbal remedies for physical ailments, but the songs, chants, and ritual expressions that lent power to cures as well.

She was part of a family of medicine men and women. She taught her nephew, Sonny Billie, about traditional healing plants and herbs and her brother, Buffalo Jim, was a Mikasuki medicine man. She was renowned for her wisdom of plants and songs and healing rituals.[2]

Recognition

In 1984, Billie was interviewed as part of the Seminole Video Project[3] from Florida Folklife Program and WFSU -TV. The interview was published as part of the "Four Corners of the Earth Documentary".[4]

In 1985 Susie Jim Billie received the Florida Folk Heritage Award as a Medicine Woman and authority on Tribal heritage[5][6][7] in White Springs Florida.[8]

She participated twice as a master artist in the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program, passing her knowledge on to her daughter Agnes Cypress[9] and to Mary Johns.[10]

She is quoted heavily as part of Harry Kersey Jr.'s book The Florida Seminoles and the New Deal, 1933–1942.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Kersey, Harry A. (2017). The Florida Seminoles and the New Deal, 1933-1942. Gainesville: Library Press at UF. ISBN 978-1-947372-03-0. OCLC 1013823481.
  2. ↑ "THE SECRET WORLD OF INDIAN MEDICINE". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  3. ↑ Four Corners of the Earth, retrieved 2022-07-22
  4. ↑ "Four Corners of Earth". Folkstreams. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  5. ↑ Blake, Libby (February 7, 2003). "The Seminal Tribune" (PDF). The Seminal Tribune. p. 1. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Susie Jim Billie - Division of Historical Resources - Florida Department of State". dos.myflorida.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  7. ↑ "Seminole healer Susie Jim Billie being presented with a 1985 Folk Heritage Award at the Florida Folk Festival - White Springs, Florida". State Archives of Florida, Florida Memor. 1985.
  8. ↑ Bulger, Peggy A. "1985 Florida Folk Heritage Awards winners on the main stage- White Springs, Florida". Florida Memory.
  9. ↑ "Susie Jim Billie and daughter Agnes Cypress collecting medicinal plants - Big Cypress Reservation, Florida". State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  10. ↑ Stone, Robert L. "Bob" (July 21, 1995). "Susie Billie & apprentice Mary Johns interview for the Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program". Florida Memory.
  11. ↑ Kersey, Harry A. (2017). The Florida Seminoles and the New Deal, 1933-1942. Gainesville: Library Press at UF. ISBN 978-1-947372-03-0. OCLC 1013823481.
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