From the recording Florida
Jim Billie, Chief of the Seminole - © 2018 Jim Bickerstaff & Peter B. Gallagher
Terry Feller – Drums
Bob Wray – Bass
Clayton Ivey - Wurlitzer Piano
Pat Severs – Acoustic Guitar
Johnny B – Dobro
Donny Carpenter – Fiddle
Nick Z - Percussion
Savannah Bickerstaff – Background Vocals
Jim Bickerstaff – Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
Every now and then, we cross paths with people who are larger than life. We might even meet and interact with a celebrity. And on rare occasions, we might find ourselves in the orbit of a living legend.
Chief Jim Billie is all of those things. His life and accomplishments are beyond impressive, and his impact on the lives of Native people everywhere in this country as well as indigenous people in other countries will stand in history.
Like the Seminole leaders before him, James took on the US federal government. This round of the Seminole Wars occurred in the US Supreme Court rather than the wilderness of Florida, but the results were the same. The Seminoles remain undefeated.
I have had the honor and pleasure of working with James on CD projects, recordings of Seminole people for the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum on Big Cypress, several video projects, and Everglades wildlife recordings. Whether sitting next to a campfire, on stage in the Arctic circle or paddling a dugout canoe around the mangroves in Chokoloski, Jim Billie has always remained both salt of the earth and a full-on living legend in my eyes. He came from nothing and turned nothing into something.
Lyrics
Jim Billie, Chief of the Seminole © 2018 J. Bickerstaff & Peter B. Gallagher
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His mama was from the Bird Clan, his daddy was a white man; two young people, no remorse or shame
But a child came unto her and times being what they were; the half-breed had no country to his name
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He grew up fighting haters, and wrestling alligators; turns out he had a flair for the show
He spent his younger days learning ancient Native ways; the elders taught him things he had to know
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He started out with nothing but his shadow on the floor; at a tourist trap in Florida back in 1944
And he led his tribe to victory in a different kind of war; Jim Billie, Chief of the Seminole
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When Jim Billie came of age, fate helped him turn the page; they shipped him off to Vietnam with a gun
When his tour came to an end, he went right back again; and stayed until his duty there was done
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He fought those Native people in the jungles and the deltas; Like a war that came to Florida long ago
And among the dirty faces of the lost and frightened children; saw the spirit of his ancient Seminole
CHORUS
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He came back to Big Cypress and bent the arc of time; white man’s law became his bow and shield
And defeated his oppressor as others had before; the courtroom, a modern battlefield
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Names like Osceola, Sam Jones, and Potackee, defenders of the people’s heart and soul
One other name and face, has earned a sacred place - Among the proud and unconquered Seminole
CHORUS