Tiger Tales

Some days it really does seem like there's an over riding order in the universe and we're all just along for the ride. Last night I was chatting with Todd Frederick about which photos I should post in my blog. For today's post I chose this photo of Donna Tiger that I shot about thirty years ago. This morning's Miami Herald ran a feature article about the NAMMY's, the Native American Music Awards. What force drove me to select Donna's photo? I had no idea that there'd be that article in the paper.Some days it really does seem like there's an over riding order in the universe and we're all just along for the ride.
http://www.nativeamericanmusic.com/
It talked at length about the history of the awards, but really concentrated on the rock group Tiger Tiger. Lee and Stephen Tiger are Donna's cousins, sons of Miccosukee tribal chairman Buffalo Tiger. Here's some information on their musical career. I need to dig out some shots I have of them when they were still teens trying to get "the big break". They sure did OK for themselves!http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tigertiger3When I shot this photo Donna was about 16 and attending Palmetto Sr. High in the western fringes of what was then the built up area of Dade County, taking the long school bus ride to and from everyday, while living on the reservation on the Tamiami Trail. Her best friend was a Cuban American girl, Sylvia. Donna was about 6 ft. tall. I stayed in touch with her younger brother Spencer for a few more years, and then? I ran into another cousin about ten years ago, James Billie, who'd become chairman of the Seminole Tribe, at a congressional fund raiser. I've lost track of everybody. The last time I visited the reservation was when I got a call telling me that Donna's father Bobby had died. I attended the funeral.