{{Short description|Native American activist from Florida (1945–2016)}} {{Infobox person |birth_date={{Birth date|1945|5|25}} |birth_place=Fort Pierce, Florida, U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|2016|11|16|1945|5|25}} |citizenship=Seminole Tribe of Florida • American |alma_mater=Florida Atlantic University |relatives=Desoto Tiger (grandfather) }} '''Louise Jones Gopher''' (May 25, 1945 – November 16, 2016)<ref>{{Cite web | title=Louise Gopher Obituary (2016) - Okeechobee, FL - Lake Okeechobee News and SouthCentralLife.com | url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newszapfl/name/louise-gopher-obituary?id=14665150 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506231339/https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newszapfl/name/louise-gopher-obituary?id=14665150 | access-date=2026-03-29 | archive-date=2024-05-06}}</ref> was the second Seminole (after Billy Cypress) and the first woman from the Seminole Tribe of Florida to earn a bachelor's degree. Gopher, a former director of education for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, was the first Seminole woman to earn a bachelor's degree when she graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 1970.
== Early life and education == Born May 25, 1945, in a chickee at a tribal camp in Fort Pierce, Jones spoke no English when she entered school at age 6. Because they were considered neither Black nor White, none of the segregated schools of the day would willingly take her as a student, but at the pleading of her father (who neither spoke, read, or wrote any English), Lucie County Schools Superintendent Ben L. Bryan chose to allow her to enroll in the Fairlawn School.
Louise's grandfather was Desoto Tiger, the son of Cow Creek chief Tom Tiger, who was murdered by John Ashley, also known as ''The King of the Everglades'' in 1910.
== Career == As Director of Education, Gopher was behind the development of the tribe's first charter school, "Pemayetv Emahakv" or "Our Way", which opened in 2007.<ref name="Westcott" /> Gopher has put great effort into preserving Seminole culture. The Seminoles’ native languages, Mvskoke or Mikasuki, are spoken only by older tribe members, so she transcribes Mikasuki teachings for posterity.<ref name="storyteller">{{cite web |last1=Forzano |first1=Joe |title=Seminole Storyteller: Louise Jones Gopher, Born May 25, 1945 |url=http://historicpalmbeach.blog.palmbeachpost.com/1999/12/19/seminole-storyteller-louise-jones-gopher-born-may-25-1945/|publisher=Palm Beach Post|accessdate=23 May 2016|date=19 December 1999}}</ref> In 2014 governor Rick Scott appointed her to the Florida Women's Hall of Fame.<ref name="Florida Women's HoF">{{cite web|title=Governor Scott and Lt. Governor Lopez-Cantera Honor 2014 Florida Women's Hall of Fame Inductees|url=http://www.flgov.com/gov-scott-and-lt-governor-lopez-cantera-honor-2014-florida-womens-hall-of-fame-inductees/|website=flgov.com|accessdate=23 May 2016}}</ref> Gopher encouraged young Seminoles to attend college, and her daughter, Carla Gopher, became the first Seminole to graduate from Florida State University, in 1996.<ref name="SemTribHonDegree">{{cite news|last1=Bidney|first1=Beverly|title=Louise Gopher bestowed with FSU honorary degree|url=http://www.semtribe.com/SeminoleTribune/Archive/2014/SeminoleTribune_December%2031_2014v2.pdf|accessdate=23 May 2016|publisher=Seminole Tribune|date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317012934/http://www.semtribe.com/SeminoleTribune/Archive/2014/SeminoleTribune_December%2031_2014v2.pdf|archive-date=17 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Recognition == In 2014, Gopher was granted an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Florida State University.<ref name="TD">{{cite news|last1=Blackburn|first1=Doug|title=FSU honors Seminole legend Louise Gopher|url=http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2014/12/10/fsu-honors-seminole-legend-louise-gopher/20194769/|accessdate=23 May 2016|publisher=Tallahassee Democrat|date=11 December 2014}}</ref> She is the third Seminole to receive an honorary degree from FSU, after Betty Mae Tiger Jumper (Doctorate of Humane Letters) and Jim Shore (Doctor of Laws).<ref name="SemTribHonDegree">{{cite news|last1=Bidney|first1=Beverly|title=Louise Gopher bestowed with FSU honorary degree|url=http://www.semtribe.com/SeminoleTribune/Archive/2014/SeminoleTribune_December%2031_2014v2.pdf|accessdate=23 May 2016|publisher=Seminole Tribune|date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317012934/http://www.semtribe.com/SeminoleTribune/Archive/2014/SeminoleTribune_December%2031_2014v2.pdf|archive-date=17 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''Palm Beach Post'' named her one of the most 100 influential people in Florida in the 20th century.
In 2007, Jones received the Westcott Award from Florida State University.<ref name="Westcott">{{cite web|title=Jones Gopher with rare Westcott Award|url=https://www.fsu.edu/news/2007/10/25/westcott.award/|accessdate=23 May 2016}}</ref>
== Death == She died in 2016 in Tampa.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Florida Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopher, Louise}} Category:1945 births Category:2016 deaths Category:People from Okeechobee County, Florida Category:People from Fort Pierce, Florida Category:Florida Atlantic University alumni Category:Seminole Tribe of Florida people Category:20th-century Native American people Category:21st-century Native American people Category:Florida Women's Hall of Fame Inductees Category:Seminole women Category:20th-century Native American women Category:21st-century Native American women Category:20th-century American people Category:21st-century American people Category:20th-century American women Category:21st-century American women Category:Native American people from Florida