Susie Billie
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Susie Billie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1900 |
| Died | 2003 (aged 102–103) |
| Other names | Susie Jim Billie |
| Known for | Medicinal herbs |
| Children | Agnes Cypress |
| Relatives | Buffalo Jim, Sonny Billie |
| Awards | 1985 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]