Paul G

American Indians have a huge following in Germany, where a bestselling author wrote westerns, helping to make the Everglades a popular stop for Europeans.
BY DOUGLAS HANKS III
dhanks@MiamiHerald.com

More than 5,000 miles from her Austrian home, Gertrude Brescelli walked the wobbly planks of the Miccosukee Indian camp and took in familiar surroundings.

Brescelli has already toured the Indian caves of Arizona. Like most Austrian schoolchildren, she grew up reading about Winnetou, the Apache chief created by Germany's bestselling author, Karl May. And American Indian culture isn't hard to find on her side of the Atlantic, where Germans and Austrians regularly don loincloths, headdresses and war paint for weekend powwows.

The fondness in the Fatherland for American Indian life has helped make the Everglades a favorite stop for German-speaking tourists visiting South Florida. With Germany the largest source of European visitors to South Florida, May's legacy includes a significant amount of vacation planning in the Sunshine State.

''Germans are the largest group we have, after Floridians,'' said Lucy Evanicki, marketing director for the Seminole Tribe and its popular Billie Swamp Safari tour of the Everglades and Indian culture. ``The German market is definitely growing.''

Last week, she escorted a German travel writer through the tribe's Indian tourist attractions. On Wednesday Evanicki plans to be in Berlin for a world travel show, where Indian dancers will try to woo German tourists to the United States.

''It's something different you cannot find any other place in the world,'' Brescelli said after an airboat ride to the Miccosukee camp with about four dozen fellow Austrians. ``People are very much interested in finding out everything they can about that culture.''

Though Germans ranked fourth among international visitors to the United States two years ago, they were the second-largest pool of customers for American Indian attractions, reports the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Author May gets most of the credit for the German fascination with American Indians. Born in 1842, May worked as a journalist and short-story writer. His fame came after writing a series of Wild West novels starring German travelers and the Apache chief they befriend, Winnetou.

Even though May had never traveled west of Buffalo, the books became schoolhouse standards throughout Germany and Austria, and their popularity spilled over into German television, cinema and even leisure time.

''When you talk to the German tourists who come in here, they're very knowledgeable about Indians,'' said Mary Bighorse, a cashier at Miccosukee Indian Village. ``They know the dances. If you listen to any of our music, it's extremely difficult to learn. But they know a lot of the songs.''

German websites such as indbianerkalender.de and indianermagazine.de post photos of Germans posed in front of their replica tepees, schedules of weekend powwows held by the dozens of Indian clubs throughout the country, and recipes for Indian fare, including gegrillte Maiskolben (grilled corn on the cob).

''Germans have this romantic desire to go back to a time of permanent innocence,'' said Bernhardt Blumenthal, professor of German and chair of the foreign language department at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. ``They see that in the early United States.''

Tour operators note Europeans' particular fondness for nature and open expanses helps explain German interest in the Everglades.

Beaches and shopping are the strongest magnet drawing German visitors to South Florida -- they would more likely go to the American West for Indian attractions alone. But with Miami-Dade attracting 340,000 visitors in 2004, local Indian attractions are grateful for Winnetou's legacy. In a Miami-Dade survey, 6 percent of European visitors cited the Everglades as a reason for visiting, compared to less than 2 percent for domestic visitors.

On a recent morning, Brescelli and about 80 other Austrians boarded two busses parked outside Miami's Hotel Riande for the daylong trip to the Everglades. Konrad Pramsohler's tour operator, Miami Nice, hired two German-speaking guides for the tour, which included a stop at the Miccosukee alligator tank and the tribe's museum.

Elisabeth Braun, on vacation from Innsbruck, Austria, paused at a Miccosukee bowl on display, and pointed to the red and blue stripes running along its center. ''That looks like Navajo,'' she said in heavily-accented English.

Braun used to help run an Innsbruck boutique selling American Indian jewelry, and planned to visit a Colombian Indian village on an upcoming cruise to Latin America.

''They are looking for freedom,'' Braun said, when asked about the American Indian appeal. ``They like the animals. They say thank you to God if they eat something. We don't think of that. We go to the next shop.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14027225.htm

__________________
New to the site--Introduce Yourself Need Help--FAQ--Search
Feedback--Post your suggestions

MyTribalSpace.com | NativeGatherings.com | PowWows.com Podcast | Indigitunes.com
NativeSeek.com | Pow Wow TV | Pow Wow Radio | NativeMusicSource.com Radio | NDN411.com | eSnag Online Dating