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Ulele statue restored
She was a Native American princess who grew up on the shores of Tampa Bay 500 years ago, and our history runs right through her love story. Lloyd Sowers reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - The Princess Ulele statue was installed 10 years ago at the restaurant of the same name in Tampa Heights.
The statue recently had restoration work, including repairing damage from flames that illuminate the statue at night.
The story of Ulele is like the more famous story of Pocahontas. A local historian says Ulele's story happened before Pocahontas.
Workers at the Ulele restaurant in Tampa Heights reinstalled a 10-foot bronze statue of a native princess on Tuesday.
The princess, also named Ulele, lived in the Tampa area 500 years ago. According to Rodney Kite-Powell of the Tampa Bay History Center, a young Spanish explorer named Juan Ortiz met the princess in 1528.
She intervened when her father, the chief, threatened to kill Ortiz because of the transgressions of previous Spaniards.
Kite-Powell says the chief spared the life of Ortiz, who later became an interpreter in dealings between natives and Spaniards.
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Kite-Powell says the Ulele-Ortiz story predates the more famous story of Pocahontas, who intervened to save the life of John Smith.
"It didn’t happen in Virginia first, and sorry to those people, but Florida is really the start of that American history story."
Richard Gonzmart owns the statue and the restaurant.
The backstory:
A decade ago, Gonzmart commissioned an artist to create the bronze statue of the native princess, who grew up on the shores of Tampa Bay in the 1520's.
He says Princess Ulele helps tell an important story about Tampa's first residents and still sets an example for young women.
"She's a sign of strength for women that you can accomplish anything you believe in," says Gonzmart. The statue has her hand outstretched in a powerful pose depicting the princess standing up to her father to save Ortiz.
What's next:
Gonzmart will restore the gas burners that illuminate the statue in the coming weeks.
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The Source: Information for this story was provided by Rodney Kite-Powell, historian at the Tampa Bay History Center, historical murals researched and created by local artist and historian Christopher Still, and research and exhibits of local native people from Weedon Island Preserve.