Princess Ulele Statue Returns

Ulele statue in Tampa
Bronze bust of Ulele, a Native American princess featured in the book Uleyli: The Princess & Pirate- The True Story of Florida’s Pocahontas

Princess Ulele, known a Florida’s Pocahontas, is a local legend in Tampa, Florida thus it was quite the surprise when a statue of her was removed from the Tampa riverwalk in the dead of night back in 2018. (This was the same year I published my first children’s book, Uleyli- The Princess & Pirate: Based on the true story of Florida’s Pocahontas, which was about this very same Native American princess!) The statue has now been returned near the Tampa riverwalk. Read more below:

TAMPA — Banished in 2018 in a dispute with the city, the 11-foot tall, 1,800-pound bronze bust of a Native American princess will once again attract Instagrammers and the curious. But they’ll have to wander off Tampa’s Riverwalk a bit to see her up close. Richard Gonzmart, owner of the famous Columbia restaurant in Ybor City and the Riverwalk eatery, Ulele, said he wanted to bring back the statue to commemorate Ulele restaurant’s Wednesday reopening. “I thought it was so right. Just the right moment to bring her back as we fight the virus,” Gonzmart said Monday….According to a Pocahontas-like myth, the Tocobaga Indian princess lived in the Tampa Bay area during the 16th century and saved the life of an early Spanish explorer when her father ordered him put to death.

Read the full story here: https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2020/05/18/princess-ulele-returns-just-not-quite-so-close-to-the-riverwalk/

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