Osceola and Renegade
Florida State's Osceola tradition is overseen by Allen Durham, whose father, Bill Durham, introduced it in 1978. Osceola wears a Native American-themed costume that the university says was "designed and approved by the Seminole Tribe of Florida," consisting of leather clothing, moccasins, face paint, and a garnet bandana. He carries a feathered spear and is accompanied by Renegade, an appaloosa horse whom he rides bareback. Osceola performs at all home football games at Doak Campbell Stadium and related events like Homecoming. He initiates each game by charging Renegade to midfield and hurling a flaming spear into the ground.
Cultural appropriation
While the leadership of nearly all Native American tribes object to their depictions as sports mascots, only one tribe explicitly approves of such representations. The Florida State Seminoles use the iconography of the Seminole tribe. Their mascots are Osceola and Renegade, depictions of the Seminole chief Osceola and his Appaloosa horse. After the NCAA attempted to ban the use of Native American names and iconography in college sports in 2005, the Seminole Tribe of Florida passed a resolution offering explicit support for FSU's use of Seminole culture and Osceola as a mascot; the university was granted a waiver, citing the close relationship with and consultation between the team and the tribe. In 2013, the tribe's chairman objected to outsiders meddling in tribal approval, stating that the FSU mascot and use of Seminole iconography "represents the courage of the people who were here and are still here, known as the Unconquered Seminoles." Conversely, in 2013, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma expressed disapproval of "the use of all American Indian sports-team mascots in the public school system, by college and university level and by professional sports teams", and not all members of the tribe's Florida branch are supportive of its stance.