The Legend of the Calusa Many people believe that the Calusa made a trip to Cuba in their canoes and traded with the Mayans. The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. This lasted until about 1750, and included the historic Calusa people. After A.D. 1000, the Calusa began to grow in size and complexity, wielding their military might, trading widely and collecting tribute along those trade routes that extended for hundreds of miles. The Calusa king, or head chief, was an absolute ruler. Escampaba may be related to a place named Stapaba, which was identified in the area on an early 16th-century map. However, they would suffer the same fate as many of the other Native American tribes. In 1569, just three years after the Spanish fort was built, the Calusa attacked a Spanish supply ship, prompting more violence. This site is believed to have been the capital of the Calusa, as well as its military stronghold and ceremonial center. In 1987, the Tribe approved a constitution and began to lay the groundwork for a self-sufficiency plan. google_ad_client = "pub-8872632675285158"; Lucy Fowler Williams is Keeper of Collections for the American Section. Though questions about the Calusa and the use of some of these artifacts remain unanswered, early eyewitness accounts and ethnohistorical research, together with new archaeological developments in Florida, enhance our understanding of the cultural context within which these objects were made and used. 1). "The Calusa: A Stratified, Nonagricultural Society (With Notes on Sibling Marriage)." It has been proposed that as fishing was a less time-consuming means of obtaining food than hunting and gathering, the Calusa were able to devote more time to other pursuits, such as the establishment of a system of government. One of Cushings crew members, Wells M. Sawyer, was an artist and photographer; he painted lifelikewatercolors and took field photos of many of the specimens as they came from the mud. Copy. In addition, elaborate rituals with synchronized singing and processions of masked priests were also carried out on that occasion. The University Museum has an exceptional collection of artifacts from the Calusa site at Key Marco, Florida. By Paul Brinkmann. The watercolors illustrate the blue, black, gray, and brownish-red pigments found on many of the wooden specimens. In 1521 Ponce de Len returned to southwest Florida to plant a colony, but the Calusa drove the Spanish out, mortally wounding Ponce de Len. The temple mounds, built by what must have been a well-organized work force, measured up to 30 feet high and were often topped with buildings of wood and thatch entered only by the elite. The Calusa also used spears, hooks, and throat gorges to catch fish. The Calusa are said to have been the descendants of Palaeo-Indians who inhabited Southwest Florida about 12000 years ago. Spanish admiral Pedro Menndez de Avils (1519-1574) by Francisco de Paula Mart (1762-1827) ( Public Domain ). Directly beneath the chief was the nobility. //-->. Ivar the Boneless: Viking Warrior, Ruler and Raider, The Irish Story and Legend of C Chulainn, What is Shambhala? 8, 9). Mound Key Archaeological State Park is a shell midden mound in the Estero Bay that is estimated to have been inhabited over 2,000 years ago. The National Geographic has reported that archaeologists have discovered an ancient Native American kings house in Florida. The Calusa kingdom had an estimated 20,000 people and ranks among the most politically complex groups of hunter-gatherers of the historic world. They also cored sediments on and off the island to help describe and date environmental changes during the sites occupation. It was during this time that the team located the Spanish fort Fort San Antn de Carlos, named for the Catholic patron saint of lost things that historic documents said was built near Caalus house in 1566. One is left only to imagine how lifelike these wooden figureheads must have appeared when used on ceremonial occasions. Different tribes had different names for the sport including . The finds tell us of Calusa fishing techniques, of the tools used to produce their wooden carvings, of architecture, ceremonialism, and daily life. At the time of the excavations Cushing did not know the name or precise age of the Indians whose world he had discovered. They believed in three superior beings, one controlled the weather, the others ruled the welfare of the tribe and warfare. [Online]Available at: http://floridahistory.org/indians.htm, Marquardt, W. H., 2014. The soul in the eye's pupil stayed with the body after death, and the Calusa would consult with that soul at the graveside. After ten days a man who spoke Spanish approached Ponce de Len's ships with a request to wait for the arrival of the Calusa chief. They arrived in seven vessels and climbed to the peak of Mound Key, a 30-foot-high, human-made island of shells and sand, to greet the king. Little is known about Calusa religion. Mudlarker Finds Bronze Age Shoe on a UK Riverbank Dated 2,800 Years Old! Along the southwest Gulf coast lived the Calusa (Caloosa) Indians. The Calusa people were an important tribe of Florida. Archaeologists have long pondered how the Calusa could have grown to a population of some 20,000 and dominated such a vast region without relying on agriculture. We began with a basic set of questions, said Marquardt. [2], Paleo-Indians entered what is now Florida at least 12,000 years ago. [8], Some authors have argued that the Calusa cultivated maize and Zamia integrifolia (coontie) for food. Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, Dont Cross the Kobolds: Mischievous Spirits of European Folklore, The Curious Apparitions of Pagan Goddesses to the German Knights Templar, The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend Part I, The Gristhorpe Man: A Bronze Age Skeleton with a Story to Tell, The Origins of Human Language: One of the Hardest Problems in Science, Translation of 5,500-Year-Old Babel Text from China Reveals Oldest Known Map of Inner Solar System, A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire. Florida of the Indians. [2] The Tequesta tribe had only a few survivors by . The Apalachee Tribe was among the most advanced and powerful Native American people in Florida. 314 Palmetto Street, Jacksonville 32202. The Calusa built their entire way of life around the ocean and estuaries of the Gulf Coast, creating a vast empire by learning to manipulate their environment. It seems clear that while the Spaniards wanted strategic control of the region, the Calusa territory provided them with little economic incentive for serious pursuit; they and other Europeans explored more promising regions to the north. Conversion would have destroyed the source of their authority and legitimacy. The rich and relatively stable coastal ecology of southwest Florida provided an abundance of marine lifenumerous kinds of fish, shellfish, and sea mammalsthat was capable of supporting a large human population. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years. The Iroquois, on the other hand, placed the shaman at the head of all things spiritual. Rituals were believed to link the Calusa to their spirit world (Art by Merald Clark.) The first Spanish explorers found that these Indians were not very friendly. The Calusa was a powerful, complex society who lived on the shores of the southwest Florida coast. In 1954 a dugout canoe was found during excavation for a middle school in Marathon, Florida. While estimates vary, their population probably numbered between 4,000 and 10,000. People commonly occupied both fresh and saltwater wetlands. Though eschewing agriculture once. However, no evidence of plant food was found at the Wightman site. Openings in the berms likely allowed the Calusa to drive fish into the enclosures for short-term storage, and then they closed those openings with nets and wooden gates. The shell mounds are an example of these remains. Study guides. The people who constructed Fort San Antn de Carlos had to adapt to Mound Keys unique conditions, researchers said. Around A.D. 1250, the area experienced a drop in sea level that, according to research team member Karen Walker, collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History, may have impacted fish populations enough to have prompted the Calusa to design and build the watercourts. An analysis of faunal remains at one coastal habitation site, the Wightman site (on Sanibel Island), showed that more than 93 percent of the energy from animals in the diet came from fish and shellfish, less than 6 percent of the energy came from mammals, and less than 1 percent came from birds and reptiles. This answer is: Study guides. The Calusas were one of the few North American Indian tribes who were ruled by a hereditary king. The Calusa believed that the three souls were the pupil of a person's eye, his shadow, and his reflection. In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.). Join CJ as he discusses: The origins of the Calusa Their physical description Their society, hierarchy, and religion The fishing nets they used to catch food were made from palm tree fibers. Some of the survivors were sent to Cuba by the Spanish, while others may have merged with other Floridian Indians and eventually joined the Seminole tribe. [23], The Pnfilo de Narvez expedition of 1528 and the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1539 both landed in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, north of the Calusa domain. It's also rich with the history and culture of the Calusa Indians, the Native Americans who preceded us, even if their footprints are a bit blurry. The Calusa (said to mean fierce people ) are a Native American tribe that once inhabited the southwestern coast of Florida. After death only the last one remained with the body to be buried with it. A new study says Florida's Calusa tribe built fish enclosures to amass surplus food, allowing its society to flourish and build structures such as the king's manor on Mound Key . They also claimed authority over the tribes of the east coast, north to about Cape Canaveral. The architectural remains of the kings house were relatively easy to find, but difficult to interpret at first, Marquardt said. 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