September 2018

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FLORIDA HISTORY Searching for evidence of the long-lost Calusa Native Americans by Bill Johnson Here in Broward County the Seminole Indian tribe is ever present, in some measure because of their casinos in Coconut Creek and Hollywood. Many of us know something of their history. We can also visit Miccosukee tribal reservations, the largest one on Alligator Alley about 40 miles west of Fort Lauderdale. We can learn the tribe’s history at their museum in Miami, or watch them entertain tourists with alligator demonstrations. But the Calusa? Well, we east-coast Floridians may not know much about this tribe because it existed primarily on the west side of Florida, south of Tampa Bay to the Everglades, and it disappeared in the 1770s, leaving little behind. Now, there’s no place where you can meet Calusa native people. No one in Florida speaks the language. Not one of their buildings still exists. Some books about North American native tribes don’t even list the Calusa tribe. In their book The Calusa and Their Legacy, archeologists Darcie A. MacMahon and William H. Marquardt describe the Calusa as “fascinating but littleknown Native American people.” Written accounts of Calusa existence are largely by Spanish explorers and conquistadors who observed Calusa culture, practices, and beliefs. They may have first encountered the Calusa when they were shipwrecked in the early 1500s. The most extensive account may be from a shipwrecked Spaniard who was rescued or captured by the Calusa tribe, and lived among them for 17 years. He described the Calusa as “fierce” when defending themselves. In 1521, Spanish explorer and conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon learned the hard way that Calusa warriors could fight when he was struck by an arrow and taken by his troops to Cuba where he died, apparently from the wound. The Spaniard had been named by his king as governor of Florida and had come to colonize it, which was not a good move for him. MacMahon and Marquardt, among the most respected Calusa experts, tell us the Calusa were the most powerful people who controlled South Florida when Europeans first arrived, but their culture can be traced with confidence only to about A.D. 500 on the southwest Florida coast. After Europeans arrived, the population was on its way out. Anthropologist John R. Swanton, writing for the Smithsonian Institution, said 3,000 Calusa Indians in 1650 “is probably as near the truth as any estimate that could be suggested,” and by 1763 there were none. Many died from diseases brought by Europeans, some were killed in battle, some were captured by other Indian tribes to be sold as slaves, and others fled to Cuba from Florida. The Search for Evidence Not until 1895 were reliable artifacts discovered by a Smithsonian anthropologist looking in the muck of Marco Island, near Naples. His discovery initiated a productive archeological expedition there. Physical evidence of a Calusa village was found on Pine Island, off the coast of Fort Myers, where the Florida Museum of Natural History operates the Randell Research Center. The evidence on a 100-acre site is several large grass and tree covered hills, now known as the “Calusa Mounds,” built by the “Shell Indians,” as the Calusa are often called. Fish and shellfish were abundant back then and were a main part of the tribe’s food supply, partly because 20 SEPTEMBER <strong>2018</strong>
Photos by Sheila Johnson of Treehouse Studios Visitor at the Calusa sand-filled, tree-covered burial mound. Replica of Calusa saw made of shark teeth. Calusa ceremonial mask replicas. the Calusa didn’t farm. They discarded shells in piles that grew higher than 30 feet and longer than football fields, and built communal shelters of wood and palm-thatch on the mounds where the elevation enabled them to see enemies approaching and protect them from lowland flooding. The Calusa used animal bones and shells as tools to hollow out wood for canoes, make paddles, bowls, weapons, and create elaborate carvings in wood and shells, some of which are preserved today. Somehow they dug a network of canals by hand, 6 feet deep and 30 feet wide, canals no longer visible. The research center still conducts archeological “digs” at the site in search of further artifacts to enhance our knowledge. A walking trail through fields and wooded area passes the mounds and a sand-filled burial mound. The trail is dotted with informational signs about Calusa history, and an informational visitors center and gift shop sells an array of related items. The complete story of the long-lost Calusa Native Americans is told at the Florida Museum of History in Gainesville, where the museum opened in 2002. P the PARKLANDER 21
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September 2018

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