Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Historic documents say the Calusa then set fire to Mound Key and fled the island, which also prompted the Spanish to leave. It is documented that their power and influence extended over . After each meal, these shells were put to good use as building material and tools. Little was recorded of jewelry or other ornamentation among the Calusa. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004. The chief's house, and possibly the other houses at Calos, were built on top of earthen mounds. The Calusa were one of the few tribes known to be shell collectors. Furthermore, new diseases such as smallpox and measles were introduced into the area by European explorers. Wiki User. By contrast, at an inland site, Platt Island, mammals (primarily deer) accounted for more than 60 percent of the energy from animal meat, while fish provided just under 20 percent. There is an eyewitness account from 1566 of a "king's house" on Mound Key that was large enough for "2,000 people to stand inside. Although he did not know much about the history of the Calusa Indians, what he did know was the legend in Tampa that the Calusa Indians cast a spell to keep them safe. Water World. They left 1,700 behind. While the Calusa managed to survive that encounter, the 250 years that followed brought intermittent contact with other conquistadors, Christians missionaries, and in later years, English and French explorer-traders who vied for the territory, often with the help of native allies. Rituals were believed to link the Calusa to their spirit world ( Art by Merald Clark. Escampaba may be related to a place named Stapaba, which was identified in the area on an early 16th-century map. It is recorded that in that year, the Calusa chief formed an alliance with the Spanish governor, Menndez de Avils. The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. They formerly held the southwest coast from about Tampa Bay to Cape Sable and Cape Florida, together with all the outlying keys, and extending inland to Lake Okeechobee. A diorama of a Calusa chief in the Florida Museum of Natural History. The best information about the Calusa comes from the Memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, one of these survivors. Then, two things happened: either Chaos or Gaia created the universe as we know it, or Ouranos and Tethys gave birth to the first beings. There were engineers. In the wake of conflict and European-borne disease, the Calusa were extinguished by the second half of the 18th century. Radiocarbon dating of carbonized wood, a deer bone and a shell verified the forts mid-16th-century date. Seeing the work of the Calusa in these materials first-hand were really exciting moments for us.. "The Calusa: A Stratified, Nonagricultural Society (With Notes on Sibling Marriage)." The first Spanish explorers found that these Indians were not very friendly. The Calusa people's diet consisted mainly of fish and shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico and its many waterways. The National Geographic has reported that archaeologists have discovered an ancient Native American kings house in Florida. The mission was closed after only a few months. One illustration of the sophistication of the Calusa can be found in eyewitness accounts of an event in 1566. For the purposes of this research project I will compare and contrast three specific categories for each tribe in order to show how they were either similar or different from one another. The Calusas as Shell Indians The Calusas are considered to be the first "shell collectors." Shells were discarded into huge heaps. They believed that people had three souls-in a person's eye, shadow, and their reflection in the water. 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. The first people to live on the island were the Calusa Native Americans, who were known as a fierce people. Are there any Calusa people left? The first phase of work included the creation of a detailed topographic map of the island using LiDAR, which gave archaeologists information about its structures and geography. They had lived in the region since the 3rd century BCE (the late Archaic period of the continent ), and remained for roughly 2,000 years, [1] By the 1800s, most had died as a result of settlement battles, slavery, and disease. Soon after the discoveries, Donald funded archaeological mapping of . For a long time, societies that relied on fishing, hunting and gathering were assumed to be less advanced, said Marquardt. The courtyard was drained and cleared, exposing house posts, fishing nets, shell tools, bowls and drinking vessels, weapons, canoes, pottery, and extraordinary wooden masks and animal figureheads (Fig. At the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, the historic Calusa were the people of the Caloosahatchee culture. Calusa beliefs included a trinity of governing spirits. Although each tribe and region was different, the division of labor between men and women was generally similar across most of the Native American tribes. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Calusa tribe once numbered around 50,000 people, and Tampa was one of their largest towns. After death only the last one remained with the body to be buried with it. In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.). Since it seems to be working, many people still believe in the legend. [4], Between 500 and 1000, the undecorated, sand-tempered pottery that had been common in the area was replaced by "Belle Glade Plain" pottery. When the Spanish arrived in Florida in the early 16 th century, the Calusa were already in possession of a complex centralized government. The next day 80 "shielded" canoes attacked the Spanish ships, but the battle was inconclusive. The Calusa also used spears, hooks, and throat gorges to catch fish. Native American tattoos
Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, an early chronicler of the Calusa, described "sorcerers in the shape of the devil, with some horns on their heads," who ran through the town yelling like animals for four months at a time. During Menndez de Avils's visit in 1566, the chief's wife was described as wearing pearls, precious stones and gold beads around her neck. On that trip, Juan and his mates are said to have been attacked by the Calusa Indians, a large and fearsome group of natives who made their living from the sea. "Chapter 10. THE CALUSA INDIANS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. When Pedro Menndez de Avils visited in 1566, the Calusa served only fish and oysters to the Spanish. Directly beneath the chief was the nobility. "[6] In 1564, according to a Spanish source, the priest was the chief's father, and the military leader was his cousin. The Calusa (/klus/ k-LOO-s) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. The leaders included the paramount chief, or "king"; a military leader (capitn general in Spanish); and a chief priest. The Tequesta lived in the southeastern parts of present-day Florida. They also cored sediments on and off the island to help describe and date environmental changes during the sites occupation. Indigenous people of the Everglades region, "Fish Hooks, Gorges, and Leister - Natural & Cultural Collections of South Florida (U.S. National Park Service)", Evidence for a Calusa-Tunica Relationship, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Calusa&oldid=1140745100, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Language articles with unreferenced extinction date, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Bullen, Adelaide K. (1965). The Calusa Indians were descendants of Paleo-Indians who inhabited Southwest Florida approximately 12,000 years ago. It was reputed in local legend to be the seat of the god Wotan and to be haunted. At least three of the animal figureheads were found in close association with wooden humanlike masks which Cushing understood to represent the human form of that animal. Could we find unequivocal architectural evidence that Mound Key was the Calusa capital town, as had long been suggested? As for the southern region, my focus was on the Calusa Indians from the south-western Florida peninsula area. What language did the Calusa speak? 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. Many smaller tribes were constantly watching for these marauding warriors. Eventually, in the 18th century, slave raids by English from the north, aided by Creek Indians, destroyed what was left of the already declining Calusa population. Calusa ceremonies included processions of priests and singing women. Although many others survived the shipwreck, only Fontaneda was spared by the tribe in whose territory they landed. The Calusa artifacts discovered on Marco Island date from 300 AD to 1500 AD, prior to European contact in Florida. google_ad_height = 15;
Pine tree legends
One is left only to imagine how lifelike these wooden figureheads must have appeared when used on ceremonial occasions. The shell mounds are an example of these remains. Tracking the Calusa: A Retrospective. The Spanish reported that the chief was expected to take his sister as one of his wives. Upon learning that the Spaniards did not intend to provide food, clothing, and other gifts, the Calusa rebelled, tenaciously holding to their own beliefs and practices. Add an answer. Map of Calusa territory in Florida. The priests wore carved masks, which were at other times hung on the walls inside a temple. Calusa means "fierce people," and they were described as a fierce, war-like people. The Calusa persisted for another century in isolation, but eventually succumbed to slave raids by Creek Indians from the north and exposure to diseases they brought. Five friars who stayed in the chief's house in 1697 complained that the roof let in the rain, sun and dew. How was the Calusa Indian nation organized? [7], The Calusa diet at settlements along the coast and estuaries consisted primarily of fish, in particular pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), pigfish (redmouth grunt), (Orthopristis chrysoptera) and hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis). (*) denotes earlier century Calusa language records.
The Calusa Tribe had a large population and were well-organized. 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. The Calusa case also illustrates remarkably sophisticated engagements with, and long-term large-scale management of, coastal and estuarine environments.. [5] A few leaders governed the tribe. They believed in three superior beings, one controlled the weather, the others ruled the welfare of the tribe and warfare. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. He was aware, however, of the magnitude of his findings: the remains of a highly organized maritime society whose members performed elaborate rituals and whose artists possessed remarkable abilities in wood carving. The Calusa were descended from people who had lived in the area for at least 1,000 years prior to European contact, and possibly for much longer than that. By the 1700s though, the Tequesta people had disappeared. Unlike most Florida Indian tribes . There is evidence that the people intensively exploited Charlotte Harbor aquatic resources before 3500 BC. Additionally, it has been pointed out that tribute was sent to this chief from other tribes in south Florida. Milanich, Jerald. Julian Granberry has suggested that the Calusa language was related to the Tunica language of the lower Mississippi River Valley. Wiki User. It was during this phase of research that the team located and documented the massive kings house, showing it was indeed every bit as impressive as Spanish accounts, which claimed it was large enough to accommodate some 2,000 people. "Florida Indians of Past and Present", in Carson, Ruby Leach and, Goggin, John M., and William C. Sturtevant. [2], Juan Rogel, a Jesuit missionary to the Calusa in the late 1560s, noted the chief's name as Carlos, but wrote that the name of the kingdom was Escampaba, with an alternate spelling of Escampaha. The Calusa are said to have been the descendants of Palaeo-Indians who inhabited Southwest Florida about 12000 years ago. Now, there is a lot of garbage and misinformation on the Internet no matter what .