Rituals were believed to link the Calusa to their spirit world (Art by Merald Clark. The population of this tribe may have reached as many as 50,000 people. Rounding a sharp point against the tide was very difficult. Calusa Tribe. The Calusa king had the power of life and death over his subjects and was thought by them to be able to intercede with the spirits that sustained the environments bounty. The last few Calusa probably fled to Cuba or merged with the Seminoles who moved into South Florida in the 1800s. The earliest written descriptions of these people come from Spanish explorers, who sought to convert and conquer them. This class was supported by commoners, who provided them with food and other material goods. Hostilities erupted, and the Spanish soldiers killed Carlos, his successor Felipe, and several of the "nobles" before they abandoned their fort and mission in 1569. There is evidence that the people intensively exploited Charlotte Harbor aquatic resources before 3500 BC. Diseases would ravage their population and force . MacMahon, Darcie A. and William H. Marquardt. The Calusa Tribe had a large population and were well-organized. In R. D. Fogelson (Ed.). It is said that they even held dominance over tribes on the east coast of Florida, despite them being on the southwest side of the state. Known as the first shell collectors, the Calusa used shells as tools, utensils, building materials, vessels for domestic and ceremonial use and for personal adornment. The Calusa were also known for their artistry. Although they probably kept small home-gardens, they raised no corn, beans, or manioc. Julian Granberry has suggested that the Calusa language was related to the Tunica language of the lower Mississippi River Valley. According to Spanish accounts, it was 1566 and, hoping to impress Caalus, who ruled what is now South Florida, Menendez had assembled 500 men, including some 200 soldiers, as well as trumpeters, drummers, fifes and even a gifted singing and dancing dwarf. The story of the Calusa during the Spanish occupation of La Florida is a complicated one, said Thompson. "Florida Indians of Past and Present", in Carson, Ruby Leach and, Goggin, John M., and William C. Sturtevant. After the outbreak of war between Spain and England in 1702, slaving raids by Uchise Creek and Yamasee Indians allied with the Province of Carolina began reaching far down the Florida peninsula. The archaeologists recovered seeds, wood, palm-fiber cordage that likely came from Calusa fishing nets and even fish scales from the waterlogged levels. Hardwood forests covered the land and the climate was . One shell mound site is Mound Key at Estero Bay in Lee County. Different tribes and regions had their own games and traditions. Marquardt quotes a statement from the 1570s that "the Bay of Carlos in the Indian language is called Escampaba, for the cacique of this town, who afterward called himself Carlos in devotion to the Emperor" (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor). [9] There is also evidence that as early as 2,000 years ago, the Calusa cultivated a gourd of the species Cucurbita pepo and the bottle gourd, which were used for net floats and dippers. The Calusa (said to mean fierce people) are a Native American tribe that once inhabited the southwestern coast of Florida. The Calusa were conquered by the Spanish in 1763. At Mound Key, the Spaniards used primitive tabby as a mortar to stabilize the posts in the walls of their wooden structures. Milanich, J. T. (2004). Supported in part by a grant from National . The Calusa Domain. 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 each tribe and region was different, the division of labor between men and women was generally similar across most of the Native American tribes. The Calusa are considered to be the first "shell collectors." The other two souls left the body after death and entered into an animal. (Public Domain ). The population of this tribe may have reached as many as 50,000 people. Fish stored in the watercourts likely fed the workers who built the massive palace. The archaeologists were surprised to discover the Spanish used a primitive shell concrete known as tabby to stabilize the wall posts of their wooden structures. In. When the Spanish explored the coast of Florida, they soon became the targets of the Calusa, and this tribe is said to have been the first one that the explorers wrote home about. C enturies before countries such as the United Arab Emirates and China started building islands, the Calusa Indians living in southwest Florida were piling shells into massive heaps to construct their own water-bound towns.. One island in particular, Mound Key, was the capital of the Calusa kingdom when Spanish explorers first set foot in the area. The Calusa strongly resisted two Spanish mission attemptsone in 1566 and another in 1697and persisted in many . The women and children learned to catch shellfish like conchs, crabs, clams, lobsters, and oysters. Re-entering the area in 1614, Spanish forces attacked the Calusa as part of a war between the Calusa and Spanish-allied tribes around Tampa Bay. Seeing the work of the Calusa in these materials first-hand were really exciting moments for us.. The Calusa were also very warriors. The Calusa Indians lived in Southwest Florida. Copyright document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) EncyclopediaofFacts All Rights Reserved. The Calusa king initially allied himself with Menendez, hoping to gain an advantage over his rivals elsewhere in the Florida peninsula.. [5] A few leaders governed the tribe. Menndez left a garrison of soldiers and a Jesuit mission, San Antn de Carlos, at the Calusa capital. Exploring Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida 2002. At the time of European contact in the 16th and 17th centuries, the historic Calusa were the people of the Caloosahatchee culture. From several firsthand accounts of south Florida Indians written by Europeans, it is apparent that the Calusa were socially complex and politically powerful. The Spanish founded a mission on Biscayne Bay in 1743 to serve survivors from several tribes, including the Calusa, who had gathered there and in the Florida Keys. They had the highest population density of South Florida; estimates of total population at the time of European contact range from 10,000 to several times that, but these are speculative. The fact that the Calusa were fishers, not farmers, created tension between them and the Spaniards, who arrived in Florida when the Calusa kingdom was at its zenith, Thompson said. They were a fishing and shell-gathering people, and they ate a variety of seafood that they caught in the Gulf of Mexico. Calusa ceremonies included processions of priests and singing women. A number of smaller groups called the Tampa Bay area home. They were the largest and most powerful tribe in Florida at the time of first contact with Europeans. They also claimed authority over the tribes of the east coast, north to about Cape Canaveral. They began preliminary investigations of the fort, which was located on Mound 2 and housed one of the first Jesuit missions established in the U.S. They left 1,700 behind. One example of a shell mound can be found at a site known as Mound Key at Estero Bay in Lee County. They were descendants of Paleo-Indians who inhabited Southwest Florida approximately 12,000 years ago. These small fish were supplemented by larger bony fish, sharks and rays, mollusks, crustaceans, ducks, sea turtles and land turtles, and land animals. Its construction is made entirely of shells and clay. More were evacuated to Cuba, where many of them died. As his father, the preceding king, was also known as Carlos, he is sometimes called Carlos II.Carlos ruled over one of the most powerful and prosperous chiefdoms in the region at the time, controlling the coastal areas of southwest . They used these canoes to travel as far as Cuba. ), Artists conception of Calusa people preparing for fishing in the estuary (Art by Merald Clark. [8], The Calusa caught most of their fish with nets. The Calusa Indians. While a few Calusa individuals may have stayed behind and been absorbed into the Seminole, no documentation supports that. The population of this tribe may have reached as many as 50,000 people. [Online]Available at: http://floridahistory.org/indians.htm, Marquardt, W. H., 2014. The "nobles" resisted conversion in part because their power and position were intimately tied to the belief system; they were intermediaries between the gods and the people. 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. Fontaneda lived with various tribes in southern Florida for the next seventeen years before being found by the Menendez de Avils expedition. Their immune systems lacked antibodies to fight off European diseases. They claimed more or less authority also over the tribes of the east coast, north to about Cape Canaveral. The Calusa Indians were originally called the "Calos" which means "Fierce People". Some research indicates that they may have immigrated to Cuba during the 18th century as a result of recurring invasions by the Creek and the English, while other work suggests they may have joined the Seminole, who moved into Florida early in the 19th century and were later removed to Oklahoma. A diorama of a Calusa chief in the Florida Museum of Natural History. Their main waterway was the Calooshahatchee River, which means River of the Calusa. "[6] In 1564, according to a Spanish source, the priest was the chief's father, and the military leader was his cousin. They also cored sediments on and off the island to help describe and date environmental changes during the sites occupation. Calusa means "fierce people," and they were described as a fierce, war-like people. The Calusa Indians traveled in 15-foot dug out canoes. At the top of the hierarchy was the chief, who had control over the life and death of his subjects, and was believed to have the ability to communicate with the spirits. [26], For more than a century after the Avils adventure, there was little contact between the Spanish and Calusa. The Tequesta (tuh-KES-tuh) were a small, peaceful, Native American tribe. Could we find unequivocal architectural evidence that Mound Key was the Calusa capital town, as had long been suggested? However, it is likely that they were eventually assimilated into other tribes in the area. The Calusa were a Native American tribe that inhabited the southwest coast of Florida. The Calusa Indians did not farm like the other Indian tribes in Florida. Tabby was an Old World concrete consisting of lime from burned shells mixed with sand, ash, water and broken shells. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. The fort was obviously a massive presence on Mound Key, both in scale and as an example of European culture, but it appears that native food procurement, living arrangements and much of Calusa daily life continued with only minimal changes, said archaeologist Traci Ardren of the University of Miami, who was not involved with the teams work. They were fierce fighters and accomplished seamen, paddling their dugout canoes around the Florida coast. Thegoal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. For a long time, societies that relied on fishing, hunting and gathering were assumed to be less advanced, said Marquardt. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there existcountless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts thathave yet to be discovered and explained. The Calusa king had the power of life and death over his subjects and was thought by them to be able to intercede with the spirits that sustained the environment's bounty. The men of the Calusa are recorded to have been powerfully built, and let their hair grow long. Artists conception of the Calusa encounter with Ponce de Len in 1513. However, they would suffer the same fate as many of the other Native American tribes. Shell mounds can still be found today in many parts of southern Florida. Although his primary interest is in the ancient civilizations of the Near East, he is also interested in other geographical regions, as well as other time periods. Read More. 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. To date no one has found a Calusa dugout canoe, but it is speculated that such vessels would have been constructed from cypress or pine, as used by other Florida tribes. By doing this, the Calusa were able to use the natural resources of the area to their advantage, and create a unique and distinctive landscape. The explorers soon became the targets of the Calusa attacks. It is recorded that in that year, the Calusa chief formed an alliance with the Spanish governor, Menndez de Avils. Calusa influence may have also extended to the Ais tribe on the central east coast of Florida. However, archeological digs on Sanibel Island and Useppa Island have revealed evidence that the Calusa did in fact consume wild plants such as cabbage palm, prickly pear, hog plum, acorns, wild papaya, and chili peppers. Wu Mingren (Dhwty) has a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology. The Calusa made bone and shell gauges that they used in net weaving. How did the Calusa manage this unusual feat? In their early period there is evidence of sacrifice of captives and of cannibalism. [7] The contemporary archeologists MacMahon and Marquardt suggest this statement may have been a misunderstanding of a requirement to marry a "clan-sister". (Art by Merald Clark. The Calusa were a very prosperous people. It appears that the answer is their watercourts, which were discovered back in the 1890s. The men wore their hair long. Compiled by Kathy Alexander, updated April 2021. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Researchers have previously hypothesized the watercourts were designed to hold fish, but this was the first attempt to study the structures systematically, including when they were built and how that timing correlates with other Calusa construction projects, Marquardt said. Archaeology, 57(5), 4650. Calusa Indians. ), Calusa beliefs included a trinity of governing spirits. The heir of the chief wore gold in an ornament on his forehead and beads on his legs. The best information about the Calusa comes from the Memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, one of these survivors. Prior surface surveys had revealed Spanish ceramics, beads and other artifacts, but the location of the fort hadnt been determined. Enemy Indian tribes from Georgia and South Carolina began raiding the Calusa territory. Widmer cites George Murdock's estimate that only some 20 percent of the Calusa diet consisted of wild plants that they gathered. They were a very innovative and prosperous tribe, and had a number of traditions that set them apart from other tribes in the area. Who was the leader of the Calusa tribe? Calusa territory reached from Charlotte Harbor to Cape Sable, all of present-day Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties, and may have included the Florida Keys at times. 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