The Jesuit Menendez noted that in the early hours of the morning, Carlos would sit on a stool with his people around him to discuss the ideas presented by the missionaries. [5] A few leaders governed the tribe. Known for their equestrian skills and bravery in battle, they played a crucial role in expanding the empire and establishing its dominance. Different tribes and regions had their own games and traditions. This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 15:27. 01 Mar 2023 , 3260 South Street Cultivated gourds were used as net floats, and sinkers and net weights were made from mollusk shells. In 1697 Franciscan missionaries established a mission to the Calusa but left after a few months.[27]. The chief also married women from subject towns and allied tribes. The Penn Museum respectfully acknowledges that it is situated on Lenapehoking, the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Unami Lenape. Florida Museum artifact photos by Jeff Gage. When the chief formally received Menndez in his house, the chief sat on a raised seat surrounded by 500 of his principal men, while his sister-wife sat on another raised seat surrounded by 500 women. Calusa political influence and control also extended over other tribes in southern Florida, including the Mayaimi around Lake Okeechobee, and the Tequesta and Jaega on the southeast coast of the peninsula. By interceding with these spirits, it was believed that the chief was ensuring that his people would be well-supplied by the land. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. 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. The Calusa wove nets from palm-fiber cord. During the Calusa's reign the Florida coastline extended roughly 60 miles further into the Gulf of Mexico. ed. Some of these masks had moving parts that used pull strings and hinges so that a person could alter the look of a mask while wearing it. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004. Directly beneath the chief was the nobility. [24][25], In 1566 Pedro Menndez de Avils, founder of St. Augustine, made contact with the Calusa. They developed a complex culture based on estuarine fisheries rather than agriculture. The first people to live on the island were the Calusa Native Americans, who were known as a fierce people. Did the Calusa farm? It is based on the Creek and Mikasuki (languages of the present-day Seminole and Miccosukee nations) ethnonym for the people who had lived around the Caloosahatchee River (also from the Creek language). A dozen words for which translations were recorded and 50 or 60 place names form the entire known corpus of the language. 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. Tools for fishing were made of shell, wood, and plant materials and included hooks and spears, nets, net floats and sinkers, cord, and anchors (Fig. One of the most notable traditions of the Calusa was their use of shell mounds. google_ad_height = 15; The Tequesta Indians were a tribe of eastern Florida, closely connected with the Ais. "They had an established religion. This use of marriages to secure alliances was demonstrated when Carlos offered his sister Antonia in marriage to the Spanish explorer Pedro Menndez de Avils in 1566. In 1569, just three years after the Spanish fort was built, the Calusa attacked a Spanish supply ship, prompting more violence. The expedition was sponsored jointly by The University Museum (then the Free Museum of Science and Art) and the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution. Fish bones and scales recovered from one of the watercourts indicate the Calusa were capturing schooling species such as mullet, pinfish and herring. Return to our menu of Native American cultures Conversion would have destroyed the source of their authority and legitimacy. The Calusa believed that the three souls were the pupil of a person's eye, his shadow, and his reflection. Fish stored in the watercourts likely fed the workers who built the massive palace. (1993). Radiocarbon dating of organic materials associated with the watercourts indicates they were built between A.D. 1300 and 1400, toward the end of a second phase of construction on the kings house. Additionally, they had (as their name suggests) a fierce, war-like reputation. As for the southern region, my focus was on the Calusa Indians from the south-western Florida peninsula area. Senquene succeeded his brother (name unknown), and was in turn succeeded by his son Carlos. Darcie A. Macmahon and Dr. William H. Marquardt, an expert on the Calusa, have written a fascinating book that brings to life a group of people who disappeared from Florida in the 1700s. The Caloosahatchee culture inhabited the Florida west coast from Estero Bay to Charlotte Harbor and inland about halfway to Lake Okeechobee, approximately covering what are now Charlotte and Lee counties. This tribe of Indians controlled most of Southwest Florida and created an elaborate network of canals, homes, and government. Unlike other Indian tribes, the Calusa did not make many. Cushings excavations brought to light at least 23 wooden masks and figureheads. Tribute was offered in the form of prestige goods, such as feathers, mats, deerskins, food, and metals and captives recovered from Spanish shipwrecks (Hudson 1976). The chief's house, and possibly the other houses at Calos, were built on top of earthen mounds. In the 1700's, infectious diseases, slaving raids and attacks by Creek and Yamasee Indians who were supplied with guns by the English, decimated the Calusa population. When Pedro Menndez de Avils visited the capital in 1566, he described the chief's house as large enough to hold 2,000 without crowding, indicating it also served as the council house. Many people lived in large villages with purpose-built earthwork mounds, such as those at Horr's Island. When used for fishing or travel from one point to another, these canals must have provided protection from the wind (Blanchard 1989). The finds tell us of Calusa fishing techniques, of the tools used to produce their wooden carvings, of architecture, ceremonialism, and daily life. Philadelphia, PA 19104 Said by a Spaniard, Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, who was a captive among them for many years, to mean "fierce people," but it is perhaps more probable that, since it often appears in the form Carlos, it was, as others assert, adopted by the Calusa chief from the name of the Emperor Charles V, about whose greatness he had learned from Spanish prisoners. [3] Some Archaic artifacts have been found in the region later occupied by the Calusa, including one site classified as early Archaic, and dated prior to 5000 BC. In. Archaeologists have been able to take a closer look at one of the United Kingdoms most famous shipwrecks. 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. The Spanish were used to dealing with natives who farmed and who provided the Spanish with some of their food. 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. Add an answer. Honestly, we have explored a very small sample of Mound Key and other nearby island sites., ln the next couple of years, Thompson added, Id like to return to Mound Key to look more closely at the fort and its structures to really delve into Calusa-Spanish interactions.. 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. According to the documents, the brushwood and lumber fort encompassed some 36 structures. The Calusas as Shell Indians The Calusas are considered to be the first "shell collectors." Shells were discarded into huge heaps. 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. This class was supported by commoners, who provided them with food and other material goods. (*) denotes earlier century Calusa language records. The Calusa Domain. The Calusa used the canals to travel by canoe from their villages and ceremonial centers to coastal trading posts. Apart from that, shells are said to have been used by the Calusa to make all sorts of things, including tools, jewelry, utensils, and even spearheads for fishing and hunting. 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. The Calusa are said to have been a socially complex and politically powerful tribe, and most of southern Florida was controlled by them. Native American art,